Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Wizard

I see the Spanish word for rook is torre, which makes sense, because in every conventional chess set I've seen the rook looks like a tower.

I've heard it called a "castle" as well.

As I understand Chess was developed in India and/or Central Asia and made its way, via Arab merchants, to Europe. I recall reading a fable in elementary school involving a chess board and grains of wheat. It's also a simple math problem about exponential growth. What I recall vividly is that the fable was set in India.

Anyway, things that travel widely and slowly get distorted easily. The modern chess set looks very European in a Medieval sort of way, what with royalty, knights, bishops, castles and serfs. But everything can be modified, purposefully or not, to suit anythign else. Like the Trek chess sets, for example.

Me, I'm waiting for Sheldon Cooper's three-person chess to be officially released. That looked like fun! "I knew I should have given my Pope the jetpack!" and "When can my pawn use the golf cart?"

Quote: Wizard

So, if a rook is supposed to be a crow, why do they make the piece look like a tower?

There are actually two different words. One meaning is from the Anglo Saxon word hroc possibly imitative of its raucous voice.

The second meaning as a chess piece is uncertain

rook: "chess piece," c.1300, from Old French roc from Arabic rukhkh, from Persian rukh, of unknown meaning, perhaps somehow related to the Indian name for the piece, rut, from Hindi rath "chariot." The word "chariot" would be consistent with it's range of movement in the game.

However, a roc is also a large, ferocious bird of fable, 1570s, from Arabic "rukhkh", from Persian "rukh". Mentioned in Marco Polo's account of Madagascar, modern use is mostly from "Arabian Nights."



Why a word should be associated with both chariots and a fabled bird has been lost to antiquity.

Fecha: 5-12-12
Palabra: Fiar

Today's SWD means to trust/give credit.

The question for the advanced readers is whether fiar shares a common root with fe (faith).

Ejemplo time.

Le fie a Wimpy para comprar una hamburguesa. = I gave Wimpy credit to buy a hamburger.

Quote: Wizard

The question for the advanced readers is whether fiar shares a common root with fe (faith).

Yes, they are from the same Latin word group: fidēs fidēre

Quote: Wizard

Le fie a Wimpy para comprar una hamburguesa. = I gave Wimpy credit to buy a hamburger.

Not exactly.

"Fiar" means an infomral credit extended to you by the person or business selling you something. Kind of running a tab.

It has other manings, too. For example, if you have no collateral for a loan, you can get someone to act as "fiador," or "aval." This would be a person with assets to cover the loan should you default.

Quote: Nareed

For example, if you have no collateral for a loan, you can get someone to act as "fiador," or "aval."

The Spanish noun aval (endorsement or countersignature) is from French phrase "à valoir" of which the last word is a cognate of the English word "valor".
The Spanish verb avalar naturally means "to endorse". It may be a "dictionary word" in the view of Nareed.

In the past, Nareed regards the verb companion to a noun, particularly words that do not come from Latin, as obscure.

The English word credit is naturally related to credible, credibility, creditable, creditor, credence, credential and creed. The Spanish verb creer is a cognate.

You can say "Tengo crédito en esa tienda" (tienda is a shop)

Fecha: 5-12-12
Palabra: Platicar

Today's SWD means to chat. In the situation I encountered the word, the talker was rambling on about something the person he was speaking to was not interested in at all. That probably is how women feel when I talk.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to find or refute a common root with the English "platitude."

Ejemplo time.

¡Gilligan, deja de platicando y recoger algunos plátanos! = Gilligan, stop talking and and pick some bananas!

Quote: Wizard

The assignment for the advanced readers is to find or refute a common root with the English "platitude."

The noun is plática.

It is plausible that the words are related, but I could not verify. The English word "platitude' is related to "plateau" in that the concept being expressed is kind of "flat". The Spanish word "platicar" is favored in Mexico, instead of the more world wide words "conversar" or "chatear", and the more all-encompassing "hablar".

But "flat" in Spanish is not "plat", but is "plano" for a surface, and "llano" for a park or a meadow. There was park in Oaxaca City that everyone called "El llano" because it was perfectly flat.

I'm in the early stages of developing a slot machine game with a Las Vegas theme. I want the title to be based on "Viva Las Vegas," but use some other Spanish word besides Viva. One idea I have is vámonos. This got me to wondering what conjugation of ir it was, or was is it from ir at all.

So, what do you think of Vámanos a Las Vegas as a title? What exactly does it mean? Any better suggestions? I'm looking to title the game in Spanish.

Quote: Wizard

I'm in the early stages of developing a slot machine game with a Las Vegas theme. I want the title to be based on "Viva Las Vegas," but use some other Spanish word besides Viva. One idea I have is vámonos. This got me to wondering what conjugation of ir it was, or was is it from ir at all.

So, what do you think of Vámanos a Las Vegas as a title? What exactly does it mean? Any better suggestions? I'm looking to title the game in Spanish.

¡Vámonos! is the first person plural imperative of the reflexive verb irse. Vamos is the first person plural present of the verb ir.

I think the sentence is better written as Vamos a Las Vegas.