Spanish Word of the Day

Google Translate is NASTY!

I guess "walked in on" is not a verbal phrase that is easily translated.

Quote: Pacomartin

Google Translate is NASTY!

I still laugh when i recall the first time I tried an online translator. It came out like "We wanting know price goods." :)

Quote:

I guess "walked in on" is not a verbal phrase that is easily translated.

"Entró/entraron al cuarto/oficina/closet cuando yo/tu/ella/el, estaba..."

Sometimes English is verbose, as when a conjugation doesn't include the pronoun (like in 99% of all conjugations), but most often it's amazingly concise.

Fecha: 5 de Julio, 2017
Palabra: Difundir

Today's SWD means to spread/broadcast/disseminate.

The questions for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast difundir y diseminar. It seems kind of obvious to me that diseminar and the English disseminate are probably related to the word semen. I think Hot for Words has a video about it *ahem*. However, you would never hear anybody saying, "When I was age 13 I discovered my first Playboy and disseminated all over the centerfold." Odd how the usage of the word has strayed from its root, or has it?

Ejemplo time

Los mosquitos difundieron la malaria en toda la isla de Gilligan. = Mosquitoes spread malaria all over Gilligan's island.

Your suspicions are true.
The root Latin words for difundir y diseminar are the same as the English words diffuse and disseminate . You would use "difundir" in a physics class instead of English word "diffuse".

Definitions
disseminate (v)
(transitive) To sow and scatter principles, ideas, opinions, etc for growth and propagation, like seeds.
(intransitive) To become widespread.

diffuse (v)
(transitive) To spread over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.
(intransitive) To be spread over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.

Etymology
disseminate (v.) c. 1600, from Latin disseminatus, past participle of disseminare "to spread abroad, disseminate," from dis- "in every direction" (see dis-) + seminare "to plant, propagate," from semen (genitive seminis) "seed" (see semen).

diffuse (v.) 1520s (transitive), 1650s (intransitive), from Latin diffusus, past participle of diffundere "to pour out or away" (see diffusion).

Forgive me changing the topic, but I'd like to remind all that the Latin American Unicycle Championship will be held in Mexico City July 16-23.

More information

Fecha: 9 de Julio, 2017
Palabra: árbitro (Sorry, I don't know how to make a capital A with an accent on it.)

Today's SWD means referee or arbitrator. I highly suspect it shares the same etymology as the word arbitrate.

Ejemplo time.

Quiero ser un árbitro al concurso de monociclos. = I want to be a referee at the unicycle competition.

Quote: Wizard

Fecha: 9 de Julio, 2017
Palabra: árbitro (Sorry, I don't know how to make a capital A with an accent on it.)

Today's SWD means referee or arbitrator. I highly suspect it shares the same etymology as the word arbitrate.

Type & # 193 ; without the spaces to get Á

You would have to ask Nareed if it is customary to use qualifier "juez" to distinguish from a legal abitrater. It may be understood by context
juez, za árbitro ~ m. y f. Dep. En competiciones deportivas, árbitro principal que toma las últimas decisiones.

In English a referee (n.) meant a "person who examines patent applications" before it was transferred to sports (first recorded in 1820)

The verb "referir" (first-person singular present refiero, first-person singular preterite referí, past participle referido) is in Spanish and it means
to report
to relate
(reflexive) to refer to

Quote: Wizard

árbitro (Sorry, I don't know how to make a capital A with an accent on it.)

Make a text file with á é í ó ú Á É Í Ó Ú then copy and paste as needed.

Quote: Nareed

Make a text file with á é í ó ú Á É Í Ó Ú then copy and paste as needed.

Thanks. I've tried that but always forget what I named the file or where I put it. So few words begin with an accented vowel anyway.

Fecha: 21 de Julio, 2017
Palabra: Zueco

On my recent trip to the Amsterdam and Brussels I saw a few shops that make wooden shoes. In one of them I took in the demonstration of how they were made. The only Spanish I heard on the entire trip was here. The maker of the wooden shoes gave the presentation in both English and Spanish. French or Italian would have been much more effective, given the location, but it isn't like you can ask a wooden shoe maker to pick up a new language overnight.

In the presentation I kept hearing the word zueco. He also said zapato (shoe) many times, so I didn't know what a zueco was. Now that I'm back I looked it up. SpanishDict says it means clog. So I got to wondering what exactly is a clog. Dictionary.com says a clog is "a shoe or sandal with a thick sole of wood, cork, rubber, or the like." And all along I thought a clog was a fully wooden shoe, like the one I'm sitting in below. I guess there is no specific term for a shoe fully made of wood, just a "wooden shoe."

Ejemplo time

Pongo un zueco in la boca. = I put a clog in my mouth.

Please don't tell me it should be "mi" boca. Body parts are not possessive in Spanish, although I often hear that error in spoken Spanish.