Spanish Word of the Day

soccus is Latin from Ancient Greek σύκχος (súkkhos, “a kind of shoe”), probably from Phrygian or another language from Asia Minor.

Descendants
Spanish: zueco
English: sock
Portuguese: soco
Catalan: soc
Icelandic: sokkur


Spanish is a native langugage to the region in the distant past, so it is probably retained in only a few place names and in some traditional items like the wooden shoes.

The Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces (Belgica Foederata in Latin, the "Federated Netherlands") and the Southern Netherlands (Belgica Regia, the "Royal Netherlands").

The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish (Spanish Netherlands) and the Austrian Habsburgs (Austrian Netherlands) and comprised most of modern Belgium. This was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries.

Quote: Pacomartin

[ After the earthquake in 1985, no one ever thought they would build a super-tall in Mexico City.

A terrible earthquake (largest in a century) just hit in the ocean near the border of Mexico and Guatemala. Some people said they felt it in Mexico City. So far 61 dead but there is danger of a tsunami

Quote: Pacomartin

Some people said they felt it in Mexico City.

I almost laughed at that.

Friday morning at work all everyone talked about was the previous night's earthquake. Lots of people fled their homes despite it being midnight.

Me, I did wake up from the shaking, but not all the way. I manged to think "Oh, there's an earthquake." And a few seconds later because it was keeping me up "stop already."

This makes me odd, as the "normal" (or more appropriate average) response seems to be to vacate the premises as fast as possible.

Before this earthquake, the last one that caught me at home was a few years ago much earlier in the evening. I may have posted about it. I was wide awake, watching TV and browsing the web. I stayed put until it stopped, then browsed for news. So pretty much what I did a few days ago.

I live in an area of solid bedrock, among recently built buildings (ie under 20 years old). They're unlikely to be damaged in a quake, and even more unlikely to collapse. But debris from facades and windows can always shake off. So I judge that it's safer to stay put and wait it out. Not that I was thinking that last Thursday. I just wanted to get back to sleep.

Quote:

So far 61 dead but there is danger of a tsunami

There was a lot of damage in the south east, mostly in Oaxaca and Chiapas. As far as I know there were no tsunamis, though there were warnings for waves of about one meter. In Mex city the damage seems to have been negligible.

But it was widely felt. here's some video of the Independence Column during the termors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8wsLud8_ls

Fecha: 13 de Septiembre, 2017
Palabra: Tiritar

Today's SWD means to shiver/tremble.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast tiritar y temblar.

Ejemplo time.

Mary Ann tiritó cuado lo nevó la isla. = Mary Ann shivered when it snowed on the island.

Quote: Wizard

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast tiritar y temblar.

Though similar in meaning, DRAE says tiritar's origin is onomatopoeia, while temblar is from a Latin word.


They are not exact synonyms in English, as your hand might tremble because of fear, but shivering is normally only associated with cold.

In English, "shiver" as a verb originally meant "to break in or into many small pieces," as in the phrase "shiver me timbers".
After a few centuries to came to mean "shake," c. 1400, alteration of chiveren (c. 1200), of uncertain origin.

In English tremble (v.) came from Old French trembler , but ultimately from the same Latin word that was an ancestor to Spanish temblar.

Fecha: 14 de Septiembre, 2017
Palabra: Tasa

Today's SWD should not be confused with taza, which means cup/mug. In the context I found the word, tasa meant rate. However, SWD mentions other meanings, including a tax.

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast tasa y impuesto.

Ejemplo time

La tasa que Mary Ann hace tartas de crema platano es mas bajo que el año anterior. = The rate at which Mary Ann makes banana creme pies is less than last year.

Feeling particularly cruel tonight: "Los productos ofertados causan I.V.A. a tasa cero."

Quote: Wizard

The assignment for the advanced readers is to compare and contrast tasa y impuesto.

tasa is a noun, with a related verb tasar (to appraise)
impuesto is a noun, with a related verb imponer (to impose, impress, enforce, enjoin)

From DRAE it sounds like tasa is more for a tax for fishing, driving, or another activity. An impuesto is more like an "income tax".

tasa :Tributo que se impone al disfrute de ciertos servicios o al ejercicio de ciertas actividades.
impuesto :Tributo que se exige en función de la capacidad económica de los obligados a su pago.

Nareed will have to confirm if this is the understanding in Mexico. She sometimes finds the DRAE definitions to be stilted.

Quote: Pacomartin

Nareed will have to confirm if this is the understanding in Mexico. She sometimes finds the DRAE definitions to be stilted.

The only Royal anything that's worth anything is Royal Dutch Airlines ;)

Tasa means rate. Period. Full. Stop.

Taxes are expressed as a rate of something. So the terms become interchangeable. You may say "I pay 35% in taxes," or you could say "I pay a 35% rate," and never assume that tax means rate and viceversa.

Mexico has a federal Value Added Tax (IVA) currently at 16% (it began at 10%). This includes all products and services (including interests!), but the rate can be different for some products or services. So for example the IVA applies to food and medicine, but at a rate of 0%

Taza is a far more interesting word: it means a cup with a handle.

The word applies to the traditional coffee or tea cup, but also to a mug. It does not apply to plastic, paper, or cardboard cups. those are "vasos." And that is a word, I maintain, without a direct equivalent in English.

Anyway, taza also means a measuring cup, even if it lacks a handle. A beer mug with a handle is a tarro, not a taza or a vaso.

Would a ceramic cup without a handle be a cuenco?