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Spanish bird-related phrases (1 Viewer)

njlarsen said:
Thanks for the additional thoughts!

Niels
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Hey, on this I can help YOU! Here in Guatemala, pájaro is usually used to mean the male reproductive/urinary organ (I don't know what limits BirdForum has on vocabulary) and the pretty flying creatures are generally called aves. So, I agree with the advice you have gotten from others to say aves, and also observar instead of ver or mirar for the reasons mentioned above. If you want to be very polite (gets you lots of mileage here) you can say "¿Podría pasar a su (terreno, finca, propiedad, jardín - land, farm, property, garden) para observar aves?" If your Spanish is up to it, you could add "Si fuera tan amable" (If you could be so kind; with this expression it's the same whether you are talking to a man or a woman) or "Si no fuera mucha molestia" (If it's not too much trouble). Sounds corny in English but very respectful and correct in Spanish. While Guatemalans are welcoming and tend to treat visitors well, Americans have a reputation for being rude, so being far from that stereotype is helpful. Oh, and don't forget to say thank you, and if you see the owners/representatives again when you leave, thank them again. It's almost impossible to be "too polite" in Latin American cultures.

Here they say binoculares, not gemelos. But as you have seen, terms like this often vary a lot from one place to another.

Helen
 
dalat said:
I started my first entry into latin america with one of those. Well also paired with poor spanish. Before arriving at the airport in Nicaragua, I emailed the people there to pick me up at the airport by using the word "coger" for "pick up", which is harmless (not totally correct though, should be recoger) in spain but not so over there...
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The meanings for coger in Latin America vary from mildly inappropriate to very raunchy. I avoid the word completely. Nobody uses it here in polite company!

You can use buscar for this - ¿Me puede buscar en el aeropuerto? - to get the actual activity you are looking for!

Helen
 
njlarsen said:
Thank you all!

I had heard about the Nova (no va ;) ) but in context of Chevrolet on the American side of the Atlantic.

Niels
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That's actually an urban myth; nova means the same in Spanish as in English; to mean "doesn't go" it would have to be spelled no va, or at least nová (the difference in where the accent falls is very important in Spanish). It's NOva, meaning nova, vs noVA, meaning doesn't go.

Helen
 
aveschapines said:
It's almost impossible to be "too polite" in Latin American cultures.
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Unfortunately, I'm morally forced to admit that that applies only to other countries, not to Chile.

If there's something I miss in our country is exactly that: politeness. For some strange reason (I cannot even imagine why) us Chileans seem to enjoy making sort of boast of vulgarity. It's quite usual that the very first words tourists learn by us are swearwords. Especially in big cities. On land may well be better. That's something I really, deeply regret. So when I hear people from say Peru, Colombia or Guatemala speaking, so polite, so wonderfully correct. I feel barbarian! :-C

Bottom line: my personal advice is, if you're visiting Chile, just build "lean", simple sentences. As I said before, don't rack your brain. :t:
 
willito said:
Unfortunately, I'm morally forced to admit that that applies only to other countries, not to Chile.
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Wow! I've never been to Chile, and didn't know this. I will avoid generalizations in the future. I know Mexicans have a reputation here for having guttermouths, and on my one extended trip there I found this to be shockingly true, but they were unfailingly polite in other ways. Not like Guatemalans, though - I noticed the difference as soon as I crossed the border. I had fallen and hurt myself in Mexico, and returned with my face banged up and five stitches along the side of my nose, and in Guatemala people were falling over themselves to help me!

So maybe I should say in Central America you can't be too polite???

Helen
 
It is funny how different things are (or at least are believed to be). When we visited Chile, a bird guide explained to us that Aves was a word unknown to half the people in the country and he would routinely use pajaros (even though I had forgotten his favorite word).

thanks
Niels
 
willito said:
- Use "aves" rather than "pájaros" when meaning birds. The latter one could raise a subtle smile in some countries, especially in combination with "ver"
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Interesting. Is that similar to the way Brits often use the word "bird" to mean "woman"?

In Costa Rica I was told to use "pajaros" rather than "aves", as a less formal and scientific way of referring to birds. I suppose the use of the two words must vary among countries.
 
ovenbird43 said:
Interesting. Is that similar to the way Brits often use the word "bird" to mean "woman"?

In Costa Rica I was told to use "pajaros" rather than "aves", as a less formal and scientific way of referring to birds. I suppose the use of the two words must vary among countries.
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Well, indeed "aves" is the right word for birds. "Pájaros" refers, strictly speaking, only to passerines. On the other hand, as someone else already quoted, "pájaro" is used in some corners as a slang for a certain male body part. So, in the end, "pájaros" is in fact less formal as it is, so to say, less correct. Some birders even use "pollos" (chicken) or "bichos" (bugs), but that already falls again in regional slang expressions I would say.

Last but not least: I've seen for non-Spanish speakers the word "aves" is easier than "pájaros" because of that accent and the not all too easy pronunciation "j" and "r" have in Spanish.

Bottom line: using "aves", I would say, you'll only risk to sound, if at all, a little bit snob, nothing else. But it's pretty safe in any other respect.
 
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ovenbird43 said:
I suppose the use of the two words must vary among countries.
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Definitely; the use of different words, expressions, and even grammatical structures varies a lot from one place to another (not just one country to another; for example, here Mayan people tend to speak Spanish differently from non-Mayans). Here, if you say pájaro, people's minds will go to the gutter first. This is more true if you speak Spanish reasonably well. And I think anyone here would understand aves. But definitely there is a lot of variety. Also words that are not offensive in one area can be in another (like fregar, meaning to scrub, which here is used only in an offensive manner). Bicho is another word that has different meanings in different places, not all g-rated; it's not commonly used here, but when it is, it usually refers to amoebas. For bugs most people say animales (animals), although any little bug that is in your clothes or crawling on your body is usually called a pulga (flea).

Helen
 
In Ecuador pájaro and aves are both used, with pájaro used more often. Aves is more formal and the Ecuadorians are much more informal. Here, however, they tend to put "ito" (ita) on the end of just about everything which tends to be very confusing. So if you were to hear "pàjarito" it can make it a little more difficult to understand. Each country has its own idioms and customs, so it is best to study what is common for the place you are visiting. But beware, once you speak a little Spanish they think that you can understand it as well as a local. It is best to mention up front that your Spanish is very poor, otherwise you may not understand their answer to your question.
 
njlarsen said:
"No entiendo" is a phrase I expect to use a lot ;)

Niels
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yes- I find that, and "mas despacio, por favor" to be very helpful!

Regarding regional variation, I generally found Ecuadorians easy to understand, within my abilities- but I met one lady at Bellavista, who lived by the research station there, whom I could not understand at all- not one word! I don't know if she was speaking with a heavy accent, or using unfamiliar phrases, or both, but I felt quite foolish staring blankly at her and repeating the above phrases...
 
ovenbird43 said:
yes- I find that, and "mas despacio, por favor" to be very helpful!
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Well, maybe "más lento" would be better, since "despacio" can be interpreted both as "slow" or "low". I've already experienced people asking from someone to speak "más despacio" and what they get is the same sentence being whispered... 8-P
 
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willito said:
Well, maybe "más lento" would be better, since "despacio" can be interpreted both as "slow" or "low". I've already experienced people asking from someone to speak "más despacio" and what they get is the same sentence being whispered... 8-P
Click to expand...

Oops! That's another thing I was told to say when I studied in Costa Rica, but that apparently isn't always the best choice.
 
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