Tuesday, August 28, 2012
¿Cono o vaso?
Yes, it's that time again where I share some Spanish with you that I learned while I was out and about stuffing my face.
I just recently got a new job, and luckily there's a Mexican restaurant just a few minutes down the street. Only this isn't just any old Mexican restaurant.
So what's different about this place you ask? Well, let's start by explaining what a few of those words on the letrero (sign) mean. A taquería is a place that specializes in tacos, although many of these restaurants (including this one) sell much more than tacos. I actually talked about taquerías in my last post. If you missed it, click HERE.
Now let's talk about what a paletería is. A paletería is place were they sell paletas. OK, sorry, I know that didn't explain much of anything, but this probably will:
And yes, those are my fingers, just in case you were wondering.
Now you know a paleta is a popsicle. But paleterías don't just serve popsicles, they serve popsicles made of fresh fruit, and man do they taste good! You'll find all different kinds of flavors, likedurazno (peach), sandia (watermelon), fresa (stawberry), melon (melon), mango (mango), mango con chile (mango with chile - it's supposed to be spicy but I've never tried it) and a ton of other flavors. Sandia is my favorite. Take a look at what's in the fridge:
To actually order one of these tasty treats, you can say something like:
Quiero una de fresa
I want a strawberry one
Deme una de sandia
Give me a watermelon one
Una paleta de melon
One melon popsicle
Don't forget the "por favor", you can never be too polite.
It's also fairly typical for a paletería to sell helado, which is ice cream for us English speakers. And it should come as no surprise that Spanish also has a word for an ice cream shop - heladería.
Speaking of ice cream, here are a couple of other words you should know if you plan on ordering ice cream in a paletería or heladería. But first, take a look at this video. I probably won't need to explain much of anything after you watch it.
Cono - You've probably guessed that this means cone.
Vaso - Technically this means glass. It could also be used to ask for a cup made of plastic, styrofoam or otherwise. And obviously for a cup of ice cream, even if the cup is actually a bowl. And you will probably see the words taza or copa as well.
And just to be thorough, an ice cream scooper is called a cuchara para helado. Or a pala para helado. Don't be surprised if there are other words for it as well. It's not uncommon for different Spanish speaking countries to use different words.
That's it for today. If you're still dealing with those hot summer days, run out to the nearest paletería or heladería and use your new Spanish vocabulary to get a nice refreshinghelado or paleta to cool off!
And no, Burger King is not giving me a kick back for posting their video. I wish they were.
¡Hasta la proxima!
I just recently got a new job, and luckily there's a Mexican restaurant just a few minutes down the street. Only this isn't just any old Mexican restaurant.
So what's different about this place you ask? Well, let's start by explaining what a few of those words on the letrero (sign) mean. A taquería is a place that specializes in tacos, although many of these restaurants (including this one) sell much more than tacos. I actually talked about taquerías in my last post. If you missed it, click HERE.
Now let's talk about what a paletería is. A paletería is place were they sell paletas. OK, sorry, I know that didn't explain much of anything, but this probably will:
And yes, those are my fingers, just in case you were wondering.
Now you know a paleta is a popsicle. But paleterías don't just serve popsicles, they serve popsicles made of fresh fruit, and man do they taste good! You'll find all different kinds of flavors, likedurazno (peach), sandia (watermelon), fresa (stawberry), melon (melon), mango (mango), mango con chile (mango with chile - it's supposed to be spicy but I've never tried it) and a ton of other flavors. Sandia is my favorite. Take a look at what's in the fridge:
To actually order one of these tasty treats, you can say something like:
Quiero una de fresa
I want a strawberry one
Deme una de sandia
Give me a watermelon one
Una paleta de melon
One melon popsicle
Don't forget the "por favor", you can never be too polite.
It's also fairly typical for a paletería to sell helado, which is ice cream for us English speakers. And it should come as no surprise that Spanish also has a word for an ice cream shop - heladería.
Speaking of ice cream, here are a couple of other words you should know if you plan on ordering ice cream in a paletería or heladería. But first, take a look at this video. I probably won't need to explain much of anything after you watch it.
Cono - You've probably guessed that this means cone.
Vaso - Technically this means glass. It could also be used to ask for a cup made of plastic, styrofoam or otherwise. And obviously for a cup of ice cream, even if the cup is actually a bowl. And you will probably see the words taza or copa as well.
And just to be thorough, an ice cream scooper is called a cuchara para helado. Or a pala para helado. Don't be surprised if there are other words for it as well. It's not uncommon for different Spanish speaking countries to use different words.
That's it for today. If you're still dealing with those hot summer days, run out to the nearest paletería or heladería and use your new Spanish vocabulary to get a nice refreshinghelado or paleta to cool off!
And no, Burger King is not giving me a kick back for posting their video. I wish they were.
¡Hasta la proxima!
Friday, August 3, 2012
Vamos a una lonchera
I love Mexican food. And as you all know, there are a ton of great Mexican restaurants that can be found all over the country. But there are also some great places that serve Mexican food that you may have overlooked.
Have you ever seen one of these?
We typically call these mobile restaurants taco trucks, but they're actually called loncheras. I'm not sure if this a Mexican term or not, but don't be afraid to use it. If your friends aren't familiar with the term you can have the honor of teaching them some Spanish.
On a side note, this is also a lonchera:
That's right, a lonchera is also a lunch box. We're not here to talk about that type of lonchera today, but if you want to take a walk down lunch box memory lane, click here to see a great collection of loncheras retro - retro lunch boxes.
Let's get back on track.
If you've never eaten at a lonchera, you've been missing out. Depending on where you live, finding alonchera can be like searching for hidden treasure, but once you find one you won't be disappointed.
So what does a lonchera serve you ask? A little bit of everything. Here's a fairly typical menu:
Personally I almost always go for a torta or a trio of tacos - lengua, pollo and barbacoa.
Enough about my food interests. Maybe I'll talk about that in another post.
A lonchera may also be called a taquería, but a taquería can be a lot more than a taco bus.
In general, a taquería is a restaurant that specializes in tacos. The taquerías that I've seen often offer other items, but tacos are their primary business. Here in the US a taquería typically looks like a regular restaurant, but when you're walking the streets of Mexico they might look something like this:
There's also another kind of restaurant you can find in Mexico, a lonchería. A lonchería is a place you can go to have lunch.
When you're on the go in Mexico and don't have time to sit down and eat, don't worry, you don't have to go hungry. A quick stop at a puesto de tacos (taco stand) will take care of that hunger.
OK, now I'm getting hungry so it's time to wrap this up. But before I go I want to share one more thing.
Our Spanish books only give us two options to tell someone that we're hungry.
Tengo hambre
I'm hungry
Tengo mucho hambre
I'm very hungry
Well, yeah, those work and get your point across, but here are a few more ways to say you're hungry that are a lot more fun.
Me muero de hambre
I'm starving
Me estoy muriendo de hambre
I'm starving
The second version of "I'm starving" is a more literal translation, but I think the first version is more common. Either way, they both work.
Tengo tanta hambre que puedo comer una vaca entera
I'm so hungry I could eat an entire cow
Con esta hambre me puedo comer una vaca entera
I'm hungry enough to eat an entire cow
Yo con esta hambre y hay fila en la cafeteria
I'm so hungry and there's a line in the cafeteria
Traigo un hambre que parecen dos
I have a hunger that seems like two
This last one just doesn't make sense when you translate it literally. With that in mind, I'll give you a translation that more or less expresses the same idea.
Traigo un hambre que parecen dos
I'm hungry enough to eat for two
That's it for today! Go out and grab yourself a bite to eat at your favorite lonchera and enjoy!
Have you ever seen one of these?
We typically call these mobile restaurants taco trucks, but they're actually called loncheras. I'm not sure if this a Mexican term or not, but don't be afraid to use it. If your friends aren't familiar with the term you can have the honor of teaching them some Spanish.
On a side note, this is also a lonchera:
That's right, a lonchera is also a lunch box. We're not here to talk about that type of lonchera today, but if you want to take a walk down lunch box memory lane, click here to see a great collection of loncheras retro - retro lunch boxes.
Let's get back on track.
If you've never eaten at a lonchera, you've been missing out. Depending on where you live, finding alonchera can be like searching for hidden treasure, but once you find one you won't be disappointed.
So what does a lonchera serve you ask? A little bit of everything. Here's a fairly typical menu:
Personally I almost always go for a torta or a trio of tacos - lengua, pollo and barbacoa.
Enough about my food interests. Maybe I'll talk about that in another post.
A lonchera may also be called a taquería, but a taquería can be a lot more than a taco bus.
In general, a taquería is a restaurant that specializes in tacos. The taquerías that I've seen often offer other items, but tacos are their primary business. Here in the US a taquería typically looks like a regular restaurant, but when you're walking the streets of Mexico they might look something like this:
There's also another kind of restaurant you can find in Mexico, a lonchería. A lonchería is a place you can go to have lunch.
When you're on the go in Mexico and don't have time to sit down and eat, don't worry, you don't have to go hungry. A quick stop at a puesto de tacos (taco stand) will take care of that hunger.
OK, now I'm getting hungry so it's time to wrap this up. But before I go I want to share one more thing.
Our Spanish books only give us two options to tell someone that we're hungry.
Tengo hambre
I'm hungry
Tengo mucho hambre
I'm very hungry
Well, yeah, those work and get your point across, but here are a few more ways to say you're hungry that are a lot more fun.
Me muero de hambre
I'm starving
Me estoy muriendo de hambre
I'm starving
The second version of "I'm starving" is a more literal translation, but I think the first version is more common. Either way, they both work.
Tengo tanta hambre que puedo comer una vaca entera
I'm so hungry I could eat an entire cow
Con esta hambre me puedo comer una vaca entera
I'm hungry enough to eat an entire cow
Yo con esta hambre y hay fila en la cafeteria
I'm so hungry and there's a line in the cafeteria
Traigo un hambre que parecen dos
I have a hunger that seems like two
This last one just doesn't make sense when you translate it literally. With that in mind, I'll give you a translation that more or less expresses the same idea.
Traigo un hambre que parecen dos
I'm hungry enough to eat for two
That's it for today! Go out and grab yourself a bite to eat at your favorite lonchera and enjoy!
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ivan