Today we will learn some popular English loanwords in Spanish. Well, it might surprise you, but there are hundreds or maybe even thousands English words that are commonly used in everyday colloquial Spanish. Learn some of them with El Rincón del Tándem Spanish school!
The words that one language borrows from another language are called “loanwords”. In the case of English ‘loanwords’ in Spanish, they are also known as ‘Anglicisms’.
They are usually connected to media, technology and sport. While some of these ‘Anglicisms’ kept their form, some have been transformed a bit, so be careful with that.
Freaky/ friki
Quite common Anglicism, especially between young people. ‘Friki’ refers to a person who is obsessed with something (usually technology), is different from others or has unusual habits. In English we could say geek, nerd or freak, although there’s no exact equivalent.
- Algunos consideran mi novio un poco friki. Colecciona espejos = Some people consider my boyfriend to be a freak. He collects mirrors
Casting
This English words indicates an audition for singers, actor or dancers.
- Hoy hay un casting en el Teatro Principal = Today there is a audition in the teatro principal
Crack
Crack is used to describe a really cool or talented person. In English we could say ‘a star’
- Messi es un crack = Messi is a star
- ¿Has sacado 10 de 10? ¡Eres un crack! = You’ve got 10 out of 10? You’re a star!
Footing
If you hear a Spaniard, say: ‘He visto a Jorge haciendo footing.’, he means he saw Jorge jogging.
Feedback
Very popular Anglicism used all the time in a workplace.
- Agradecemos tu feedback = We value your feedback
Because correo electrónico is too long. 😊
Marketing
The equivalent Spanish word would be mercadeo o mercadotécnica. Nowadays, marketing replaces totally the Spanish word and has been also accepted by the RAE.
Spoiler
It is one of the most popular English loan…especially for those who are passionate about TV series.
If you want to say someone to do not tell you about something (a movie, a series chapter, a novel), you can say in Spanish “¡No me hagas spoiler!”
Tweet/ tuit
If you first see this Anglicism in its adapted written form, you probably won’t associate it with ‘tweet’ but the pronunciation is the same.
- ¿Has visto el nuevo tuit de Kim Kardashian? = Have you seen the new tweet of Kim Kardashian?
Pub
Don’t get confused. It has the same meaning but different pronunciation – in English it’s /pʌb/ but in Spanish /pʊb/, similar to the pronunciation of ‘good’.
¡Vamos al pub e invitamos a todos! = Let’s go to the pub and invite everyone!
We hope this post on English loanwords in Spanish has been useful to all Spanish learners.
In our Spanish lessons you will learn how to use colloquial Spanish in real life situations.
Finally, we remind you that our Spanish school, El Rincón del Tándem is happy to teach you Spanish in beautiful Valencia!
