Did this happen to you? You are listening to a native Spanish speaker talking trying hard to understand and suddenly you catch a familiar word. Wait, is he speaking English now or did I miss something? Well, it might surprise you, but there are hundreds or maybe even thousands English words that are commonly used in everyday colloquial Spanish. In this article you will learn some of them so that you can use them next time.
The words that one language borrows from another language are called ‘loanwords’, in our case English ‘loanwords’ in Spanish are 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.)
Crack
It has nothing to do with the drug. Crack is used to describe 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 with the same meaning.
Agradecemos tu feedback. (We value your feedback.)
Because correo electrónico is too long.
Gin-tonic
Even though gin is ginebra and tonic is tónica, you won’t hear any Spaniard ordering ginebra con tónica.
Office/ el office
Not an alternative to Spanish oficina. El office refers to a space in the kitchen where you can sit and talk (basically comedor), in the hospitality it’s used for a pantry or utility room.
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! (We are going to the pub and we are inviting everyone!)
In our Spanish lessons you will learn how to use colloquial Spanish in real life situations. Come and study Spanish with us in beautiful Valencia! Check our courses here.
