This blog post is from an email message that I have copied and pasted which I had sent to my subscribers and customers a few years ago when I left Colombia for several weeks to visit home – – “Nueva York” (New York).
After reading this email that I have turned into a blog post, you will know how to say the following in Spanish:
1. How To Say Left-handed In Spanish
2. How To Say Right-handed In Spanish
3. How To Say Deaf In Spanish
4. How To Say Mute In Spanish
5. How To Say Blind In Spanish
Here’s the email that I sent . . .
I have returned to Nueva York (New York City) for several weeks to visit “mi familia.”
A few days ago, I had lunch in my favorite Dominican restaurant in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan which is the “barrio dominicano” (Dominican neighborhood).
I gave the “mesera” (waitress) my order in Spanish using a Colombian word for one of the dishes instead of the word that Dominicans commonly use.
Out of habit, I asked for “patacones” instead of “tostones” and the waitress looked a bit confused. By the way, “patacones” or “tostones” is a dish consisting of fried unripe green plantains (bananas).
The waitress did, however, understand me when I used the universally-known Spanish word for beans — “fríjoles” — instead of the word Dominicans and Puerto Ricans use for beans: “habichuelas”
In Colombia, “habichuelas” are what Americans would call “string beans.”
This incident happened to remind that the words that Spanish speakers use so easily change from one country to another.
Now when I got to Jackson Heights, Queens, “el barrio colombiano” (the Colombian neighborhood) in New York and eat in my favorite Colombian “restaurante” will I have to remember to say “patacones” instead of “tostones.”
5 Spanish Vocabulary Words
Today I have 5 more vocabulary words from my “cuaderno” (notebook) of Uncommon Spanish Words and Phrases. But in reality, the words are not really so uncommon. If you live in a Spanish-speaking country you will hear these words. But you will probably not hear them used in a typical Spanish course.
Here are “cinco” (5) vocabulary words:
How To Say Left-handed In Spanish
1. Zurdo — south-paw, left-handed
El boxeador es zurdo.
The boxer is south-paw.
How To Say Right-handed In Spanish
2. Diestro – right-handed
El jugador de beisbol no es diestro.
The baseball player is not right-handed.
Besides “diestro” another word for right-handed is “derecho.” But “derecho” can also mean “straight.”
How To Say Deaf In Spanish
3. Sordo — deaf
El hombre no escucha bien porque es medio sordo.
The man does not hear well because he is half deaf.
How To Say Mute In Spanish
4. Mudo — mute
La niña no habla porque es muda.
The girl does not speak because she is mute.
How To Say Blind In Spanish
5. Ciego — Blind
“El amor es ciego pero los vecinos no”
Love is blind but not the neighbors.
(This is a popular “dicho” or saying in Colombia)
The saying is very true. I noticed that in Colombia “mis vecinos” (my neighbors) tend to be very “metida” (nosey) compared to “neoyorquinos” (New Yorkers).
