My favorite Spanish words/phrases
I finally reached Level 5 on Dreaming Spanish (600-ish hours), and to celebrate, here's a list of some Spanish words I like at the moment:
Conquistar This word means exactly what you think it means, however it's used in place of "winning someone over." For example, in TV shows whenever characters talk about wooing someone, they say something like, "Te voy a conquistar (I'm going to win you over)" or "Quiero que me conquistes (I want you to win me over)."
I guess the reason I like it is because it sounds so aggressive in English ("I'm gonna conquer your love!"), and so it kind of makes me laugh. Not to mention, considering Central and South America was literally conquered by the Spaniards, it seems like an odd word choice. In Spanish, it's actually a very romantic word and can mean a lot more than just "to conquer." It still makes me laugh, though.
Ojalá Means hopefully. I just like it cause it sounds pretty, and it reminds me of the Arab word inshallah (God willing).
Embarazada Every person who begins learning Spanish has that awkward moment when they realize embarazada does not mean "embarrassed," it means "to be pregnant." This word always comes up in telenovelas, usually during dramatic scenes ("Estoy...camera zooms in embarazada!") It just makes me laugh. Although now I wonder how Spanish-speakers learning English for the first time feel when they learn "being embarrassed" does not mean "being pregnant."
Madrugar / Amanecer / Cenar Since I've started learning Spanish, I've realized that English is a wordy language. It sometimes takes two or three words to say something that in Spanish only takes one. I love these particular verbs (to wake up early, to wake up at dawn, to go to dinner) because there's no English equivalent. We just say "I woke up early" or "We all went to dinner." But in Spanish you could say something like, "Cenaste?" (Have you had dinner yet?). Or "Madrugaste?" ("Did you wake up early?"). You have to admit, it's very efficient, and has made me realize how much English relies on lots of unnecessary little words to make meanings that should really only take one word.
Me cae bien / me di cuenta / echar de menos / me queda bien Just some idiomatic phrases I find interesting cause they don't translate well literally. The first means to like someone, although the literal translation isn't anything like that ("me fall well"). "Me di cuenta" literally means "I gave myself account" but it means "to realize." And there's so many more with "echar" and "quedar." I call them "contextual phrases," because they're impossible to understand without context.
Necia / naca / gata / zorra / trepadora / arribista Just a few of the many insults I hear while watching telenovelas (all of them are some variation of "trashy whore" or "golddigger").