Words and phrases we've pinched from Spanish

Question

There are many words that we use everyday that we English-speakers have pilfered from across the globe. Spanish words are no exception. So here's the challenge:

Lets see how many words and phrases we can come up with that we have pinched from Spanish

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I'll start:

Mi casa es su casa

My house is your house

This phrase is widely used in Spanish and Mexican homes to make guests feel welcome but it has passed into American English through the Latin American and Spanish communities and now it has also reached British English. In Spanish it is quite a formal phrase but in English people tend to say it theatrically and less formally.

Example of use in English

"Hey friends come on in! There's no need to take your shoes off, Mi casa es su casa, let me get you drinks."

¨"Entonces dame las llaves" - 005faa61, Aug 3, 2010

This is a great thread cardiff, wonderful! - 00494d19, Aug 4, 2010

This could run and run - galsally, Aug 4, 2010

Answer 1

And at our Fiesta there was a Piñata.

I don't think it even has an English name! Explanation, sure, but a one word name?

Hanging-basket-of-goodies-waiting-to-get-smashed-open-thingy.

You can buy a pinata in England now. We definitely don't have our own word for them. - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

Can't type n with tilda in comments ! - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

Do they use ñ in the word or just n. We need to call a plumber, your Spanish is leaking! :) - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

Just an "n" Late, we don't have accents. - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

What? every Brit I've ever talked too had an accent! - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

Mr. F to get an ñ in a comment, simply hold down the ALT key, type 164 on the numeric pad, release Alt key. - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

We don't have accents, its the rest of you ! - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

Actually, for a very small country, we have a huge number of different accents. Its amazing we can understand each other ! - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

But to us (in the US) it makes for such great movies! Don't change a thing! - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

No numeric pad on laptop Mr. L. so can't use that trick. - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

And I'm not going to rest until you give me an ñ, come on, be a sport ... type it! - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

Picture me in your mind, and guess what English actor I sound like. - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

Wow, talk about a 'challenge" - don't waste that here, start a game! - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

ñññ - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

10 minutes to get that on ! - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

I can't think of his name, the English actor telling the American where to go? - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

every english person I know realises it should sound something like the 'n' in onion. :) - galsally, Aug 4, 2010

I'm english and i'm proud of my accent! haha - Cardiff1985, Aug 4, 2010

I wonder how a Brit sounds trying to speak Spanish. - sagiia, Aug 5, 2010

This Brit doesn't sound good! - fontanero, Aug 7, 2010

Answer 2

How about "hasta la vista" baby!

Sounds "Terminal". - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

And what ever you do, don´t eat donuts! - 005faa61, Aug 3, 2010

Even in good ol' blighty we know this one! - galsally, Aug 4, 2010

Answer 3

I love the phrasing of your question, words we've pinched.

The first one that springs to mind is:-

Amigo, for friend. Though not amiga.

Yes good one Fontenero :) very coomon these days - FELIZ77, Aug 3, 2010

... and not only that, but common,too! - LateToDinner, Aug 20, 2010

Answer 4

Yo quiero Taco Bell

I like 'pinched' but this was rammed down our throats ... pun intended!

Subject pronoun!!!! Send that chihuahua to the dunce corner! - Yeser007, Aug 3, 2010

Too late. It passed away last month. Made the news! Gidget. - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

Awww! Bummer. - Yeser007, Aug 3, 2010

She may have said: Here leezerd, leezerd, leezerd ... one time too many! - LateToDinner, Aug 4, 2010

Sounds like we missed something wonderful by living in England.. :P - galsally, Aug 4, 2010

Sally, in all of its glory, you can see it on Youtube! - LateToDinner, Aug 20, 2010

Answer 5

Are you loco?

Loco=Crazy

Another one so ingrained that it would be easy to miss! - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

Answer 6

Because the expressions are so similar, people often say:

"No problema." for "No problem."

I've heard "no problemo", we don't do genders. - fontanero, Aug 3, 2010

It's incorrect tho, isn't it? should be no hay problema.? - galsally, Aug 4, 2010

Answer 7

qué será, será

... whatever will be, will be!

Answer 8

Aficionado

ardent fan or devotee

In Spanish this term is most often used to describe a fan of Bull-fighting but in English it has come to mean a devoted fan of a sport or art .

Answer 9

There are tons of words associated with the southwest and cowboying that are taken from Spanish:

buckaroo = vaquero

calaboose = calaboso

pinto = pinto

chaps = chaparreras

lasso = lazo

lariat = la reata

vamoose = vamos

bandana = bandana

latigo = látigo

The list goes on.

Thanks for leaving out Rodeo! But I still would have used it! - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

Answer 10

El Camino

I've always wanted one of those. Don't think I've ever seen a real one. - fontanero, Aug 4, 2010

Answer 11

What about "el niño" and "la niña" for meteorological conditions?

Good one , it is quite commonplace in OZ. - ray76, Aug 3, 2010

Answer 12

One of my early exposures to Spanglish!

"Vaya con Dios my darling"

Answer 13

I often hear people say something like this when they are tired in the middle of the day:

"I could use a siesta."

"It's time for my siesta".

Grownups can say that, babies take naps - the rest of us have siestas! good one! - LateToDinner, Aug 3, 2010

Answer 14

remember the commercial, the "Frito Bandito"? - amykay, Aug 3, 2010

I had Frito Bandito erasers for my pencils. - 008f2974, Aug 4, 2010

Answer 15

¡Ay caramba!

I think we know this in England because of the Simpsons.

Another is '¡Vamos!' My dad used to say 'Scarper, vamos!' to mean 'Get out of here' and for so long I never knew why...

Una paloma blanca from that song..

My dad also said 'silly bint' from Arabic. Sexist and racist all in one... but that would be a different forum or a different thread. :D