word of the day: pobla

The word of the day is pobla

Not entirely sure, but I'm guessing it's short for either

población: feminine noun 1. town, city (ciudad); village (pueblo) 2. population (personas, animales)  3. settlement, populating (acción de poblar) (spanishdict.com) or poblado: noun 1. Town, village, or place inhabited (habitado). (m) (spanishdict.com)

"Within a month, a couple of thousand more infections were reported.  It didn't rip through the pobla like the dengues or the poxes.  More of a slow leprous spread."

 - Junot Díaz, "Monstro", 4 & 11 June 2012 The New Yorker

word of the day: culo

The word of the day is culo:

(informal o) (vulgar)2. bum (nalgas) (AmBr), butt (United States) (spanishdict.com)

"These days everybody wants to know what you were doing when the world came to an end.  Fools make up all sorts of vainglorious self-serving plep - but me, I tell the truth.

"I was chasing a girl...

Motherfuckers used to say culo would be the end of us.  Well, for me it really was."

 - Junot Díaz, "Monstro", 4 & 11 June 2012 The New Yorker

word of the day: plep

The word of the day is plep:

A word when at first had no definition, merely created to avoid numerals. But as PLEP evolved, and extensive research was done it's been assosiated with pwning noobs as far back as 2000. (Urban Dictionary: I'm not proud of it, but it was the best I could find)

"These days everybody wants to know what you were doing when the world came to an end.  Fools make up all sorts of vainglorious self-serving plep - but me, I tell the truth."

 - Junot Díaz, "Monstro", 4 & 11 June 2012 The New Yorker

word of the day: liminal

The word of the day is liminal:

 < Latin līmin-, līmen threshold + -al suffix¹.

a. gen. Of or pertaining to the threshold or initial stage of a process. rare.b. spec. in Psychol. Of or pertaining to a ‘limen’ or ‘threshold'. (OED)

"As you point out, the story ends with Yunior about to turn forty, which is a very liminal place to be, especially for an immigrant dude like him. It’s one thing to be an immigrant ten years out from arrival and quite another to be an immigrant thirty years out from arrival. When I was a young I always thought I would reach a point where my immigrant-ness would suddenly fall away, and I would miraculously become an American. Now I know that’s not what happens: being an immigrant is one of those things that is forever."

 - Junot Díaz, "This Week in Fiction: Junot Díaz", Page-Turner 16 July 2012


No, I'm still not sure what he means.

word of the day: mujerón

The word of the day is mujerón:


A stout woman; a matron.  (spanishdict.com)

"On the T, you swear you see your ex in the rush-hour mix and for a second your knees buckle, but it turns out to be just another Latina mujerón in a tailored suit."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: whip

The word of the day is whip:

When the steering wheel was first put into use in automobiles, it was called the "whip". The whip is what you used to control the horses on a stagecoach, hence the analogy. Many years later, various hip hop artists noticed that the Mercedes-Benz logo resembled a steering wheel. They then proceeded to use the old term "whip" to describe any Mercedes-Benz vehicle. The term has now been generalized to classify any expensive automobile.  (Urban Dictionary)

"You get pulled over by the cops three weekends in a row.  One time, they sit you out on the curb and you watch as all the other whips sail past, passengers ogling you as they go."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: stenosis

The word of the day is stenosis:

< Greek στένωσις narrowing, < στενοῦν to narrow, < στενός narrow.(Show Less)

Pathol.

The contraction or stricture of a passage, duct or canal.  (OED)

"The numbness in your arms and legs increases.  You return to your doctors and they send you over to a neurologist, who sends you out for an MRI.  Looks like you have stenosis all down your spine, the doctor reports, impressed."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: lapidary

The word of the day is lapidary:

< Latin lapidārius, < lapid-, lapis stone.

 A. adj. 

1. Concerned with stones. rare. 

2.a. Of an inscription, etc.: Engraved on stone, esp. monumental stones. 

b. Of style, etc.: Characteristic of or suitable for monumental inscriptions.(OED)

"The boy is staring at you with lapidary intensity."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: carajito

The word of the day is carajito:

Kid, small child. (Latin American) (spanishdict.com)

"Elvis, Jr., watches you with considerable gravitas.  He is a piercingly cute carajito."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: pica pollo

The word of the day is pica pollo:

Deep fried chicken. (Dominicancooking.com)

"You invite them all to sit down, order more beer and some bad pica pollo."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: prima

The word of the day is prima:

Female cousin. (spanishdict.com)

"Of course they all have a sister or a prima they want you to meet."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: colmado

The word of the day is colmado:

grocer's (shop). (spanishdict.com)

"Takes him less than five seconds to talk you into ordering a couple of grandes and a bottle of Brugal from the nearby colmado."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: negocio

The word of the day is negocio:

business. (spanishdict.com)

"The happy couple leave you with the family and Elvis, Jr., while they visit various negocios to settle accounts and to pick up some necessities."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: hijo

The word of the day is hijo:

son. (spanishdict.com)

"Elvis picks up the boy.  Mi hijo, he sings.  Mi hijo."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: campesina

The word of the day is campesina:

rural, country (del campo); peasant (en el pasado, en países pobres). (spanishdict.com)

"So the padrino finally decides to visit, she declaims in one of those loud ronca campesina voices."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: ronca

The word of the day is ronca:

Hoarse (persona), husky, having a rough voice. (spanishdict.com)

"So the padrino finally decides to visit, she declaims in one of those loud ronca campesina voices."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: padrino

The word of the day is padrino:

1. godfather (de bautismo); best man (de boda)

• padrinos -> godparents (padrino y madrina)

2. second (en duelos, torneos)

3. patron (protector) (spanishdict.com)

"So the padrino finally decides to visit, she declaims in one of those loud ronca campesina voices."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: abrazo

The word of the day is abrazo:

embrace, hug (spanishdict.com)

"She is no older than twenty-one, twenty-two, with an irresistible Georgina Duluc smile, and when she sees you she gives you a huge abrazo."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

word of the day: motoconcho

The word of the day is motoconcho:

A small motorccycle, usually about a 110cc, used for cheap taxi service, in the Dominican Republic. It is not unusual to see one with up to five or six people one, all at the same time. They are also sometimes used instead of a pickup truck, etc., for moving large items, such as washing machines. (Urban Dictionary)

"You have to leave the rental jípeta on the last bit of paved road and jump on the back of two motoconchos with all the luggage balanced on your backs.  Nobody stares, because those ain't real loads you're carrying: You've seen a single moto carry a family of five and their pig."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012

Word of the day: jípeta

The word of the day is jípeta:

A "jipeta" is the equivalent to an SUV (Ford Explorer, Lincoln Navigator, Toyota Landcruiser) in the Dominican Republic. (wordreference.com)

"You have to leave the rental jípeta on the last bit of paved road and jump on the back of two motoconchos with all the luggage balanced on your backs."

 - Junot Díaz, "The Cheater's Guide to Love", New Yorker 23 July 2012