¿ Qu­é onda vos? by Juan Carlos Martinez (1st edition, 1996; 2nd edition, 1997; 3rd edition, 2000; 4th edition, “updated”, 2002; 5th edition consulted, 2003).

Laura Martin, Ph.D.
Last revised May 2006

I. Background and author

Juan Carlos Martínez is the Technical and Administrative Director of Centro Ling üí stico “La Unión,” one of the ubiquitous Spanish schools in Antigua Guatemala (see http://www.launion.edu.gt/ ). According to the biographical information on the book jacket, he is a writer as well. This list of common expressions is intended primarily for students and teachers of Spanish or English as a second language. It is one of several books on Spanish grammar that the author has written or has in process.

II. Introductory material

In a brief introductory note (p. 11), we learn that the primary goal of this work is to provide a compendium of common words and expressions, especially those whose literal translation results in misunderstanding or embarrassment, that are difficult to find in an ordinary dictionary. Examples given include the well-known problem with embarasada , a false cognate used by unsuspecting English speakers of Spanish when they mean to say “embarrassed,” but interpreted by Spanish speakers as a euphemism for “pregnant.” Martínez also has in mind idioms and sayings in which a phrase has a meaning that is not derivable from its parts. A common example in Guatemala is the use of the phrase ser buena onda to describe a person who is agreeable or pleasant. Martínez pairs it with the English expression to be cool, equally idiomatic.

Several Peace Corps volunteers are credited with motivating the production of the book and with assisting on the English content. The intended audiences for the book are listed on page 15, and include, besides the obvious students and teachers, tourists, readers looking for something entertaining, and “people interested in enriching their vocabulary and better understanding ‘Latinos.'” The emphasis on vulgar forms and sexual innuendo in the listings certainly makes the book potentially “entertaining,” but it seems unlikely to make any substantial contribution to cross-cultural understanding.

A set of Observaciones on pages17-20 points out the advantages of being able to use and understand idiomatic expressions, and cautions the reader about the extensive regional variation to which such forms and their meanings are subject. The variation in meaning that occurs with differences in intonation is also mentioned. The learner is advised to use offensive and vulgar terms “only with friends.”

III . Dictionary

The dictionary – a term used for convenience – is organized into six sections: Names, Voseo , Popular Words, Popular Expressions, Dichos , and Vulgar Expressions. Each section is introduced by a color cartoon-style image. Interestingly, the entire volume is completely bilingual, with English on the recto pages and Spanish on the verso, except for Section I on Names. This organization produces several blank pages between sections, and in general , the use of white space in the listings makes them easy to read. Given the number of “editions” – mostly reprints – the book has enjoyed, it is surprising how many typographical errors still remain.

The inclusion of a Names section again speaks to the perceived importance in Guatemalan Spanish of personal names and their nicknames. This section (pp. 23-31) is straightforward and consists of four lists: masculine and feminine names and their associated nicknames, first in Spanish and then in English. Since almost all the comprehensive dictionaries also include personal names, either as entries or in examples, it is possible that an interesting study might examine trends in naming and nicknaming over what amounts to more than a full century since Batres Jáuregui's dictionary.

Section II (pp. 36-53) on the Voseo – for some reason spelled voceo throughout – is most welcome. The voseo is used by all social classes in Guatemala . It is especially common in the speech of young people, such as those who frequent Spanish schools like “La Unión.” Despite its very widespread use in Latin America, the voseo is almost never taught in the United States and is seldom included in grammars or textbooks. Martínez includes Spain in his list of places that use it, and it is reported for the Canary Islands, but is not in fact found on the Peninsula . People working or studying in Guatemala , and in many other parts of Central and South America , however, absolutely need to know about and be familiar with the voseo , even if they do not use its forms. Thus, its inclusion in this book is an important advance.

Martínez has an interesting way of presenting vos . He analyzes it as having the plural form muchá , which takes third person markers, just as usted does. He glosses muchá as ‘hey guys' or ‘you all' and vos as ‘dude' or ‘man.' These glosses seem too gender-specific and slangy for a form that can be heard in common use among middle-aged Guatemalan women during university faculty meetings! Leaving aside the glosses, this approach has the effect of producing parallel formal – usted, ustedes – and informal – vos, muchá – paradigms for second person address, which may be a valid way of teaching the forms. Martínez claims that mutual tú by men is a clear indication of homosexuality, but, of course, patterns used by natives with foreign speakers are not so clear cut. Even with the lists that attempt to describe contexts for choosing usted or vos (or tú ), the brief analysis provided is by itself probably inadequate for the demands of language instruction.

The section includes a comprehensive listing of all possible forms of the voseo in every tense, aspect, and mood. There are many examples. This section functions in part, then, as a grammar review of verb paradigms, even though only second person forms are given.

Section III Palabras Populares (pp.58-129) includes words (and in some cases, phrases) that have meanings not easily identified in most dictionaries. The entries are helpfully numbered – there are 246 of them in this section – and presented in boldface. Each entry is followed by a brief definition and an example sentence or two. The Spanish numbered listings and examples are given on the left-hand page, and the English equivalents are on the right-hand side. Pairing the synonyms in this way is ingenious. Sometimes, though, the attempt fails because of an inadequate command of the two languages.

For example, the Spanish term canícula , a dry spell of about two weeks that often occurs mid-way through the rainy season (the “dog days”), is paired with the English expression “Indian summer,” which is then glossed incorrectly as “A long period without rain during the normal rainy season.” The problem is that North American English speakers do not typically know about the canícula , while Central Americans familiar with a wet-dry climate do not understand the concept of a “brief warm (summer-like) spell in late autumn.” The two terms are not at all synonymous. Pairing them would still be appropriate in a word list of this sort, if the two definitions were accurate.

Section IV Expresiones Populares (pp. 134-229) presents 290 slang or popular phrases, again numbered with equivalents on facing pages. Again, an English speaker finds some unexpected pairings. For instance, estar muerto in the sense of being tired is paired with To be spent, glossed as ‘to be exhausted.' The meaning is correct, but the usage “to be spent” seems quite antiquated. A better equivalent would be ‘to be beat,' as in ‘I'm beat!' Similarly, in the example given for To be broke (= estar pelado ) we read “Right now I can't buy this monkey suit (= tacuche ) because I'm broke.” Another type of questionable case occurs with To rub someone's face in it. This phrase is offered as equivalent to To throw it in one's face and to Echar en la cara , and glossed as ‘to reproach people for favors or services made.' An example given is “If you don't rub my face in it by doing me this favor, I'll accept it.” Somehow, none of this is convincing English. In general, the Spanish definitions seem more reliable.

The Expressions list, like the Popular Words one, is definitely oriented toward slang, vulgarity, and youth talk. It is the only serious attempt at a Guatemalan slang dictionary known to me. There are, however, on-line regional and slang word lists, some maintained by Guatemalans in the United States . See, for example a vocabulary list for the Huehuetenango region at http://www.angelfire.com/ga/JBweb/vocabulario.html , a similar list at http://www.galeon.com/cuilco/Palabrasusadas.html , or the Guatemalan section of the Proyecto de Jergas de Habla Hispana at http://www.jergasdehablahispana.org/proyecto2.htm (all sites last accessed May 2006).

The fifth section of ¿ Qu­é onda vos? is a 114-item list of Dichos or popular sayings (pp. 234-283). The prevalence of conventional sayings in Guatemalan Spanish is a feature noticed by all dictionary compilers. Sandoval includes a large number, and Rubio, Armas, and Morales Pellecer all include separate sections. To have this new list therefore provides a considerable data set for the study of the modern viability of these traditional expressions. Again, though, the definitions and equivalences should be treated with caution.

Finally, the last section (pp. 288-327), Seccion Vulgar , is introduced with a particularly disagreeable cartoon, and contains 114 words and expressions. The inventory is indeed extremely complete and extremely coarse. As a language teacher, I am uncertain about the real intention of providing guidance for use of such vocabulary and fear for the outcome when novice language users simply pluck a word from the alphabetized list and insert it into conversation, even “among friends”! There is a good deal of interesting lexicographic and sociolinguistic content, however. We learn, for example, that hueviarse ‘to rob' is vulgar, while huevonear (p. 98), included among the popular expressions, is merely a “fuerte” way of saying ‘to laze around.” (Personally, my own discussions with native speakers of Guatemalan Spanish do not support this analysis, but I have not made a comprehensive study of the topic.) The section concludes with a two-page (one in Spanish, one in English) listing of crude synonyms for various body parts, helpfully starred when they are “VERY STRONG.” Frankly, even the unstarred English variants are mostly inappropriate for contexts a student of English would likely be involved in!

The work closes with a brief bibliography. It includes Armas, two general Spanish idiom dictionaries, and the dictionary of Honduran Spanish by Thomas Walz (published in 1964, although that information is not included here).

As the author suggests, his book makes for very entertaining reading. Its contents suggest a variety of possible research topics and offer comparative data usable with the other dictionaries of Guatemalan Spanish. It is thus an important contribution to the inventory of resources for this dialect.