Words

So, one of the coolest things about speaking a language badly and visiting another place where that same language you speak badly is also spoken (but with a twist), is that you learn some new regionalisms.  (Of course,  the same applies even if you don't speak the language badly.)

The first thing I noticed and asked about was the greeting of "Hola, buenos." Without the "dias" part. I asked if it was just to avoid having to precisely identify what time of day it is, which got a laugh and a shrug and maybe. What it does do, though, is identify you as Yucatecan to the rest of the country.

Then, earlier today,  I showed someone something I bought (more on that later), and when I explained what it was and why I had bought it, he said, "Que padre" (which literally means, what a father, but which actually means "how cool!"). So we riffed a little on that, and then he told me that a Yucatecism is to say "Está padreton" (which is totally not something I had ever heard before). So for a list of padres in an increasing order of awesome:

Que padre

Padrisimo

Está padreton (Yucatec only)

And then, which I had forgotten:

Poca madre (motherless, or totally fucking awesome, or ocasionally that really sucks)

And one I just learned tonight is "pelena."

It basically means damned, as in "pelenas moscas," or "damned mosquitos," though it can also be used as a noun, as in "que onda, pelena?" Or "what's up, pelena?"