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Spanish Word of the Day: ‘El Gordo’

This is a word you won't be able to escape this weekend in Spain!

Published: 21 December 2018 09:21 CET

Spanish Word of the Day: 'El Gordo'

Ever heard about the famous Christmas lottery in Spain?

Every Christmas there is a huge rush to buy the potentially winning ticket – the whole process and excitement really is unique to Spain.

¡Y si cae aquí el Gordo de Navidad…!

What if the lottery win falls here!?

Es muy poco probable que te toque el Gordo.

It's not very likely that you'll win the lottery.

Gordo means fat, overweight or plump so the lottery would be translated as the Fat One.

Check out the 2015 lottery advert where you can see the word Gordo in action.

Other meanings for gordo:

Lo gordo de esta situación es que no puedo hacer nada para arreglarlo.

The worst thing about this situation is that I can't do anything to fix it.

It is also used in some parts as an affectionate name between partners or friends:

Gordo, te quiero un montón.

Honey, I love you so much.

Pronunciation:

ehl gohr-doh

Check out our other word of the day posts

This word of the day has been contributed by LAE Madrid, the leading Spanish academy in Madrid. Accredited by the Insitituto Cervantes, it offers Spanish courses for all levels and also has Spanish classes for kids and families.

READ ALSO El Gordo: Everything you need to know about Spain's Christmas lottery

Spanish Expression of the Day: En el quinto pino

Spanish is a language full of rich and historical idioms. Often they can seem (to non-native speakers at least) completely random or unrelated to the point or conversation at hand, but learning a few is a good way to deepen your understanding and even show off to some Spaniards.

Showing that you’ve taken the time to learn a few colloquial phrases, of which The Local has explained loads and you can find them all here, will really endear you to locals and also help your comprehension skills. As is often the case in language learning, once you’ve learned a new word or phrase you’ll suddenly start hearing it everywhere you go.

On this occasion we’re looking at the expression en el quinto pino.

First, some translations. Literally speaking ‘en el quinto pino‘ means in/at the fifth pine or pine tree, but it’s actually colloquial phrase Spaniards use to mean that something is ‘far away’ or ‘miles away’.

It could also be translated as ‘in the middle of nowhere’ or ‘out in the sticks’ and is generally used to mean somewhere physically far away from where you are and difficult to get to.

The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines quinto pino as ‘a very distant place’ or a place ‘very far away’.

There are other colloquial ways of saying this, including en el quinto coño (in the fifth c*nt, it sounds terrible but the Spanish C-word isn’t as bad as in English) and a tomar por culo (to be taken up the bum), but these as you can imagine are pretty rude, even though they are used a lot. We obviously recommend that you either say muy lejos (very far) or en el quinto pino.

So, what’s the history and etymology behind the expression en el quinto pino? Is it something to do with being lost in the woods, or having to travel through a forest to get somewhere far away?

Not quite. The origin comes from Madrid during the reign of Felipe V in the 18th century. He decided to plant five large pine trees in the city, the last of which was located on the outskirts of the capital.

This point soon became known as a meeting place for lovers, and this is how the expression ‘irse al quinto pino’ first became popular, referring to the specific location in Madrid.

With time it slowly changed in usage and eventually ended up meaning ‘far away’ in a more general way that could be in Spain or beyond.

Examples:

Pedro, no podemos volver andando esta noche. La casa está en el quinto pino.

Pedro, we can’t walk back tonight. The house is in the middle of nowhere.

Tengo que ir a una reunión esta tarde y está en el quinto pino.

I’ve got to go to a meeting this afternoon and it’s miles away.

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