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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Spanish word of the day: ‘Guaperas’

We all know someone worthy of this word.

Published: 6 September 2019 09:31 CEST

Spanish word of the day: 'Guaperas'

Photo: nito103/Depositphotos

Why have we chosen this word?

This is a word that’s entered the Spanish dictionary to stay in it for a long time. If you know someone who’s good looking and can’t stop bragging about it, or acting as if it was the most important thing in the world, then here you have the perfect word in Spanish to describe him.

So, what does it mean?

Guaperas is an adjective used to describe someone who’s vain about his looks. This is a word you could also use for a really arrogant person. It can only be used when referring to men.

Por fin hemos conocido al novio de Laura. Es un guaperas

At last we’ve met Laura’s boyfriend. He’s so vain!

Guaperas can also refer to someone who is cocky.

¿Qué piensas sobre Mario?

No me gusta. Va de guaperas. Es guapo y presume de serlo.

What do you think about Mario?

I don’t like him. He’s so cocky – he’s good looking and knows it.

Pronunciation:

goo-ah-peh-rahs

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.

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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