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We argentinians do this a lot. Guess we inherited it from the French (There were big waves of immigration in the 2nd half of the 19th century and at the beginni
by ericol 7y ago
We argentinians do this a lot. Guess we inherited it from the French (There were big waves of immigration in the 2nd half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th from all over Europe).
There are a lot of examples of this in tango lyrics, that are also rather complex to decipher because they are "lunfardo" (local slang) words.
A few examples:
Lleca: calle (street)
Jermu: Mujer (woman)
Goman: Mango ("No tengo un goman", "I have no money left". "mango" is slang for money. No idea of it's origins.
then there's "ortiba" that is a prime example of the transformation of meaning. It originates in the word "batidor" (whisk) that is a slang word for snitch.
But then it transformed to indicate anybody that is not cool, or behaving in an uncool way:
"Che, ¿salimos esta noche?" (Dude, will we go out tonight?)
"No puedo, tengo que estudiar" (I can't, I have to study)
"Dale, ¡No seas ortiba!" (C'mon, don't be so uncool!)
- federicotdn 7y agoOthers I've heard: feca (café), zapi (pizza)
- lucasverra 7y agosillobol (bolsillo = pant pocket)
- emiliovesprini 7y agoExtra interesting is how sillable-reversed versions words with normal and 'slang' meanings retain the slang meaning but lose the original. For example, gato means cat. It's also an insult (the particulars of which escape me), but toga is just the insult.
- ericol 7y agoThis particular one is very interesting. "gato" does not originate from the word refering the animal, but from gatillar (triggering) that was slang for who used to pay for company (To put it in simple words). From there it evolved to several meanings, the most important one being the person that acts as gatekeeper for somebody more important (In jails and mobs). that is what is was very, very often used to refer to the ex president Macri.
- doporcleporc 7y agoHey, French here. Sometimes a reversed word will go so mainstream that people will feel the need to reverse it again. Going full circle. Femme ( girl ) -> Meu-fe -> Meuf -> Feu-meuh You guys do that as well?
- ericol 7y agohahahahaha nop, that's a good one! but we do tend to keep deforming them, and a lot of words take on a second or more meanings.