Speaking Argento: A Guide to Spanish from Argentina

151 Pages·2010·1.81 MB·English

by  Jared Romey

SPEAKING ARGENTO
A Guide to Spanish from Argentina by Jared Romey Published by Jared
Romey Published by Language Babel, Inc.
Copyright 2009 Jared Romey Discover other Speaking Latino titles by Jared
Romey at Amazon.com

License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This
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Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Other Spanish Slang Dictionaries by Speaking Latino: Quick Guide to Cuban
Spanish (Coming in Spring 2014) Quick Guide to Mexican Spanish
Quick Guide to More Mexican Spanish
Quick Guide to Venezuelan Spanish
Quick Guide to More Venezuelan Spanish
Quick Guide to Colombian Spanish
Quick Guide to Peruvian Spanish
Quick Guide to Dominican Spanish
Speaking Boricua (Puerto Rico) Speaking Phrases Boricua (Puerto Rican
Sayings) Speaking Chileno (Chile)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
How to Use This Guide

Introducción
Cómo Usar Esta Guía

LEXICON
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
Y
Z

QUICK VOCABULARY GUIDES
Mate
Upside Down
Clothing
Alcohol
Pedo
The Human Body
Food
Money
Crime

ENGLISH VERSION
Speak Like An Argentine
Grammar
Pronunciation
Gestures
Acknowledgements

SPANISH VERSION
Hablar Como Un Argentino
Gramática
Pronunciación
Gestos
Agradecimientos

About the Author
Sobre el Autor
Other Books by Speaking Latino
Credits
INTRODUCTION

My first kiss from a guy (cheek to cheek, not lip to lip) froze me in place. I
mean, I’d never been that close to another guy before, romantically speaking.
The stench of cigarette smoke overwhelmed his clothes, his smoke-stained teeth
stuck out and the stubble on his cheek scratched my face. And did I mention? It
was guy!
An awkward introduction to Argentina? Not at all! Just a typical gesture of
Argentine warmth, emotion and passion, all of which radiate throughout the
culture.
Eight years later I still find amusement in the language and expressions of
Argentina whenever I visit. I remember sitting in a meeting one day, where eight
of us were trying to make a decision about the business. On one end of the table,
two people yelled at each other in disagreement. At the other end, another three
debated heatedly as well. Another sat in the middle, trying to participate in both
debates. Our boss didn’t quite know what to do (new to Argentina as well), and I
smiled as it dawned on me that I was seeing Argentine passion in action.
Everything from the screaming voices, gesticulations and stares in that meeting
personify the open emotion seen and heard in Argentina.
This emotion contributes to the fun you will experience learning Argentine
Spanish. When an Argentine speaks to you, not only do you hear what he/she
thinks, you feel it as well. Gestures, voice patterns and emotions clearly
communicate their feelings, whether contempt, annoyance or pleasure. Learn
from this passion.

Jared

HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

To begin, I start with what this book is not. It is not an all-inclusive dictionary.
Nor is there any academic basis for what appears here. It is also not a dictionary
about lunfardo (although you will run across lunfardo terms that have entered
into daily language). It is a book on slang. Also, the title is NOT a typo. The
word Argento is slang for Argentino.
Please also take into account as you read through the guide that the focus of the
book is Argentine Spanish from Buenos Aires. While there are terms from other
areas as well, the majority of what you see here comes from the capital city.
This does not mean that the terms are not the same or will not be understood
elsewhere. Just that you will run into other regional usages, meanings and words
once you get outside of Buenos Aires that are not documented here. I would
appreciate hearing about these as you run across them to include them in the
future.
Words are written as close to their grammatically correct spellings as possible.
This is not always easy or clear, given that the same word may be commonly
spelled more than one way, pronounced several ways or may drop some letters
in the pronunciation. For instance, you may run across the spelling chamullo
and chamuyo. These are alternate spellings of the same word. Keep this in mind
as you search for words in the guide.
The following symbols appear throughout the book. They will help you along in
the learning process.

* Common word - the most common words you will run into ^ Dangerous
word - these are insulting, naughty, crude or rude words $ Money -
words related to money or finance Sample Entry: * boludez: 1) trivial, not a big