Words; & The Guide for Yanks

The Spanish Word of the Year is said to be selfi. This prevailed over competition from dron and postureo, Other contenders were:

• apli, an alternative to app
• árbitra, the female form of the noun 'arbitro', meaning referee.
• amigovio, a blend of the words amigo (friend) and novio (fiancé), 

Back in October, The Local gave us their Top Ten new Spanish words in the latest RAE dictionary, viz:

• Birra
• Establishment
• Affaire
• Mileurista
• Serendipia
• Tuitear
• Drone
• Blaugrana
• Yihad
• Agroturismo

Click here if any of these fox you.

As for English . . . These are the favourite buzzwords/phrases of columnists from The Times:-

• Vape

• Conscious uncoupling
• Westminster
. As in "He's such Westminster".
• Cybernat
• r>g

• Normcore

• Ego bath

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

• Breaking the internet

• Parklife

• Executive dawn-risers

• Undulatus asperatus


'You'll have to do your own research on these as I can't post the Times article because of the paywall.

A word you don't see very often in the headlines is bestiality. But I saw it yesterday in the context of a petition against it here in Spain. The accompanying foto was of a huge bull in a bullring and I can't begin to describe the images this conjured up. It turned out that the petitioners were concerned about Spain becoming "a paradise for animal abusers". What they want is a lengthening of the maximum sentence for animal cruelty from 1 to 3 years and criminalisation of the use of animals for sexual purposes. I'll leave the last words to their lawyer:- "These practices are much more common than you would think and it would be a grave error to let this opportunity to improve legislation pass, considering the present legal vacuum in relation to animal sexual abuse".

Penultimately . . . Here's a foto of a nearby beach my daughter and I walked along 2 days ago. 

Like most Brits, my mother thinks that wherever the sun shines in Spain it's boiling hot. Looking at the picture, she asked me why there was hardly anyone else on the beach, implying we'd driven them off.

Finally . . . Another extract from the 1942 Guide for Yanks in Limeyland.

Indoor Amusements. The British have theatres and movies (which they call "cinemas") as we do. But the great place of recreation is the "pub". A pub, or public house, is what we would call a bar or tavern. The usual drink is beer, which is not an imitation of German beer as ours is, but ale. (But they usually call it beer or "bitter".) Not much whiskey is now being drunk. Wartime taxes have shot the price of a bottle up to about $4.50. The British are beer-drinkers – and can hold it. The beer is now below peacetime strength, but can still make a man's tongue wag at both ends.

You will be welcome in the British pubs as long as you remember one thing. The pub is "the poor man's club," the neighbourhood or village gathering place, where the men have come to see their friends, not strangers. If you want to join a darts game, let them ask you first (as they probably will.) And if you are beaten it is the custom to stand aside and let someone else play.

The British make much of Sunday. All the shops are closed, most of the restaurants are closed, and in the small towns there is not much to do. You had better follow the example of the British people and try to spend Sunday afternoon in the country.

British churches, particularly the little village churches, are often very beautiful inside and out. Most of them are always open and if you feel like it, do not hesitate to walk in. But do not walk around if a service is going on.

You will naturally be interested in getting to know your opposite number, the British soldier, the "Tommy" you have heard and read about. You can understand that two actions on your part will slow up the friendship – swiping his girl, and not appreciating what his army has been up against. Yes, and rubbing it in that you are better paid than he is.

Children the world over are easy to get along with. British children are much like our own. The British have reserved much of the food that gets through solely for their children. To the British children you as an American will be "something special." For they have been fed at their schools and impressed with the fact that the food they ate was sent to them by Uncle Sam. You don't have to tell the British about lend-lease food. They know about it and appreciate it.