Pasame una lana primero, y después arreglamos

So there I was talking with my profesora, and I asked her for something, and this is what she tells me:

Pasame una lana primero, y después arreglamos

I couldn't help but laugh.  Not because I knew what she said, but because I knew it was supposed to be funny, and because yet again I had the deer in headlights look on my face. 

Now let's see if we can figure out what this means.

One word in our phrase you may not recognize is lana. Lana is a colloquial term for dinero, or as we say in English, money.  Plata is another colloquial term you may hear for money.

Arreglar is another verb that may be new to you.  Like so many verbs in Spanish, Arreglar has several meanings:  to fix something, to clean up, and to sort or work things out.  The last definition is the one we're interested in.  And since we're talking about Arreglar, I'll also mention that it's reflexive cousin Arreglarse means to get to ready, or dressed, as well as a few other things.  It's a good verb to learn, I've heard it on more than one occassion.

But let's get back to our phrase.  I think we know enough to make a good translation:

Pasame una lana primero, y después arreglamos
Pass me some money first, and then we'll work it out

When can you use this phrase?  Anytime someone asks you for a favor, big or small, is a perfect time to use this.  I'm sure your amigos will get a good laugh and be impressed with your Spanish as well.  

¡Hasta la próxima!

Como la palma de la mano

I can't say that I would have known what this expression meant if I hadn't been looking directly at the person using it. 

The complete phrase is "conocer algo/alguien como la palma de la mano" .  It means to know something, or someone, like the back of one's hand.


The only reason I was able to figure it out (and consequently act like I knew more Spanish than I did) is because they were talking about the city they lived in and pointing to the palm of their hand -- "la palma de la mano".  

Here are some examples:

Conozco Miami como la palma de la mano
I know Miami like the back of my hand

Lo conozco como la palma de la mano

I know him like the back of my hand


This phrase works exactly the same in English as it does in Spanish, so you can start using this right away. 

¡Espero que te sirva¡

vete tú a saber

I actually like this nifty little phrase.  Sometimes I ask myself where these things come from, and who makes them up?  ¿Quien sabe? (Who knows?)

Actually, I just told you what today's bit of Spanish means -- Who knows?

It's a colloquial way of saying "Quien sabe". 

Since I've learned this bit of Spanish, I've heard it on several occassions, so it's something you'll want to put in your Spanish toolbox. 

You can use it in the exact same way we use "who knows" in English.

As usual, let's look at some examples:

¿Cuál es el sentido de la vida?  Vete tú a saber.
What's the meaning of life?  Who knows.

¿Cuál es el sentido de la vida? Quien sabe.
What's the meaning of life? Who knows.

Just remember that "quien sabe" is a bit more proper, while vete tú a saber is more informal, but other than that, use which ever one you like!

¡Hasta la próxima!

¡Qué tonto soy!

Hopefully you won't need to use this expression much.  But on occasion, I think we'll all find ourselves using it at some point.  In fact, I'm posting about this because I found myself needing it today.  But more on that later.

First let's talk about tonto.  And I'm not referring to the Lone Ranger's faithful Indian companion.  If you don't know who the Lone Ranger is, and don't mind learning a bit about old American TV shows, you can check out this link. Or maybe you just want to take a walk down memory lane.  Anyway, I digress.

Let's get back to the word tonto in Spanish, which is what we're here for. 

Tonto means silly or dumb, which can be an insult, heavily dependent on the context of how it's used, and your tone of voice.  There are a number of phrases that involve the word tonto, like no seas tonto - don't be silly or no te hagas el tonto - don't act stupid.  Tonta if you're talking about a woman.

Now that we know something about the word tonto, let's get back to our expression.

¡Qué tonto soy!

I'm so stupid

Our translation sounds a bit harsh, but it's meant to be used in those situations where you make a silly mistake, and you say to yourself "I can't believe I did that" or "I'm so stupid". 

Pan comido (easy), right? We're almost done here, just one more thing to talk about.

Remember in the beginning of this post I said I actually needed this phrase today?  Well I'm about to tell you why.

I just posted about a very witty phrase "¡Ya llegó para quien llorabas!".  Well, that's what I wrote.  It should've been "¡Ya llegó por quien llorabas! ".   ¡Qué tonto soy!

I corrected the original post, but I want to make sure my faithful readers are aware of my blunder.  Learning Spanish is hard enough, and you don't need me to make it any harder for you!  If you haven't read about "¡Ya llegó por quien llorabas! ", you can find the entry here. 

¡Adios!

¡Ya llegó por quien llorabas!

I think you'll find this bit of Spanish amusing.  So let's get down to business.

The meaning of this phrase seems so obvious now, but when I first heard it, I was lost.  Sure, I understood what my amiga told me, I heard each word loud and clear.  To bad I still didn't understand what it meant.

Let's take a look at our phrase.

¡Ya llegó por quien llorabas!
The person you've been crying for has arrived now.

Well, that makes everything crystal clear now, right?  I'm guessing your answer is no.  Literal translations often leave us confused, so let's talk about what this means in plain English. 

You probably won't be surprised to hear  that this phrase really has nothing to do with crying.  It's just a very clever and playful way of saying "I'm here now", or maybe "I'm finally here".  I suppose in English we might say something like "you can stop crying now, I'm here", with the same level of playfulness.

A good time to use this phrase is when you have someone waiting on you and you show up a little late, but really, you can use this phrase anytime it seems appropriate.

If you want to say this to a group of people, all you need to do is make a small change:

¡Ya llegó por quien lloraban!


  That's it, short, sweet and to the point!

¡Hasta la próxima!

¡Cuba Libre!

Free Cuba!

You maybe tempted to think this phrase is about making the isla (island) of Cuba a better place.  After all, Cuba needs no translation, and libre means free.  While that is a great idea, that's not what our phrase "cuba libre", is refering to. 

I picked this up in the Dominican Republic after having my second or third "ron y coca" (rum and coke).  The bartender was nice enough to tell me that I only need to ask for a "cuba libre", and that everybody knows what this is.  


It turns out the bartender was right.  I've been to Mexico several times and ordered many a "cuba libre", served with a "limón".  Something else I discovered (the hard way), is that the usual translation of "limón" is lemon, but if you ask for a "limón" in Mexico, you'll get a lime.  You'll have to ask for a "lima" or  a "limón amarillo" if you want a lemon.
 
If your drink (trago) of choice is a "cuba libre", then your Spanish will sound just a little more authentic when you order your next trago.

¡Hasta la próxima!

¿Mande?

Today I was reminded of something I learned a long time ago, in México, as a matter of fact. 

Every Spanish book I've ever seen  says that "¿cómo?" is the way to ask someone what they said, in the event you didn't hear or understand them.  Basically, it's the Spanish equivalent of "what?".  And indeed it is.  Nearly every Spanish speaker I've ever spoken to uses "cómo".  But did you notice I said "nearly" every Spanish speaker?

In México, and in fact, Mexicans in general, or at the least all the people I know, tend to use "Mande" instead of "cómo".  In fact, I think I was the only person in México saying "cómo".  It became blatantly obvious very quickly.

I'll also add that several people have told me that although "mande" has a widespread usage throughout México, "cómo" is what you should really use, as it is in fact proper spanish. 

If you find yourself wanting to sound "muy mexicano", then "mande" is definitely for you.  It's an immediate indicator that you spent some time around mexicans.  To my knowledge, this is exclusive to mexican spanish.  You use it exactly the same way you would "cómo".

Hopefully this will save you from the deer in headlights look when you hear it.  And if you want to impress your mexican friends or the mesero, don't hesitate to flex your spanish muscles and throw this word around. 

¡Hasta Luego!