Alright class, please pull our your Real Academia dictionaries and turn to page 345. Tear out this page and use it as a napkin to clean up all the salsa sauce you just got on your lips. Okay, now onto today’s lesson.
“La defensa” is the defense. And I regret to tell you – it is feminine. That is to say, each word in Spanish has a gender: it is either masculine or feminine. Defense is feminine, you ask? You point to John Terry. Yes. I say. John Tery is feminine. Sortof.
“La defensa” refers to the concept of a defense. When referring to a specific defender, you would call him a “defensor.” A popular expression is “defender con una y carne.” This is a direct translation of “defending with tooth and nail.” There is a less population expression of “defender con navaja escondida” which is what Jamie Carragher does.
Your in class assignment is to look up those last two words. I’m waiting. You found them? Yeah, I totally agree.
Okay, we will conclude with a point of contention between the Spanish of the Americas and the mother tongue as spoken by our cruel, despondent colonial masters. The word? The bench.
In Spain, the colonizers call it “el banquillo.” When a player is on the bench, he is “chupando banquillo.” Literally, he is sucking the little bench. Spaniards love to add “uillo”, the diminutive, to words. It makes them feel big and strong.
In Mexico and other places, we borrow from the American phrase of “warm the bench.” The phrase is “calentar la banca.’ Notice how there is no “uillo.” Jut a plain, simple “banca.” Isn’t it better that way?
No homework today, class. But try to get some taquitos for breakfast if possible.
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