{"id":1307,"date":"2026-05-13T19:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/?p=1307"},"modified":"2026-05-13T19:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:42:18","slug":"spanish-words-we-use-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/2026\/05\/13\/spanish-words-we-use-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish words we use in English"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Today we were walking in a neighborhood called “Barrio de Olivares” which means “Neighborhood of Olive Groves.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word barrio<\/em> means neighborhood<\/em>. I remember being surprised when I first learned that that word means any neighborhood, not a slightly poor Hispanic neighborhood as we use the term in New Mexico. I first heard that term when I lived in Santa Fe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I might have done a post like this in a blog in years past so if this is a repeat, please forgive me. It’s a topic that I find really interesting: Spanish words that we English-speakers know that have a very specific meaning when we use them but the meaning is much more general in Spanish. I know these type of words show up in all languages. For example, I think chef<\/em> means any kind of boss in French, not just the head cook. (Correct me if I’m wrong, French-speakers out there.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been collecting such Spanish words. This is the list of some of these. Can you think of others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arroyo:  stream (of any kind) in Spanish, not just a dry gully like we have in the southwest<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrio: neighborhood (of any kind) in Spanish, not the connotation of “ghetto” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bodega: cellar (of any kind) in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bosque: forest (of any kind) in Spanish, not just the cottonwoods down by the Rio Grande<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caldera: boiler, cauldron (of any kind) in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Caramelo: candy (of any kind) in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conquistador: conquerer (of any kind) in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corral: pen, barnyard (any kind of pen) in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fiesta: any party, celebration, or feast in Spanish, big or small<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hacienda: estate, ranch, farm, plantation in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Huevos: when we are in a New Mexican restaurant, this is what we call the breakfast dish “huevos rancheros”. Of course, in Spanish, huevos<\/em> is eggs in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matador: killer (of any kind, not just of bulls) in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mermelada: jam\/jelly (of any kind, not just made with oranges) in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mesa: means table of any kind in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molestar: to bother in Spanish; not the same connotation as “to molest” in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negro: the color black in Spanish (“el negro” could mean the black man but could also mean “the black anything” depending on context.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patio: yard or courtyard in Spanish<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pueblo: small town (of any kind) in Spanish. Also means “people”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salsa: any kind of sauce or gravy or salad dressing in Spanish, not just the kind you put on tacos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sombrero: any kind of hat in Spanish, not just the big straw kind with a big brim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today we were walking in a neighborhood called “Barrio de Olivares” which means “Neighborhood of Olive Groves.” The word barrio means neighborhood. I remember being surprised when I first learned that that word means any neighborhood, not a slightly poor Hispanic neighborhood as we use the term in New Mexico. I first heard that term … Continue reading “Spanish words we use in English”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1307"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1313,"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1307\/revisions\/1313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wynchar.com\/c26\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}