* Headword
ciudad (p.13): Replace "But note ..." with "But in case of Spanish, you can also think of Latin
v > Spanish
u (by way of Old Spanish
b)".
* Headword
noche (p.13): Add "Or as a mnemonic, imagine indigenous people make one
notch every night to record days. Note this word is feminine, just as
tarde (“afternoon”, “evening”; “late”)."
* Headword
pueblo (p.15): Append "and try pronouncing
b as
p then
pu. Example,
el pueblo mexicano es trabajador (“the Mexican people are hard-working”;
note pueblo is grammatically singular)."
* Headwords
verdad and
verdadero (p.15): Replace the definitions with "
verdad truth.
verdadero true, real.
* Headword
falta (p.16): This word can also mean "foul" in sports. (thanks Marina)
* Headword
propio (p.16): Change the mnemonic to "this is my own
property" or "
property implies ownership".
* Headword
real (p.17): To help remember the sense of "royal", note that many Spanish sports clubs call themselves real, most notably Real Madrid. (thanks Marina)
* Headword
claro (p.17): This word can also mean "yes", "certainly". (thanks Oscar)
* Headword
calle (p.18): Replace the bulk of the text with "If traced to Proto-Indo-European, cognate with the root of
accelerate, i.e. Latin
celer (“fast”). As a mnemonic, imagine your friend
calling your name on the street" and append "Example,
un coche aparca en la calle (“a car parks on the street”; note
calle is feminine and note preposition
en, but if the car is moving, use
por instead)."
* Headword
dinero (p.19): "The
dinar or
denar is a main currency unit in modern circulation in nine mostly-Islamic countries", according to
Wikipedia. That's a perfect cognate if you know this currency. (thanks urdubyoddballs)
* Headword
papel (p.19): Add a definition and explanations "; role. To remember the sense of “role”, imagine what role an actor plays is written on a piece of paper. Compare to the etymology of English
role, which originally meant “roll”; an actor’s role is written on a roll."
* Headword
ambos (p.19): Cognate with the first element of
ambidextrous and
ambivalent, i.e.,
ambi-. (thanks Miranda)
* Headword
madre (p.23): Add cognate
matron.
* Headword
soler (p.25): Add to the end "The rule is that when there’s a stress on any syllable other than the first, the conjugated form begins with
so-, otherwise
sue-, which is the stressed form of
so."
* Headword
venir (P.26): Add "This word is irregular, e.g.
yo vengo (“I come”),
yo venga (“I (would) come” in subjunctive). But if you isolate
ng in these conjugation forms and think of it as
ñ or
ni, they no longer look that irregular. This is actually based on etymology, not pure mnemonics."
* Headword
escuela (p.27): "material escolar" should be in italic and the opening quotation mark should be deleted.
* Headword
corazón (p.28): While suffix -
ón is normally augmentative,
corazón refers to "heart" regardless size. But one scholar said that the word originally referred to the heart of a warrior or lover.
* Headword
carta (p.28): Replace the definition with "letter (what you put in an envelope); card; menu" to be consistent with frequence of meanings on Google Ngram.
* Headword
miedo (p.28): Add "Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine a bad guy raising his
middle finger and that causes a feeling of discomfort or fear."
* Headwords
lejos and
lejano (p.29): Change to "
lejos (adv.) far, away.
lejano (adj.) faraway, distant" and add examples "
a lo lejos (“in the distance”, “far away”);
de lejos (“from afar”);
un lugar lejano (“a faraway place”)".
* Headword
cámara (p.31): Remove definition "room" as it is uncommon and only used in certain phrases or compound words as
antecámara.
* Headword
llama (p.31): Move "claim" from the definition to the cognate list.
* Headword
suerte (p.31): Change the bulk of text to "Cognate with
sorcery, and
sortie, which came from French meaning “an attack made by troops coming out from a position of defense”. The basic meaning is “coming out”. Raffle or lottery is basically a drawing game in which you draw a ticket out of many."
* Headword
pierna (p.32): Just use
pie meaning "foot" as a mnemonic; the foot generally speaking is part of the leg.
* Headword
cama (p.33): Add mnemonic "stay
calm in bed, or
coma means deep sleep in bed".
* Headword
corte (p.34): Add "court (either judicial or royal)(cognate);" in front of "cut (n.)" as a definition. Change "Cognate" to "In the sense of “cut” and “short”, cognate".
* Headword
obstante (p.34): See blog posting
sin embargo and non obstante.
* Headword
jamás (p.35): Change the second part of the paragraph to "and -
más means “more”. Treat the whole word as a syntactic marker for emphasis."
* Headword
conseguir (p.35): Append "Examples,
conseguí / obtuve un buen trabajo (“I got a good job”);
consiguió / logró abrir la puerta (“he managed to open the door”)."
* Headword
flor (p.36): Add "Note that this word is feminine; as a mnemonic, consider the fact that in most cultures, women are likened to flowers."
* Headword
casa (p.36): Change text to "Cognate with a rare word
chasuble (“outermost liturgical vestment worn by clergy”).
Casa Blanca, “White House”, refers to the US president’s office and is also the title of the famous movie. Alternatively, use
case as a mnemonic and imagine a house like a case or box."
* Headword
listo (p.37): Change definition to "(with
estar) ready, prepared; (with
ser) clever, smart" and add "Note the verbs used; it makes sense if you consider that
estar is for the current state and
ser for the regular, persistent, status."
* Headwords
peligro,
peligroso (p.38),
milagro (p.93),
Argelia (p.160): The alternative explanation is the metathesis between
r and
l in the word.
* Headword
marido (p.39): Change semicolon before
esposo to comma. Append "This word means the same as
esposo, which is slightly old-fashioned."
* Headword
aceite (p.41): Append "and so remember the first letter
a-" to "Arabic origin". Append "Or “Oil comes from
seed.”" as a mnemonic.
* Headword
ganar (p.42): Add "
ganado cattle, livestock; past participle of
ganar.
Ganado means “cattle” because cattle are captured or
ganar-ed."
* Headword
cumplir (p.43): Add "to comply (cognate)" to the definition and remove "Also cognate with
comply..."
* Headword
caber (p.44): Remove "to enter" from definition, and add
capacity as a cognate.
* Headword
salvo (p.45): Remove "safe (cognate)" from the definition.
* Headword
acabar (p.46): Add "or
acabar por followed by the infinitive;
acabar de, “just (did)”;
acabar con, “to end”, not “to end up with”, which would be
acabar followed by the gerund of the verb or less frequently
acabar por followed by the infinitive. Example,
Schwarzenegger a Putin: “Usted empezó la guerra, usted la lidera y usted puede acabar con ella” (“Schwarzenegger to Putin: ‘You started the war, you lead it and you can end it’”)."
* Headword
caer (p.46): Remove "Unless ..." with "with
cadence,
cadaver, the root of
decay. The process of decay is likened that of falling."
* Headword
sentir (p.47): "to feel" should be "to feel (by touching etc.); (reflexive) to feel (a personal feeling)".
* Headword
jueves (p.48): "From Latin
Jovis díes" should be "From Latin
Jovis dies". Latin does not have letter
í.
* Headword
castro (p.49): Remove this headword as its frequency may have been artificially raised.
* Headword
sombra (p.51): Append "Note in many languages, not even limited to Roman languages such as Spanish, one single word can mean either “shade” or “shadow”. Examples,
el gato se queda en la sombra (“the cat stays in the shade”);
sin sombra de duda (“without a shadow of a doubt”)."
* Headword
gasto (p.51): Add "spending, expenditure" as the main meanings. Mnemonic could also be
costear ("to afford", "to pay for") as in "costear ese gasto" since the two words are used in Spanish. (thanks Julian Descaillaux)
* Headwords
bolsa,
bolso,
bolsillo (p.53): Append "The word
bolsa is much more common than
bolso and refers any type of bag even a garbage bag, while
bolso refers to a bag finely made. If you prefer a mnemonic, note you say
a with an open mouth but say
o with your mouth somewhat closed, and note a general bag (
bolsa) opens on top but a handbag (
bolso) is closed."
* Headwords
temor,
temer (p.55): Add "If you know the 14th century Turco-Mongol conqueror
Timur or
Tamerlane, who committed widespread atrocities (just as Genghis Khan did shortly before him), use his name as a mnemonic."
* Headword
valor (p.54): Add "Spanish
valor is a false friend of English
valor (“courage”, “bravery”) in spite of cognation."
* Headword
perro (p.60): Append after "Uncertain etymology", "One theory considers the word an onomatopoeia, as if a dog makes the
perr-perr sound, which at least serves as a good mnemonic. "
* Headword
loco (p.65): Add a mnemonic "insane people are
locked up"
* Headword
sida (p.67): Add "this word is used as a masculine noun in spite of -
a ending because
síndrome is masculine".
* Headword
gana (p.67): Replace "Uncertain or unhelpful etymology" with "Possibly related to
ganar (“to win”). To win is a natural desire for most people."
* Headwords
matar,
matanza (p.68): Replace "Cognate and ..." with "The derived word
matador (“bull killer in a bullfight”) has entered English."
* Headword
disponer (p.70): Remove
dispose from the definition and add "In spite of cognation with
dispose, this word does not mean “to dispose of” i.e. “to discard”. English
dispose does have a sense of “to prepare” but it’s becoming outdated. Examples,
me dispongo a hacerlo (“I'm getting ready to do it”);
disponer de dinero (“to have money available / at one’s disposal”, not “to dispose of money”)."
* Headword
esquina (p.70): Change the mnemonics to "As a mnemonic, think of
squint, one of whose meanings is “to look sideways”, and think of the corner of your eyes. Or think of
exquisite corners of nicely built furniture."
* Headword
cola (p.71): Add the definition "glue", and append to the paragraph "In the sense of “glue”, cognate with
colloid (“a mixture of fine insoluble particles dispersed in a medium without precipitation, such as milk-water mixture”)."
* Headword
plantear (p.73): Replace the whole paragraph with "
plantear to propose, to pose, to present, to bring up.
planteamiento approach; proposal, planning. Related to
plantar (“to plant”). Proposing or raising an issue is likened to planting a seed. Alternatively, use
plan as a mnemonic. Example,
debemos plantear este problema en la reunión (“we should raise / bring up this issue / problem at the meeting”);
planteamiento del problema (“problem statement”)."
* Headword
biblioteca (p.73): Replace "Don't ..." with "As a mnemonic, imagine a library equipped with modern
technology."
* Headword
estancia (p.74): Add "cognate with
stand".
* Headword
techo (p.74): Remove definition "roof" as that is
tejado. Add "Cognate with
tile,
tectum (“top of midbrain”), with the root of
protect (literally “to cover”) and
detect (literally “to take off cover”)." Change the mnemonic to "Think of the fact that an office building is
technically equipped when Ethernet cables go above the ceiling." Add "This word may be translated as “roof” especially in figurative sense, but technically it should refer to just the ceiling, the in-house underside of the outside roof, which is
tejado in Spanish. But some people make no distinction. Examples,
techo alto (“high ceiling”);
vivimos bajo el mismo techo (“we live under the same roof”);
sin techo (“homeless”,
sintecho). See also
tejado".
* Headword
guía (p.75): Add "Note that in spite of -
a ending,
guía when referring to a person is either masculine or feminine depending on the person’s gender;
guío does not exist (except as the first person singular for the verb
guiar)."
* Headword
tocar (p.75): Add 3rd meaning to
tocar "to be someone’s time or turn". Append to the end of the paragraph: "Note that to play a musical instrument, you don’t play (
jugar) in Spanish but touch, as if Spaniards were more gentle to it. To understand the third meaning as in
me toca jugar (“it’s my turn to play”), think of “I’m touched (by the invisible game moderator) to play”."
* Headword
gira (p.76): Remove "although ...". Can add "To remember the difference between
giro and
gira, note the rule that a feminine noun is usually less direct or more abstract; a turn of of direction is more literal than a tour of a place. Examples,
la gira europea de la compañía / gira de la compañía por Europa (“the troupe’s Europe tour”);
girar a la derecha / 45 grados (“to turn right / 45 degrees”)".
* Headword
pescado (p.76): Add "This word is actually cognate with
fish if traced to Proto-Indo-European (*
p- changed to
f- in Germanic per the Grimm’s law)." Append "To remember the difference, note the past participle suffix -
ado, hence “caught”. However, some terms are almost fixed, such as
pescado azul / blanco (“blue / white fish”), which are more common than
pez azul / blanco."
* Headword
testigo (p.76): Change "or even,
testicle" to "or if you don’t mind disputed etymology,
testicle" and add "Note this word can be feminine when referring to a woman, e.g.
la testigo; the form *
testiga does not exist".
* Headword
cebolla (p.77): Append "Or call an onion “
this
ball”"
* Headwords
mentira,
mentir (p.83): Add "Cognate with
mendacious (“lying”, “not true”),
mendacity". Remove "The meaning of ..." to the end.
* Headword
risa (p.79): Append "
risible (“about laughter”; “provoking laughter”)" to "
ridicule".
* Headword
ensayo (p.80): Change the whole paragraph to "trial, test, assay (cognate); essay (“literary composition”) (cognate); rehearsal. The English word
essay no longer has the meaning of “attempt” or “test” when it was borrowed from Middle French as the French thinker Michel de Montaigne wrote his
Essais (meaning literally “experiment”, “attempt”), which made
essai a general word referring to the genre of literary writing. The English doublet
assay still means “test”, specifically, “testing of chemical composition”."
* Headword
zapato (p.81): Add "According to folk etymology about
sabotage, workers threw their sabots or wooden shoes into machines, which would be clogged and stopped. Alternatively, you may have heard of the online shoe retailer Zappos, which was named after this Spanish word."
* Headword
tejido (p.83): Change "tissue" to "tissue (cognate)".
* Headword
vergüenza (p.84): Change the mnemonic to
ver (“to see”) +
chagrin (embarrassment at having failed”).
* Headword
mancha (p.84): Add "Alternatively, use
munch as a mnemonic and imagine a hungry baby stuffing himself with food and soiling his clothes, or “my cup of
mocha spilled and stained my clothes”."
* Headword
enterar (p.84): Delete "To inform" as this meaning is rare. Rewrite the whole paragraph as "(reflexive) to find out, to notice. From Latin
integrare (“to make whole”). Cognate with
integrate,
integral, doublet with
entregar (“to deliver”). It’s not clear how the meaning has evolved. Possibly to find out is to know the whole picture of a matter. As a mnemonic, imagine you
enter a closed circle to find out their secrets. It’s easy to confuse
enterar with its doublet
entregar. As a mnemonic, imagine a delivery man
gives you the package, so there’s the letter
g in the word. But be careful not to confuse
enterar with
entrar (“to enter”) or
enterrar (“to bury”; think of
terrain). Examples,
me enteré de lo que pasó (“I found out what happened”; note
de should not be omitted);
se entera de que tiene cáncer (“he finds out he has cancer”)."
* Headword
pelota (p.85): Also cognate with
pellet.
* Headword
prima (p.85): "commerce bonus" should be "(commerce) bonus".
* Headword
amparo (p.87): After "
parar (“to stop”)", append "but they make good mnemonics; think of the word as “stopping something bad or dangerous before it comes”". This headword may be removed in future editions of the book as its frequency is raised by its usage as a proper noun.
* Headword
compromiso (p.90): Add "Think of a commitment as a promise (
promesa) made together (
com-) with something or somebody. A true story is that a Mexican company shipped their parts one day late to a US client who wrote in English
No compromise!, interpreted by the Mexicans as “No commitment”. Example,
anillo de compromiso (“engagement ring”, literally “ring of commitment”, or more literally “ring of together comitting”)."
* Headword
sacerdote (p.94): Add "When specifically referring to a Catholic priest, the word is synonymous with
cura (which, by the way, is a masculine noun), although common people may not know the difference."
* Headword
vega (p.94): Remove this headword since it's not a frequent one, not nearly as common as
prado (“meadow”).
* Headword
piña (p.95): Change the mnemonic to "as a mnemonic, associate falling off a cliff with
pain, or
pena in Spanish"
.
* Headworf
azar (p.96): Add "chance" as the first definition and remove "hazard (cognate)" from the definition. Add "Cognate with
hazard". It's better to add an example at the end, "Example,
al azar (“randomly”, “haphazardly”)."
* Headword
fallo (p.98): Add "The second meaning (“ruling”) is probably a different word in this form and is related to
hallar (“to find”), in which
h- is from
f-. As a mnemonic, think of the
fall of the judge’s gavel when he declares a ruling. See also
hallar."
* Headword
trasladar (p.98): Add "In the sense of “to transfer”, unlike
transferir, this word is more about physically moving or relocating things."
* Headword
retirar (p.99): Add "(reflexive)" to the definition "to retire". Append "Example,
a los 70 años, el líder indiscutible de la izquierda mexicana ... se retira (“at the age of 70, the undisputed leader of the Mexican left ... is retiring”, said
El País, the Spanish newspaper)."
* Headword
plantilla (p.101): Change most of the text to "From
planta (“plant”; “floor”; “insole”), a word that exists in Latin and Spanish. The base meaning may be “flat surface”; such a surface is where you can draw a template, is a floor of a building, and is where the company staff are."
* Headword
llave (p.101): Add "Doublet with
clave (“key”, “important part of an issue”; “music key”)" and "Note that this word, just like
clave, is feminine."
* Headwords
pimienta,
pimiento: Add "In Spanish, if two nouns only differ by gender and one denotes the plant and the other the fruit ready to eat (or used in cooking), the former is usually masculine and the latter feminine."
* Headword
serrano (p.104): Remove this headword as its frequency may have been artificially raised.
* Headword
mantequilla (p.106): Add "Or imagine butter is like a tonic that can help
maintain equilibrium in your body."
* Headwords
asesor,
asesorar,
asesoramiento (p.108): Change the cognate word from
assessor to
assess as the latter is more basic. Add "Note
assess is generally translated into Spanish as
evaluar or
valorar."
* Headword
cocción (p.108): Replace "To spot the cognation" to the end with "Also cognate with the root of
concoction."
* Headword
disponible (p.109): Add "Literally “that can be put aside”, but note the meanings between English
disposable and Spanish
disponible are different."
* Headword
copia (p.109): Remove this headword since the meaning of "abundance" is not common and the meaning of "copy" is too obvious.
* Headword
tramo (p.109): Change the text to "The first element is cognate with
tract, related to
traer (“to bring”), and the second element with the root of
permeate. The word can be literally interpreted as “bringing to pass through”. Or use a mnemonic ..."
* Headword
roto (p.111): Rewrite the paragraph as "
roto broken; past participle of
romper (“to break”).
Roto is from Latin
ruptus (“broken”), where
p was omitted before
t in pronunciation. Cognate with
rupture, which, if you were to read it like a Spanish word, would sound close to
roto."
* Headword
desayuno (p.111): Add "English
breakfast literally means "breaking i.e. ending fasting", just like
desayuno does."
* Headwords
desafío and
desafiar (p.112): Add "defiance (cognate)" and "to defy (cognate)" to the definitions of the two headwords, respectively. Append "Not to be confused with
desconfía (“mistrust”),
desconfiar (“to mistrust”)."
* Headword
recta (p.113): Remove the entry for
recta but keep
recto, because
recta is used mainly as the fem. adj. of
recto and rarely as a noun by itself. Can add "rectum" as a definition to
recto.
* Headword
jugo (p.113): Add "Not to be confused with
juego (“game”, cognate with
joke,
jocular); as a mnemonic, note
ue in
juego and
o in
joke are both diphthongs (two vowels in one) but
u in
jugo and
u in
suck (or
ui in
juice) are not."
* Headword
asunción (p.116): Remove this headword as it's not common.
* Headword
gordo (p.116): Add "As a mnemonic, just imagine a fat man like a
gourd."
* Headword
trigo (p.117): Add the mnemonic "Or imagine in the old days when food was in shortage, on the night of Halloween, hungry little kids said “
Trick or treat” wanting to get wheat, not candies."
* Headword
pez (p.118): Add "Unlike most nouns ending with
z, this word (as well as
maíz) is masculine. For a female fish, say
un pez hembra."
* Headword
hueco (p.118): Add mnemonic "Use
hulk (“an old ship stripped of all internal fittings”) as a mnemonic ."
* Headword
cobrar (p.119): Add "
cobro payment, charge; first person singular of
cobrar (“to charge”; “to collect”). In English, the word
cover or
coverage is about the scope of insurance payment, while Spanish
cobrar or
cobro focuses on the payment collection" and a few examples "
¿cuánto cobra por ...? (“how much do you charge for ...?”);
cobrar una pensión (“to collect / receive pension”);
llamada a cobro revertido (“collect call”, literally “a reversed collection / charge call”);
caseta de cobro (“tollbooth”,
cabina de peaje)".
* Headword
palo (p.120): Append "except in
beyond the pale" to "Cognate with
pale (“stick”, a sense largely unused today".
* Headword
ginebra (p.121): Remove this headword entry as this word, meaning "gin", cannot possibly be a common word (or replace it with
Ginebra, "Geneva").
* Headword
índole (p.121): Add "You can use a mnemonic such as “a man of
indolent nature”. Or imagine an introvert person that aways stays
indoors. Example,
un hombre de índole / naturaleza tolerante (“a man of tolerant nature”)."
* Headword
censor (p.122): Change the text to "Not to be confused with English
censorship (
censura in Spanish) or
censor (same spelling in Spanish as noun,
censurar as verb) (cognate). To remember which is which, as a mnemonic, remember to switch the second syllable vowel between English and Spanish,
o to
u and
u to
o, except for the noun
censor which stays the same in English and Spanish. Or associate
censura with
basura (“trash”) as both are bad."
* Headwords
desprecio,
despreciar (p.122): Change the text to "In spite of the cognation,
despreciar and
depreciar have very different meanings. As a mnemonic, note the prefix
des-, with one more letter
s, adds an emotional connotation."
* Headwords
disparo and
disparar: Add headword
disparate with definition "folly, nonsense,
tontería; blunder". Append to the paragraph "The word
disparate is a blend of
desbarate and
disparar, and the root of
desbarate is the same as
barato (“cheap”, cognate with
barter), which used to mean “to cheat”. Spanish
disparate, while cognate with English
disparate (“essentially or fundamentally different”), has a very different meaning. As a mnemonic, think of somebody’s gibberish made up of disconnected, separated or incongruous words."
* Headword
aldea (p.126): Change the mnemonic to "or imagine you’ll stay in a village for a whole day, or “this village is under the scrutiny of
DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) because of their drug trafficking problem”. Or imagine there’s an
Aldi grocery store in the village (Aldi is a German chain)." and append "Note that
aldea is much less used than
pueblo and refers to a small village or town."
* Headword
acordar (p.126): Change the whole definition to "to agree; (reflexive, followed by
de) to remember. Cognate with
accord. Note the reflexive usage, which significantly changes the meaning. Examples,
lo acuerdan por unanimidad (“they agree to it unanimously”);
¿te acuerdas de esto? (“do you remember this?”; do not omit the reflexive pronoun
te, and the preposition
de)."
* Headword
Suecia (p.129) and
Suiza (p.174): In spite of lack of
d in the second syllable,
Suecia, the name for Sweden in Spanish has
e instead of
i as part of the vowel in this syllable (as in Portuguese, Italian, but not French). In contrast, the name for Switzerland (
Suiza) uses
i. This is easy to remember if you notice the English words begin with
Swe (regardless the pronunciation) and
Swi, respectively.
* Headword
trampa (p.130): Add "Mary Trump in her book
Too Much - Never Enough (Spanish edition) says, “hace trampa como una forma de vida” (“he cheats as a way of life”)."
* Headwords
soltar,
suelta,
suelto (p.131): Add "Note that
o changes to
ue when it’s stressed; the same happens to
poder and
puedo and many other cases."
* Headword
lecho (p.132): Replace the last part with "As a mnemonic, associate a bed with a
lecherous person, or imagine you drink milk (
leche) while still in bed. Note as this word is not common, it’s better to only learn it for reading and say the more common
cama instead."
* Headword
comarca (p.133): Change to "The prefix
co- may have been
con- (“together”) or just serves as an intensifier, with no real additional meaning. The root -
marca is also cognate with
margin."
* Headword
haz: No doubt this word is most frequently used as the imperative form of the informal second-person singular
tú. So this usage should be placed before other senses.
* Headword
auge (p.135): After "Arabic origin", add "but influenced by Latin
augere (“to wax”; “to increase”), from which
augment is derived."
* Headword
tregua (p.135): Add "Use a mnemonic such as “after a long
trek, this army was able to fight again and forced the enemy to accept a truce.”"
* Headword
comprometido (p.135): Change the whole paragraph to "committed, engaged (adj.); compromising, difficult, awkward. Although this word comes from
comprometer (“to compromise”), the first meaning may be better understood literally from its components,
com (“together”) +
prometer (“to promise”)."
* Headword
gallo (p.137): Add "
Gallic rooster is an unofficial national symbol of France, because in Latin,
gallus (“rooster”) and
Gallus (“Gauls”) are pronounced the same in spite of unrelated etymology."
* Headword
sumo (p.138): Add "Doublet with
suma (“sum”), which has a different meaning (not to be confused with the feminine form of
sumo). To remember which is which, as a mnemonic, imagine a man as a mountain climber going to a peak and a woman an accountant summing numbers."
* Headword
tardar (p.138): Move "to take time, to last" to the first definition, and add to the end "The first meaning is most common, e.g.
se tarda una hora en hacer el trabajo (“it takes an hour to do the work”)." And add "Note
a más tardar means “at the latest”, “no later than”, not “later”."
* Headword
allende (p.140): Change the first mnemonic to “All end here; what you’re looking for is beyond or outside of this area”.
* Headword
cólera (p.140): Add "The title of Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez’s
El amor en los tiempos del cólera (“Love in the Time of Cholera”) uses this word as a pun taking both senses, but anger is more like passion in this work."
* Headword
borracho (p.141): Change the mnemonic part to "try “drink
porridge or
borax if you’re drunk”; of course neither would work and borax should not be taken into the human body at all. This word is not related to
borrar (“to delete”), but as a mnemonic, you can imagine a drunkard as a man with his memory and reason wiped out."
* Headword
quiebra (p.142): Change the definition of
quebrar to "to break, to crack". Move the headword
quebrada from p.219 to this paragraph. Remove the words about doublet. Append "If you tend to confuse
quiebra and
quebrada, realize that
quebrada is really a past participle of the verb
quebrar turned into a noun so the referent is relatively concrete, while
quiebra is a real noun describing an abstract concept."
* Headword
rodaje (p.144): Add "Before digital technology, the tape was rolled in shooting a film."
* Headword
dispositivo (p.144): Append "at our disposal. Note the stress of this word is on the second last syllable, -
ti-. Example,
un dispositivo de seguridad (“a safety device”)."
* Headwords
charla,
charlar (p.145): Add "Cognate with
charlatan if we consider the common Italian origin of both words. Imagine a charlatan glibly talking about the product he’s peddling."
* Headword
corbata (p.147): Add "Or use
collar button as a mnemonic. Or just think of wearing a tie as
corporate dress code."
* Headword
barato (p.148): Add "Alternatively, use
bajo (“low”) as a mnemonic."
* Headword
hembra (p.148): Add "Technically this word can refer to an animal or a human, but
mujer is much more respectful when referring to a woman. If you see the checkboxes for sex or gender in a form with just single letters H and M, assume
hombre and
mujer, respectively, not
hembra and
macho."
* Headword
creído (p.149): this headword as its frequency may have been artificially raised.
* Headword
vestuario (p.150): Remove "clothing" from the definition.
* Headword
mala,
maleta,
maletín (p.151): Remove the headword
mala as it is not a common word as a noun. Change "
Mala is cognate" to "The root is
mala and is cognate". Remove the last sentence "Note
mala ...".
* Headwords
ligado,
ligar (p.154): Append to the definition of
ligar"(followed by
con, “with”) to flirt, to make out, to hook up".
* Headwords
muelle,
ligar (p.154): Remove the first definition "soft, springy or bouncy" and the sentence "In the first meaning ...", as this word is mostly used as a noun meaning "dock". Append "(cognate)" to the word "mole". Append "Example,
un muelle de carga (“a loading dock”)."
* Headwords
ficha (p.154): Change the definition to "file, record, token, counter", and add the verb as a headword "
fichar to sign up; to file.". Append "Examples,
inserta una ficha y empieza a jugar (“insert a token and start to play”);
el modelo fichó por la marca de moda Emporio Armani (“the model signed (to work) for the fashion brand Emporio Armani”);
Ficha de datos de seguridad (“Safety data Sheet”)".
* Headwords
pinta and
pinto (p.154): Remove these two headwords.
* Headword
prenda (p.154): Move the definition "garment, single piece of clothing" to the first. Add/modify "Cognate with
pignorate (“to pledge”) ... In the sense of “clothing”, it’s more common to occur in plural,
prendas (“clothes”). It’s not clear how this sense came about. Imagine clothes could be used as a pledge in ancient times."
* Headword
cima (p.157): Replace all the comments with "Cognate with
cyma and
sima, two architectural terms. You may well already know the frequently used Spanish word
encima (“on top”, “above”), of which this word is the root. Alternatively, use
summit or
climax as a mnemonic. Example,
en la cima de la montaña (“on the top of the mountain”)."
* Headword
gozar and
gozo (p.160): Replace the description (after the definition) with "From Latin
gaudium (“joy”). Cognate with
joy or the root of
enjoy, with
gaudy (“showy”, “ostentatious”). English
joy is from French
joie because the medial
d of Latin
gaudia (plural of
gaudium) was dropped,
g softened to
j, and
au changed to
oi. Use a mnemonic such as “the
Cossack people really know how to enjoy life”, or imagine a lady enjoying a party in her festive,
gaudy, costume. Examples,
gozar de / gozar / disfrutar la vida (“to enjoy life”;
de is optional after
gozar).".
* Headword
patrocinio (p.162): Add "From Latin
patrocinium (“protection”, “patronage”) <
patrocinor (“I protect”) <
patronus (“protector”) + -
cinor (suffix to form a verb). As a mnemonic, think of the word as
patron +
señor."
* Headword
ladrillo (p.163): Add "Unrelated to
ladrón (“thief”). But you can make a mnemonic such as “a big thief (
ladrón) steals lots of small bricks (
ladrillos) at a construction site” (suffix -
ón is augmentative and -
illo diminutive)."
* Headword
filo (p.163): Add "related to or doublet with
fila (“line”, “row”) ... To avoid confusing the meanings of
filo and
fila, as a mnemonic, imagine a man holding a sharp-edged sword while a woman holding a line of thread."
* Headword
beca (p.165): Change to "Either of Hebrew origin, or from Latin (through Italian) referring to a nobleman’s headdress which resembles a bird’s beak, therefore cognate with
beak. Imagine a scholar wearing such a headdress being granted research fund. Or use a mnemonic such as “Re
becca got her scholarship."
* Headword
arce (p.166): Delete the extra "with". Add "Alternatively, as a mnemonic, imagine two red-leaf maple trees on the two sides of a beautiful
arc in a garden. Or imagine the legendary King
Arthur not only defeated the Saxon invaders but also voyaged to Canada and saw mountains of maple trees."
* Headword
atrever (reflexive),
atrevido (p.171): Add "Not to be confused with
atravesar (“to cross”, “to pass through”). You can use a mnemonic such as “to dare to
traverse or cross the death valley”."
* Headword
brindar (p.167): Append "The first part of the word is cognate with
bring and the second part can use
dar (“to give”) as a mnemonic. Examples,
brindar / ofrecer ayuda (“to offer help”);
brindis por su salud (“toast to your heath”)."
* Headword
concebir (p.173): Add "From Latin
concipere (“to conceive”), where the third syllable consonant
p changed to
b when inherited by Spanish but to
v in Old French (hence English). Superficially, we can think of a
b-
v conversion."
* Headword
mozo (p.174): Change the text to "There are various etymological theories about this word, including one that connects it to
muchacho (“boy”). Alternatively, we know that the Biblical name
Moses, according to one theory, means “child of” in Egyptian (see
Wikipedia for Moses and its
reference that states “
Moses is derived from the common element in names such as
Thutmosis (‘
Thoth created him’)...)”. For lack of definitive proof, we can at least take
Moses as a mnemonic for
mozo and imagine him as a young boy or young man. Or think of the young music genius
Mozart as a
mozo. (The feminine form
moza means “girl” but is not as common.)"
* Headword
lienzo (p.176): Change "linen (cognate)" to "linen (possible cognate)" and add "Example,
originalmente los lienzos eran de lino (“originally canvases were made of linen”)."
* Headword
cocer (p.178): Change text to "In general, cooking is
cocinar, while
cocer specifically refers to cooking by simmering, boiling or steaming. Not to be confused with
coser (“to sew”). Example,
patatas cocidas (“cooked potatoes”;
cocido is the past participle of
cocer)"
* Headword
socorro (p.178): Add "Imagine people run to rescue those buried beneath (
sub-) debris. Examples,
llamada de socorro (“distress call”, “SOS”);
¡socorro! (“help!”;
¡ayuda! can also be used but it implies less urgency)."
* Headword
cabildo (p.179): Also cognate with
capital, which may better help remember this word.
* Headwords
licitación,
licitar (p.179): Add "Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “a government official so
licited a bribe when an unqualified company offerd a bid for the contract”. (Note
solicit is an unrelated word.) Example,
varias empresas licitaron la instalación del gas en la ciudad (“several companies bid / tender for the installation of gas in the city”)."
* Headword
marear (p.179): Change the definition to a single one "(reflexive) to get sea-sick, to get dizzy" and add examples "
marea alta / baja (“high / low tide”);
la marea está subiendo (“the tide is rising”);
contra viento y marea (“against all odds”, literally “against wind and tide”);
me mareo mucho (“I get very dizzy”)."
* Headwords
alojamiento,
alojar (p.180): Add "Alternatively, use Hawaiian
Aloha! as a mnemonic as if you’re greeted by a hostess at a Hawaiian hotel. Examples,
alojamiento y desayuno (“bed and breakfast”);
nos alojamos en el motel esta noche (“we stay at the motel tonight”; note the reflexive pronoun, literally “to lodge oneself”)."
* Headword
Platón (p.180): Add "probably because a name ending with -
o sounds more natural as the name of a person, like
Cicero,
Cato. But English has
platonic (as in
platonic love), and
Platonism (“Plato’s philosophy”),
Neoplatonism."
* Headword
torpe (p.180): Missing quotation marks in the parentheses for
turpitude. Add "Or imagine a sailor who was wounded on a ship hit by a
torpedo is now clumsy in action. Examples,
un hombre torpe (“a clumsy man”);
¡disculpe mi torpe inglés! (“excuse my clumsy English!”)."
* Headwords
yacimiento,
yacer (p.181): Change all the text to "Cognate with the root of
adjacent. Think of lying down on the side of or adjacent to something. Examples,
yacimiento arqueológico / mineral (“archaeological site / mineral deposit”);
el cadáver yace en el hoyo (“the corpse lies in the pit”)."
* Headword
conejo (p.181): Append "A guinea pig is
un conejillo de indias in Spanish, literally “a little rabbit from Indias”; but it may be called by other names depending on the country."
* Headword
constatar (p.181): The root is cognate with
state (“to declare in words”). Prefix
con- (which is from Latin
cum “together”) may be considered an intensifier. According to F.E.J. Valpy, “
Cum in composition increases the force of the simple verb... If one thing is put (
cum) with another, that other thing is increased.”
* Headword
contraloría (p.182): Add "Cognate with
control. Back in Latin, the prefix was
contra- (note
a, not
o) and the whole word meant “a counter-roll or register used to verify accounts”."
* Headword
espeso (p.186): Change the mnemonic to "imagine thick
Espresso coffee from Starbucks (or your favorite coffee shop)".
* Headword
tos (p.187): Add "The second element of the name of the over-the-counter cough syrup
Robitussin, i.e. -
tussin, is from the same Latin origin (while the first element is from the original maker’s name)."
* Headword
ruego (p.187): The word is also cognate with the root of
abrogate (“to repeal”, literally “to ask away”).
* Headword
bote (p.189): Add "To not confuse
bote (masculine) with
bota (feminine), imagine a woman wearing boots getting into a boat run by a man.".
* Headword
águila (p.189): Add "If you know
agarrar (“to grab”), use it as a mnemonic, e.g.
el águila agarra su presa (“the eagle grabs its prey”)."
* Headword
bodega (p.190): Add "Doublet with
botica (“drugstore”, “pharmacy”, farmacia)."
* Headword
acostar (p.191): Move the reflexive usage to the front and change it to "(reflexive) to go to bed, to lie down (literally “to lay oneself down”)" because this sense seems to be more common, and add to the end "The reflexive usage of the word is very common, e.g.
es hora de acostarse (“it’s time to go to bed”)."
* Headword
pizca (p.193): Use a mnemonic such as "a small piece of
pizza".
* Headword
césped (p.193): Use a mnemonic such as "The grass around the
cesspit or the sewage pit is greener."
* Headword
afinar (p.195): Due to possibly incorrect lemmatization of the word form in the frequency list, this headword should be replaced with "
afín related, akin, similar; relative through marriage (n.). The noun is both masc. or fem. Cognate with
affinity."
* Headword
suspiro (p.195): The root is also cognate with the root of
aspire (originally "to breathe onto"),
conspire (originally "to breathe together"),
inspire ("to breathe in"), etc.
* Headword
flecha (p.197): Add "You may know a person by the name Fletcher as that’s a common last name, and his ancestor must be an arrow maker."
* Headword
abad (p.201): Add "This word is masculine. A female abbot, or rather, abbess, is
abadesa in Spanish. "
* Headword
rezar (p.202): Add "At least as a mnemonic, imagine a religious man saying a prayer by
reciting a scripture."
* Headword
araña (p.204): Change the text to "In the Roman poet Ovid’s
Metamorphoses, Arachne, a shepherd’s daughter, challenged Athena to a weaving contest. When Athena could find no flaws in the tapestry Arachne had woven, the goddess became enraged and beat the girl with her shuttle. After Arachne hanged herself out of shame, she was transformed into a spider. (Wikipedia) In all major Romance languages, the word for “spider” is derived from the name Arachne, by way of Latin. Alternatively, use a mnemonic such as “A spider must be good at
arranging things because she’s so methodical in weaving her web.”"
* Headword
tormenta (p.206): Add "To remember which is which (about the meanings of
tormenta vs
tormento), as a mnemonic, imagine a man is tormented or tortured while a woman goes through lesser hardship as riding out a thunderstorm. (In etymology,
tormenta is from the plural of Latin
tormentum, whose origin means “turning”, “twisting”; recall the plural of English
datum, i.e.
data. As a mnemonic, you may think of a single twist for torture, but multiple as a tornado or storm.)"
* Headword
huésped (p.207): Add "Note that this word is masculine. Its feminine is
huéspeda."
* Headword
agarrar (p.207): Add "Or if you know
águila, use that, e.g.
el águila agarra su presa. (“the eagle grabs its prey”)."
* Headword
verdugo (p.209): Add "Or as a mnemonic, imagine an executioner beats the man into dizziness or
vertigo before executing him."
* Headword
sastre (p.209): Add as a cognate "
sartorius (“the long, thin muscle that runs down the length of the thigh”)".
* Headword
pulgar (p.210): Add a mnemonic "Give a thumbs up to
BVLGARI (Bulgari) luxury goods for their high quality."
* Headword
empeñar (p.210): Change the definitions to "(reflexive) to insist, to be determined, to make an effort; to pawn." and add an example "
Juan se empeña en leer su libro en el cuarto (“Juan insists that he read / is determined to read his book in the room”)".
* Headword
prórroga (p.210): Change text to "Cognate with
prorogue (“to discontinue”), which has an outdated sense of “to defer”. The
pró- prefix means “forth”. Note the double
r, so it’s pronounced as a trill instead of a tap or flap (like
perro vs
pero)." Add headword "
prorrogar to extend, to defer", and append "As a mnemonic, think of
forward” (
pro-) and
rolling, so “roll forward”. Example,
prorrogan suspensión de vuelos debido a el covid-19 (“they extend the suspension of flights due to Covid-19”)."
* Headword
hazaña (p.212): Change part of the text to "Generally considered of Arabic origin. But some believe it’s related to
hacer (“to do”). Think of the imperative form of
hacer for
tú, i.e.
haz. Alternatively, use a mnemonic". And add a mnemonic "“Let’s celebrate your achievement by eating
lasagna tonight”".
* Headword
alambre (p.212): Add "imagine “Al is hungry (
Al tiene hambre) and wants to eat kebab roasted on skewers that look like wires”."
* Headword
chapa (p.214): Add "car body work (as in
chapa y pintura)" to the definition, and add "or “The
chap (guy) works at a paint and body shop.”" to the end of this paragraph.
* Headword
corral (p.214): After "From Latin currus (“chariot”)", append "which later changed to a word that meant “a place to keep a chariot”".
* Headword
idóneo (p.215): Add "ideal" as a definition, and add "Use
ideal as a mnemonic".
* Headword
colchón (p.216): Cognate with
quilt,
quoit, and possibly with
cushion, which obviously serves as a perfect mnemonic.
* Headword
anteojos (p.218): Add "Note the meaning is very different from
antojo (“whim”, “craving”). To remember which is which, as a mnemonic, consider that
ante- fully spelled out literally refers to a concrete object while
ant- refers to an abstract concept."
* Headword
cojo (p.218): Add a mnemonic "or “the clinical trial recruited a
cohort of lame people”".
* Headword
hito (p.221): Add "As a mnemonic, think of “
hit a milestone”."
* Headword
cualquiera (p.223): This headword should be moved to p.13, and add its apocopic form
cualquier. Change the whole paragraph to "
cualquier any (adj., before noun).
cualquiera any (adj.); anyone, whoever (n. or pron.). From
cual (“which”) +
quiera (“it may want”). Example,
cualquier cosa / una cosa cualquiera (“anything”, “whatever thing”; note
cualquier before the noun while
cualquiera after).
Cualquier cosa is much more common."
* Headword
grieta (p.223): Add "As a mnemonic, imagine seeing cracks in ancient
Greek architecture."
* Headword
hormiga (p.223): Or as a mnemonic, think of the last Greek letter
omega as if it represents something small like an ant.
* Headword
mutis (p.224): Remove this headword because it's a rare word. It must have been included in the RAE frequency list because it's the name of some popular person or other type of proper noun. It's more common to say
salida for the theater exit, and
chitón or
shh for a silence request.
* Headword
pepita (p.225): Suffix -
ita is diminutive just as -
kin is for English
pumpkin (also seen in
napkin and others). See
Wiktionary. By the way, English
pumpkin itself occurs more frequently than Spanish
calabaza probably due to the Thanksgiving and Halloween traditions which do not exist in Spanish-speaking countries.
* Headwords
estrago,
estragar (p.225): Replace text with "Possibly cognate with
destroy,
strew, or according to E.A. Roberts, with
strategy. If you know
trago (“gulp”, cognate with
dragon), use that as a mnemonic. Or use a mnemonic such as “
struggle to prevent destruction”, “a
strategy to destroy the city”, or “The city-state was destroyed after the governor was
strangled to death”."
* Headword
restaurar (p.226): "has nothing to do with
restaurant" should be "is a false friend of
restaurant".
* Headword
seta (p.227): Add "Alternatively, imagine a mushroom is a tiny round table in a park and you
set a table, or you
sit down at the table."
* Headword
panza (p.229): Add "A German tank in WWII is often called
Panzer (meaning “armor”), which is a cognate if traced to Latin. Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of the fat body of a tank or
panzer as a bulging belly."
* Headwords
suegra,
suegro (p.227): Add "Use a mnemonic such as
Mi suegro es sueco (“My father-in-law is Swedish”)".
* Headword
alcázar (p.233): Change text to "The word is from Arabic, which in turn came from Latin, and is cognate with
castle.
Al- in Arabic is equivalent to
the in English."
* Headword
galleta (p.234): Add a mnemonic "imagine eating too many cookies harms your
gall bladder; it’s unhealthy anyway".
* Headword
porteño (p.236): Add "The Port of Buenos Aires is not among the top in the world. But in the 16th century, it was well known and its name back then,
Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires, made the Spanish word
porteño specifically refer to the residents of this city."
* Headword
hincha (p.236): Add "Alternatively, use
henchman (“faithful follower”) as a mnemonic."
* Headword
madero (p.238): Add "This word is not used as frequently as
madera and generally refers to a specific piece of wood. The derogatory sense of “cop” is probably from likening a cop to a senseless and dumb piece of wood."
* Headword
alarde (p.241): Add "As a mnemonic, remove
al-, which can be considered a prefix (many Spanish words of Arabic origin have this “prefix”), and imagine someone
ardently boasting of something. "
* Headwords
aseo,
arear (p.244): Change the whole paragraph to "
aseo cleanliness, cleanness, tidiness; cleaning,
limpieza; (Spain) restroom, bathroom, toilet.
aseado neat, tidy, clean.
asear to clean, to wash, to tidy up. Cognate with
assiduous (“hard-working”, “diligent”),
assess, doublet with
asentar (“to place”, “to settle”),
asiento (“seat”). The root of the word means “to seat”, “to make sit down”. To make things sit down is to put them in place, or to tidy them up. Or use a mnemonic such as “
Arthur likes cleanliness. He always keeps things tidy.” Or think of a cleaning equipment sold at
Sears department store (remember to drop
a- as done to many words of Arabic origin, even though this one is not). To remember
aseo as “restroom”, think of
ass. Not to be confused with
asar (“to roast”)."
* Headword
indumentaria (p.244): Add mnemonic "“Some
undocumented immigrants work in the clothing industry.”"
* Headword
apuro (p.244): Add "Alternatively, as a mnemonic, think of the ascetic life of a
puritan."
* Headword
coto (p.245): Change the mnemonic to "imagine a
cottage in a hunting preserve, or a
colt (“young horse”). Or “A hunter cannot exceed the allowed
quota in this hunting preserve.”
* Appendix: Add: Not all parts of a word have equal weight in serving as memory clues. Generally, the first part is more important. This makes a simple dictionary lookup sensible. For example, in looking for a word to help you remember
acera (“sidewalk”), unless you already thought of it, check a Spanish dictionary for the words adjacent to it, and you’ll see
acero (“steel”). (The latter has a higher frequency so you may have learned it before
acera.) So imagine a sidewalk with handrails made of steel. Instead of matching from the very beginning of a word, you can of course focus on the part after dropping the initial prefix or prefix-like letters. If you don’t know
acero, use
Sarah as a mnemonic; just remember to strip
a- of
acera and think. Similarly, many words of Arabic origin can be stripped of
al- and you conjure up mnemonics from the remaining part of the word.
* Another good Spanish etymology Web site,
Origen de las palabras. (thanks urdubyoddballs)
*
Last but not the least: Ms. Marina's well-written
review correctly points out my overly casual use of the term
cognate (as well as
doublet) throughout the book. Technically, two words are cognates only if they are in two languages sharing a common ancestor language and the two words independently descend from the origin (etymon) in the ancestor language. Due to the latter requirement, an English word that came from Latin, cannot be a cognate with the Spanish word derived from that Latin word, because the ancestor of English is Germanic, whose ancestor is Proto-Indo-European, which is also the ancestor of Latin (one of the Italic languages). If the English and the Latin words were each independently traced to a common Proto-Indo-European word, they would be cognates; otherwise, they can only be
akin or
related. Nevertheless, this book adopts a common usage of the term
cognate, as understood by most educated English-speaking people not specialized in philology or linguistics.
I have a PhD in Chemistry and M.A. in Philosophy. I have taught myself linguistics with an emphasis on morphological and phonological changes in the history of Romance languages, and have learned to read in multiple European languages. Please contact me by email to yong321@yahoo.com or by filling the form with comments or corrections.
