The Big Propina (and Speaking Spanish in Florida)

In Florida we speak English with a LOT of Spanish thrown in. As with any language, words can have different meanings in different places. Even in southern US English. You can’t call the nut a PEE-can in Georgia because there it means something else. Here in Florida, we have people from all over. And the Spanish words can vary by country. Beans are frijoles. Except to Puerto Ricans, who call them habichuelas. Oh, and the Colombians: They use frijoles for black and brown beans, and habichuelas for red or pink beans. Most Spanish people know this better than a gringo like me. But even we gringos understand many of the differences.

And, so it was that I was in Walmart buying a Christmas gift for the girl. Nothing was making sense, and a really cute sales clerk offered to help. Yes, really. A real sales clerk in Walmart. She was Mexican. And bless her, along the way she spoke Spanish with me because I obviously needed the practice. She gave me a tip on what to buy…and I had to laugh. She used the word “propina”. The Mexican word for tip. She was giving me a tip on what to buy.

Why is that funny? Because in many places it is a bad word. It is the tip of…dare I say it?…the tip of male anatomy! When I chuckled, she obviously knew why. We talked for a minute or two about funny words in different countries. And that was it. Cute story, right?