gañá!
[gah-NJAH]
Literally: "You jest." (From the verb gaña [GAH-njah], which means deceive, joke, lie.) It's what you say when your jaw drops in disbelief.
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| "Is the water in Curaçao really that clear? Gañá! I don't believe it!" |
A friend is telling you about this fender bender she had on the way to work. "... So the guy gets out of his car with a freakin' shotgun!"
You: "Gañá!"
(English: NO! *jaw drops*)
You come across an obituary in the paper for an acquaintance you saw two days ago in perfect health. You'd say, "Gañá!"
(English: That can't be!)
The electrician you hired to replace a malfunctioning light switch tells you there's a problem with the entire electric installation in the house and it needs to be redone--which will take days, and cost you thousands of guilders.
You: "Ai no, gañá!"
(English: No, you're kidding. Please tell me you're kidding.)
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| What, that's it for this post? Ai no, gañá! I was enjoying it! |
Well, okay then. A bonus word for today:
galiña
(Hint: it's probably something you eat with amazing regularity--unless you're vegan ;) )
I'm enjoying the language lessons, Guilie! Galina must be chicken - same in Italian. If that's wrong, then I will say "Gañá!"☺
ReplyDeleteYES, Debbie! Galiña is, indeed, chicken :D In Spanish it's gallina, the double L pronounced as Y... Not sure what it is in Portuguese, but all these romance languages have (sometimes) a lot in common. You'll be added to the raffle ;)
DeleteOh, and BRILLIANT example of using Gañá there!
DeleteYes, there are definite similarities. I'm better at French and Italian than the others. According to Google, there are different words for "chicken" in Portuguese:
Deletechicken:
frango, galinha, carne de frango, criação
hen:
galinha, fêmea de outras aves
fowl:
galinha, frango, galo, ave doméstica
There's a raffle? Missed that notice. Cool! ☺
Yep... For a collection of short stories about Curacao coming out later this year :) I'll announce the winners the first week of May.
DeleteI'm guessing milk?
ReplyDeleteI like this expression.
Gwen, it's always lovely to see your name in the comments :) Ah, sadly not milk...
Delete"Gañá" seems to be a useful word. Its counterpart in Japanese would be 'Uso!"
ReplyDeleteLetters from the Land of Cherry Blossoms
Uso--I'd never guess that one :) But I love that I know it now! Thank you foe that, and for the visit :)
DeleteI'm vegetarian, so I don't eat galina, but I did eat a lot of gallo pinto in Costa Rica and Nicaragua and I grew to love the combo of fried rice, beans & spices :)
ReplyDeleteOooohh, gallo pinto! Haven't had that in ages! Thanks for the visit :)
DeleteI know gallina in Spanish is hen, so I'm guessing chicken!
ReplyDeleteSomebody else guessed first, but I'm hoping my Spanish minor hasn't gone entirely to waste ;)
I know gallina in Spanish is hen, so I'm guessing chicken!
ReplyDeleteSomebody else guessed first, but I'm hoping my Spanish minor hasn't gone entirely to waste ;)
It has not :) Chicken is absolutely, 100% correct. Good guess, Sabina! Not sure how the guessing will work with the bonus H word... Maybe I picked an impossible one :( Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteI have no idea about gallina, but I feel very knowledgeable now that I know about "gana". Awesome word! And your examples made the different uses very easy to understand. Even if I hope I don't get into some of those situations...
ReplyDeleteHahaha... Very useful indeed, Heather :) Glad you found the examples clear, but yes, I also hope you don't ever have the opportunity to use them in that context :D Thanks for the visit!
DeleteHi Guilie - I was going to say lead .. but chicken makes much more sense and you can eat that! Debbie's use of Gana .. so clever! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteI can see how you got to "lead", Hilary--creative, and intuitive. Alas, yes, it's chicken. And Debbie's "I'll say 'Gañá!'" has been cracking me up since yesterday :D
DeleteOkay, I've read the comments, but I'd say chicken anyway. Does it make any diff if it's walking around or on a plate?
ReplyDeleteChicken is correcto, Bob! Nope, no difference. Alive, dead, filleted, in chunks and skewered--it's all galiña. (Different from Spanish, where "gallina" is specifically "hen".) Thanks for the visit!
DeleteOkay, I've read the comments, but I'd say chicken anyway. Does it make any diff if it's walking around or on a plate?
ReplyDeleteI like expressions like this. They are easier to mix into English to allow practice. :)
ReplyDelete