EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

"See, Mom? I STUBBED my big toe again. I need to wear shoes!" When you accidentally strike your big toe, or any of your other toes or fingers, against something else that is called MACHUCAR (not to confuse with Machacar). The word in English is TO STUB.  The essential difference is that STUB is a verb and a noun, but as a noun, it has a different meaning: it is the what is left after a cigarette or a pencil after being used. MACHUCAR, the verb, or MACHUCON, the noun, is pretty much the same.

A DISINGENUOUS act indeed. DISINGENUOUS means Not Sincere. Anyone who gives a false appearance of frankness falls into that description.  Easily, DISINGENUOUS could be used to describe what a politician is like, since most of them are exactly that: DISINGENUOUS. In Spanish the word would be FINGIDO, FALSO, DESHONESTO.

Nope, this is not a Flying Saucer. It is a TAMBOURINE! An instrument that is as common as the Piano or the Violin and yet most English learners (in Ecuador, at least) don't know what is called in English. Perhaps, the answer to that lies in the fact that most of the English names for musical instruments are relatively similar in spelling to their Spanish versions so...         ENGLISH       SPANISH         piano              piano         violin             violín         guitar             guitarra         flute               flauta         trumpet          trompeta     In this case, the word we are looking for is TAMBOURINE. Not quite similar to PANDERETA, is it? 

So this is a CHOMPA and without buttons, it would be a JUMPER (or not?). This is an easy one because CHOMPA is actually JUMPER. The difference is that a CHOMPA is much more general in meaning and for instance, a sweater with buttons is a CHOMPA, but a JUMPER does not open in the front. CHOMPA is commonly used only in some English speaking countries such as Ecuador and Peru. 

" Well, I'm a real CATFISH and I'm not in the Internet. In fact, I hate all kinds of nets, especially fish nets!" CATFISH means PEZ GATO or more specifically BAGRE. These days, nevertheless, the term CATFISH has recently acquired a new meaning. A person who creates a fake identity to perhaps troll others. or with even more sinister purposes, is now commonly called a CATFISH and the action of doing such thing is known as CATFISHING.  There is no term for that in Spanish so perhaps using the term PEZ GATO or BAGRE to refer to those people will be the option to use.

"CALL IT A DAY? Why not call it a morning?" TO CALL IT A DAY means finishing what you are doing because you feel tired of it. It is a common expression in English, but that has no equivalent in Spanish. LLAMARLO UN DÍA is the direct translation, but it makes no sense in Spanish. We could say TERMINEMOS CON ESTO, or TERMINEMOS YA, but none of those is considered an expression.

"Yes, I FEEL LAZY TODAY, but then again I feel the same way all the time!" Sometimes when we translate into English we get to notice how practical English is when compared to Spanish and perhaps other languages as well. NO TENGO GANAS DE HACER NADA HOY is made up by seven words, but the same can be said in English with only four: I FEEL LAZY TODAY.  Of course, there are other options, and we could also say I DON'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING TODAY, but it's not necessarily the same.

"Oh yeah, I'm a troll n' the rest of the time I'm some guy living in Belgium." Trolling has several translations in Spanish: PESCAR, RONDAR, MERODEAR. However, if it means to make or leave provocative and offensive posts, then it has no translation. Being that the situation, many Spanish speakers are already using the English term for that annoying action, and have adapted it to Spanish. Thus, the verb TROLEAR is being used at the moment, but so far it has not been declared an official term.

"Hello, I'm a BACHELOR, and these are for you. You're a girl, right?"   If you think the word in Spanish is BACHILLER, you are right and not. The problem with this term is not the translation but the meaning it has, different in either language.  In English, a BACHELOR (female BACHELORETTE) is a young single man who has never been married. Also, a person with an undergraduate degree from a university is known as a BACHELOR. In Spanish, a BACHILLER is someone who has finished high school and nothing but. Usually, in Ecuador at least, after completing secondary studies a person receives a "Bachelor's Degree" that is really a certificate with no great value for job recruiters.  

Latinos be like ... If only for the direct translation, ¿MANDE? is COMMAND ME or TELL ME, but that is not the real meaning. In Ecuador, Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries, it is customary to respond ¿MANDE? when someone of a higher rank, or one of your parents, calls you. Any other response is considered disrespectful, and though as of recent there are people questioning this old tradition, still it will be years before it disappears. In English MANDE? would be YES?   

"Am I being COY? But, of course. Can you not tell?" COY is one of those words that have more than one meaning, and for some mysterious reason, those meanings may seem disconnected.  The most common meaning associated with this word is Flirtatious. The idea is looking reserved, shy or vulnerable, but in a way that reveals is being done on purpose. Then, the right translation is COQUETA. COY also indicates there is a reluctance to show or accept something. You can be COY about sensitive information such as your age. In this case, COY would be RESERVADO in Spanish.

"Hey, you know that guy Ant-man? I'm his daughter!" To BELITTLE means you are being mean to others by saying they are not important or making them feel that way. The way we say BELITTLE in Spanish is MENOSPRECIAR and just as in English is really a bad thing to do. The difference is though that in Spanish we can not "play" with the word and say that those who BELITTLE are being little, but perhaps we could say that "aquellos que MENOSPRECIAN a los demás en realidad a sí mismos se aprecian aún menos." 

"No customers again! Maybe we should relocate at that Bahía place in Ecuador." THRIFT STORES or CHARITY STORES are places where you can buy used clothes at very convenient prices. Usually, though not always, the purpose of THRIFT STORES is to raise money for charity.   THRIFT STORES are not FLEA MARKETS. The idea of a THRIFT STORE is to sell clothes only, whereas FLEA MARKETS sell all kinds of goods, including clothes, also at low prices. There is not a synonym for THRIFT STORE in Spanish. The closest in meaning is TIENDA DE ROPA USADA, though these are not necessarily meant to raise money for charitable purposes.

  MICHU MICHU? No human, that's not how you call a Gringo cat! Wait. Is that tuna? ¡Ya voy! MICHU MICHU, which is not even real Spanish, is the way people call their cats in Ecuador. It is also the way they call cats in Italy, so perhaps there is a connection. In other Spanish-speaking countries the formula is slightly different, a truth that also applies to English-speaking countries since in the United Kingdom, for instance, they say PUSS-PUSS, but in the United States, they say KITTY-KITTY-KITTY.

You can only wonder if they ever really need to light those candles on the MANTELPIECE. This is another example of what in English is called a False Cognate or more commonly a False Friend. So, the translation surely is not Mantel. In English, a MANTELPIECE is a ledge, some structure made of wood, stone or sometimes marble that is built over the fireplace. There is not one word in Spanish to serve as the translation of MANTELPIECE, but we can always say REPISA DE LA CHIMENEA.  

"Brave? Well, not right now. I'm mad. I can't find my comb. Darn!" BRAVO is not necessarily the best translation for BRAVE, not at least if you are in Ecuador. Here BRAVO is mad, angry. Un hombre BRAVO is a bad-tempered person. How this came to be is a mystery. Nevertheless, in other Spanish-speaking countries, BRAVO is indeed valiente which is valiant, or BRAVE. So, yes, BRAVE is BRAVO in Spanish, only not in Ecuador

"No WISECRACKS about my hair. At the moment, I am a WISECRACK ." A joke is a WISECRACK, but a joke is not always a WISECRACK. A joke can be a funny story that at the end causes laughter, but it is also a sarcastic and funny remark. If it is a sarcastic remark then it is called a WISECRACK. As such a WISECRACK can be translated as BROMA or CHISTE, but if you want to be more precise then it is neither.  There is not a one-word translation for WISECRACK,  but  we can say SALIDA GRACIOSA or SALIDA INGENIOSA.

"See? It's magic. It was not there ten seconds ago." CASPA is how we call in Spanish that white dust that appears in our shoulders when we have a condition in the scalp. It is particularly annoying because is usually accompanied by itching and sometimes also redness. Different factors may produce the appearance of CASPA and the disappearance of those factors may also mark the end of this problem.  CASPA is commonly an unusual amount of dead scalp cells, Then using shampoo appropriate to our scalp may be the solution. The word used in English is a little bit odd: DANDRUFF.  

"If I bark many times, is that a PET WORD?" A PET WORD or a PET PHRASE is a resource we use when we do not have anything better to say so we keep repeating the same word. It is like having a favorite word, one we use inadvertently one time too many. Well, OK, All right are the most common PET WORDS, but in general any expression used unnecessarily more than two or three times can be considered a PET WORD.  PET WORDS are called MULETILLAS or COLETILLAS in Spanish with Este and Bueno being the most common ones. 

Forests look great during the day, but in the SMALL HOURS... You can't, not at least using one word. MADRUGADA is specifically the time between midnight and sunrise.   Dawn and Sunrise are good alternatives, but they are not necessarily what we know as MADRUGADA in Spanish. A better choice would be EARLY MORNING, or more informally the SMALL HOURS, or the WEE HOURS.