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What's CASUALTY in Spanish?

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The translation is definitely not CASUALIDAD. Casualidad is Chance or Coincidence, e.g. ¡Qué casualidad! - What a coincidence! ¡Es pura casulidad! - It's pure chance! CASUALTY means VICTIMA as in someone who got killed in a war for example or some sort of disaster. A more appropriate term is perhaps BAJA. The number of civilian CASUALTIES is enormous. - El número de BAJAS civiles es enorme. As you can see, CASUALTY can be confusing for the average English learner since it is what we know as a False Friend. A False Friend is a word that looks similar to another from a different language but does not have the same meaning just like CASUALTY that has a spelling similar to that of the Spanish term CASUALIDAD. Yet they do not have the same meaning.

How do you say 2 X 2 in English?

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Definitely not TWO BY TWO! In Spanish 2X2 is said DOS POR DOS. Literally that would be TWO BY TWO though I've had students saying TWO FOR TWO. None of those is correct. In English you don't say BY or FOR in this context. What you actually say is TWICE TWO IS TWO. If you want to say UNO POR DOS then say ONCE TWO. If you want to say 3X4, 4X4 5X7 is actually easier. Replace POR with the word TIMES as follows: 3X4=12 - three TIMES four is twelve 4x4= 16 - four TIMES four is sixteen 5x7 - five TIMES seven is forty-five.

How do you say CONSUEGRO (A) in English?

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"Admit it. I'm a better Consuegro than you." The answer is there's no word for that in English. Though of course there are CONSUEGROS and CONSUEGRAS in their culture but for some reason there is not one specific term to refer to these members of our extended families. What you can do is to introduce this person as "my son or my daughter's father / mother in law" That should be enough.

What's an AARDVARK in Spanish?

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"Ants...Ants...Where are thou?" This singular animal with physical features that seem taken from other animals is called an AARDVARK. It lives in Africa and just like the famous Ant Bear from South America, it feeds on ants though it also eats other insects. Perhaps the fact that is a nocturnal animal explains why not so many people know about AARDVARKS. In the Spanish-speaking world many people mistakenly call it OSO HORMIGUERO, just like the ANT BEAR, but a more precise name would be CERDO HORMIGUERO though AARDVARKS are not really related to pigs.

How do you say CERUMEN in English?

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Well, there are things that you will never find in any of the standard EFL books, and this is one of those. The word CERUMEN is that greenish brown secretion that appears in our internal ears. The technical word in English is precisely CERUMEN just like in Spanish but unlike Spanish there is a non-technical word for CERUMEN in English that is also more popular and commonly used: EAR WAX.   

What are SUNDRIES in Spanish?

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So many sundries, so little time! SUNDRIES  is a word that refers to several objects at the same time. These objects are usually of small value, and size, which is why they are not mentioned separately but altogether under the label SUNDRIES. You can find SUNDRIES in small stores, drugstores or souvenir shops. The best possible translation I found was MISCELANEOS or OBJETOS DIVERSOS (again too diverse and cheap to be worth mentioned one by one). Those living in Guayaquil can find SUNDRIES in stores such as EL DOLARAZO or basically in any bazaar. SUNDRIES is an remarkable word because as a noun it only exists in plural form. It can be used in singular form (SUNDRY) but then is not a noun but an adjective. In that case SUNDRY means diverse, various, miscellaneous.

How do you say MICHU MICHU in English?

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What? Food? Did you say food? There is not a direct translation of MICHU, MICHU in English.  MICHU, MICHU is the way we call cats in Ecuador, or at least in Guayaquil. Sure we have names for our cats but whenever we need their attention,  MICHU MICHU is what we say. In the USA, when you call a cat you say : "HEY, KITTY. KITTY, KITTY..." If you're uncertain, don't worry. Just put some tuna in your hands and say whatever onomatopoeia: regardless of what you say, the cat will come.