EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

ICE WATER is not only cold but apparently also quite blue. Of course, ICE WATER is AGUA FRIA and also COLD WATER is AGUA FRIA. But then, when do we say COLD WATER and when do we say ICE WATER? In most cases it is OK to use the term COLD WATER; but if we mean water that contains ice cubes, we should say ICE WATER and not COLD WATER.

So many  HASHTAGS! They could easily take over the world! Well, these days the answer is HASHTAG,  a term made popular by Twitter. However, that is not the only name it has. Before HASHTAG became universal, other names were more common for this symbol such as POUND SIGN, NUMBER SIGN, and even HASH CHARACTER can be used.

No. These are not your regular RAFFLES. You can't even eat them . When we say RUFFLES it does not necessarily mean only the brand of potato chips known all over the world. RUFFLES, as a noun, means strips of some fabric gathered or folded with ornamental purposes in some pieces of clothing. In dresses or skirts, RUFFLES are positioned around the neck or the wrist. I Spanish RUFFLES are called VOLANTES (in some countries VOLADOS).  The problem with this word in Spanish is that it is also used to refer to Flyers and Steering Wheels.

"All right, is it to the left or to the right next? or maybe the chest? Wow, this was so much easier when I was a kid." What Catholics, and also the Orthodox, call PERSIGNARSE can be translated with more than one option but not one word. Here are most, but not all, of them: CROSS ONESELF MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS SIGN ONESELF BLESS ONESELF The option most often used is the first one in the list.

"I'm the British equivalent to your Chavo del Ocho. Please, like me." This is a word taken from British culture.  It's an adjective used  as an informal derogatory that usually describes a lower-class youngster who displays anti-social behaviour, and has a  preference to wear either real or imitation designer clothes. In a more general sense,   this word  can be applied, a bit loosely perhaps, to pretty much every culture with a similar nasty element.  In Spanish, the word ÑENGOSO is probably the closest in meaning to what a CHAV is. There is a female version of the word, as well, CHAVETTE.

"I'm not an AJENO! I'm an ALIEN and you are what I eat!" This one of those words that have no equivalent in English. AJENO essentially means NOT YOURS. Words that are close in meaning, though not exactly the same, are: PRIVATE, UNKNOWN and ALIEN.  "Esto es un asunto AJENO"  would be "This is PRIVATE business." "Esto es AJENO  a mi conocimiento" would be "This is UNKNOWN to me." "Tales costumbres son completamente AJENAS a nuestra cultura" would be "Such customs are completely ALIEN to our culture."

"Ok, ok... I do, I do! With reluctance?" Sometimes, long words in English are similar to their counterparts in Spanish. Comfortable is Confortable and Instrumental is Instrumental, for instance. It's not always like that, though, and such is the case of the word RELUCTANCE. RELUCTANCE or RELUCTANCY is an attitude. It is you when you are unwilling to do something. If you do not want to vote for a certain candidate then you are reluctant to vote for him or her. To put it into Spanish is a bit more complicate. RELUCTANCE is definitely not Reluctancia, and the noun Reluctante does not exist either. The term is RENUENCIA from which we get the noun RENUENTE (unwilling to do something).