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This is perhaps the only celebration that both Jews and Christians share, to a certain extent, meaning that both religious groups hold this day as a holiday but for different reasons. In the Jewish tradition, Passover is an extensive commemoration (it lasts seven or eight days) of the liberation of the Children of Israel from the Egyptian tyranny. This liberation is credited to the divine intervention: God sent ten plagues to the Egyptians to make them see it was His will that the Jews could become a free nation. The whole story is told in the Exodus book which reveals how a young Moses becomes the leader of Israel and acts as the Messenger of God calling upon Egypt each of the plagues with the Tenth plague being the most lethal: the Angel of Death is sent to Egypt to kill the firstborn of every family, save for those who mark their houses with the blood of a lamb.  The Angel pass ed  over (hence the name) and did as he had been ordered; and thus, the Pharaoh was forced to let

Believe it or not it is AT as in the preposition at .  It is difficult for Spanish speakers to understand why this symbol was chosen for such an important role is electronic messaging since for us @ is only ARROBA. An ARROBA in Spanish is how we call a measure of weight of around 11.5 kilograms which, at least in Ecuador, is not commonly used. Can you imagine how awkward is to say this in Spanish: lbermudez@copol.edu.ec, that is elebermudez arroba puntoedupuntoec? It makes sense when you learn that the @ symbol means  at and that at means EN. So if I say lbermudes@hotmail.com what I´m actually saying is lbermudes en hotmail.com. It does make sense. Now, I wonder if there is a way to say ARROBA (the measure of weight) in English. 

ROCK, as we know it, is primarily a music style that was born in the mid-twenty century. Its impact has derived in the creation of other types of rock such as heavy metal, punk, pop rock and several others. It is popular everywhere so it has become part of the identity of cultures other than the Anglo-Saxon and thus we have Rock in Spanish, in Portuguese, in German and practically in every major language in the world. But that is ROCK as a noun. The same word also exists as a verb and it has an entirely different meaning. Here is an example: In order to make her baby sleep, Jill sings a lullaby and rocks the cradle with her hands. ROCK, a regular verb, is put into Spanish as MECER as long as it is a verb. It is also an adjective if added the –ing form, e.g. a rocking chair (una silla mecedora).  Of course, there is another meaning for the word Rock as a verb: To Rock also means To be The Best. Curiously with meaning ROCK is rarely used in any other tense but the simple ten

The problem here is that LAWNMOWER MAN is what we know in Spanish as JARDINERO, and the word GARDENER is also JARDINERO. What’s the difference? When we mean the person who only mows the lawn (that is to prevent the grass from growing too high) and of course uses the machine commonly known as Lawnmower we are talking about a LAWNMOWER MAN. If that person is in charge of embellishing a yard or any other open place by positioning plants and flowers in a way it looks beautiful we call that person a GARDENER. Lawnmowers usually work in large areas that are required for specific events such as sports tournaments as in a soccer field or a tennis court, so all they do is cut grass and eliminate dry leaves from plants and trees. Gardeners have to show a special talent, what we call “good taste”, in order to fulfill their contracts. Though it looks like an easy job it requires patience, dedication and talent so as to arrange flowers and plants in a way it looks aesthetically attractive

This one has some considerations to be made. Really the word ÑAÑO is not widely used in Latin America, only in the Andean countries since it is not even a Spanish word but from the Quechua language (with the exception of Colombia and Venezuela) and it does not have necessarily the same meaning from country to country.  In Ecuador it is used to refer to any of our siblings. Also it is used to indicate a young child to be careful with one who is younger than him or her. In the Ecuadorian coast in particular, it used to be used to address a good friend, but that usage has slowly been set aside in the last twenty years to be replaced by other terms. Ñaño would be BROTHER but it does not have the same significance. BROTHER is HERMANO but not really ÑAÑO, so perhaps the term BRO would be more appropriate. The two men in the picture are well known by the Ecuadorians. The one in the right is the president of Ecuador and the one in the left his older brother. They are supposed not to

Saint Patrick's Day is one of the very few Catholic-oriented celebrations included in the calendar of the American Union. Being based on a figure that represents the faith of a minority is popular in most of the States but not in all including those where other religious denominations have a much stronger prensence. In other words, if you want to experience what happens on this day and how it is celebrated  it is better to go to places where the population is mostly Irish descendants since the Irish immigrnats were the ones who brought that tradition to the American soil. One of those places is the cosmopolitan New York City. Saint Patrick is the patron saint of a country strongly identified with Catholicism, such as Ireland. He is believed to be the one who introduced Catholicism to a then pagan Ireland back in 432 A.D. It is to commerorate his death on a March 17 the reason why Saint Patrick´s Day is obseved on this date. Among the curious traditions practiced on Saint patr

It's an Euphemism and nothing but (an Euphemism is a word used to substitute another word that could be offensive or plain silly, e.g. Slow instead of Stupid). An Action Figure is really a toy, but since toys are for kids it was decided to come with a term that could not be easily associated with kids and thus the term Action Figure was coined.  Still it is true there are certain differences between a standard toy and what is considered an action figure. First of all an Action Figure is usually a superhero, a comic character, a wrestler or someone popular at the moment.  It is usually made of solid materials (not rubber or stuff) but hardened plastic and even light metals such as tin.  An Action Figure has to look cool but not "nice".  Let's not forget they are purchased by young adults who are fans of some character and also by adults nostalgic of past times. Action Figures are not made to be played with. They are so well made that their owners usuall