Did you know that Ops is the goddess of abundance in Roman mythology?
Oops I did not…
… this is how one of my newsletters began.
Newsletter could be named boletín in Spanish, and this is precisely the subject of this article: The excessive and needless use of anglicisms.
Although in Spanish language there is an increasing tendency to use foreign terms, above all from English language, if we want our texts to be written using correct Spanish language, we should pay attention to it.
It is a question of being careful with the use of some words which may cause confusion when writing them, due to the similarity in both languages, English and Spanish.
Obviously we have to know which ones they are so that we will be aware to write them correctly. And to make it more clear, here we see much used examples which I find when editing different contents.
They are anglicisms we see and hear often, like the reference of the title: Ops, although *…
The interjection Oops! (which is used to express surprise, as well as other emotions) *as you know in English is written with double ‘o’, therefore… do not miss one otherwise you will be naming Ops, the Roman abundance goddess 😉.
This interjection is written ¡Ups! in Spanish.
The following two examples are anglicisms very commonly used, and far too many times I see them written in their English mode (in Spanish texts), therefore here you have their correct forms in Spanish:
Stress – estrés.
Standard – estándar.
Another example comes ‘in the form of a boss’ 👀, and it is:
Manager, which in Spanish is written with accent mánager, and its plural becomes los mánager.
This example leads us to some of the foreign words assimilated into Spanish language and its plural form.
And the Spanish grammar norm is that the words ended in a different consonant than n, l, r, d, j and z form its plural adding an S at the end, like webs, clips, robots, airbags, anoraks, etc.
Within social networks and internet, there is an anglicism which has become like a ‘member of the family’ …
👉 Link – enlace in Spanish.
More frequent examples within the mentioned field, and the online training too, are:
Slogan – eslogan.
Workshop – taller.
Masterclass – clase magistral.
Webinar – seminario web.
By the way, talking about assimilated words, online is a “semi-assimilated” one since it can be translated into Spanish, but if you prefer keeping the English form online, in Spanish it is written in italics (or between inverted commas if there is no way to use italics).
And finally, there are 3 anglicisms which I hear quite often, and see them written, as if there were not good options in Spanish:
Feedback, Mindset, and Insight
Here I give you their possible translation (although there are more):
Valoración, Actitud y Percepción
As I comment in my article Words educate, with such a huge variety of words to choose from, why don’t we use them?
Spanish language has an ample and rich vocabulary, but it seems foreign words are cooler than our own.
Have to say I love foreign culture (above all travelling to other countries), but I am also conscious that our language is fascinating, therefore here I am to guard my native language…
… as a Spanish native, and as a linguist, –although I love English language–
💪 I defend a greater use of Spanish vocabulary.
Also have to add that foreigners love Spanish language, especially those who study it (and I am very aware of it since I am also teacher of Spanish as a foreign language 😉.)
I have a question: Do you also have this feeling, or fact actually, in your country and with your language?
Come on, I will be waiting for your answer which I will read, and answer 🙂.
🙏🏼 Thank you for being there and for investing part of you time to read me.
I want you to know you can comment, suggest, ask… anything you come up with, here I am to read them with care and dedication 💜.