So many times I have sat down to write this blog and so many
times the pages have just stayed blank, the cursor blinking up at me like a
ticking clock of disappointment. But the
first stage of recovery is acceptance: clearly this article is not going to
write itself.
So where to begin?
There are so many things that frustrate me about Chile and so many
things which I don’t understand. I could
talk for hours about the milk situation (prepare for a shock newbies!) and how
much I’ve suffered wasting a day in endless queues, but I’m not here to uphold
the reputation of a moaning gringo. I’m
here to stay and I love this place, and now I intend to take you all on a
journey into its very heart, commonly known as …
Its language: pride and joy of Chilenos and the daily bane
of existence for those weaned on the husky undertones of Espana. It is almost like another language – in fact,
for my Spanish colleague, it IS, after a month she is still struggling with
comprehension barriers.
I have always had my nose in a book and been interested in
weird things – I’m a nerd, I freely admit it – and one of those things has been
linguistics. Why do we say what we say,
in the way that we say it? We speak all
day (and in my case, without thinking!) with thousands of words at our
disposal. It’s a miraculous thing. My favourite thing about Chile is its
Castellano – its very lilting and musical, with lazy consonants and deceptively
clear vowels, and of course more slang then you can shake a stick at (or fill
books with, see the ever in print “How To Survive In The Chilean Jungle”). It’s also extremely fast, extremely
descriptive, FULL of expletives and sayings that completely change meaning
depending on the situation. There is a
wall in my room which I like to bang my head on after a day attempting Chilean
– perhaps you have one also. Of course,
then hearing my brain rattle is not too encouraging a moment.
Last night, a friend came up from Puerto Montt. He has just got engaged and personally came
to invite all those closest to him.
After the agonising 12 hour bus journey he’d endured, he spent his one
night in the capital drinking with his companeros. I was woken up in the middle of the night to
join in, and so started my lesson in Chilenismo’s. Chileans LOVE to explain their language and
they speak about it with real pride. One
friend told me that “there is no point speaking Spanish if you are not going to
learn the idioms or the bad words”. Yes, Chilean’s use swear words the way I
use mascara – the sentences just aren’t complete without them! Though a word may literally mean one thing,
in conversation they are used to accentuate the speaker, and their use is not
just accepted, it is ENCOURAGED.
My favourite thing to say in Chilean (besides “oh relampagos!”)
is “cachai?”. Maybe this is because in
English I say “you know?” every half sentence (I need constant reassurance,
ok?) but I find cachai just rolls off the tongue, making it the easiest slang
word to practice, and one where there is no question of people
understanding. It comes from the saying
“cachai el mote” (the word “mote” has a few connotations but that is for
another time) which means …..
I don’t want to overwhelm you straight off the bat but there
is a lot to cover, especially with the sea of huevos-inspired sayings
ahead. To all the newcomers, the veil of
incomprehension shall pass and you will eventually stop relying on the wall to
make yourself feel better, cachai? Until next time, chauchau!
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