Street Views

Just some street shots I've taken lately. My calendar list might end up seeing some of these again next year, but I'll try to keep some surprises.

Un Zhoopy

I went to a very interesting interview last night with a local author named Carlos Gamerro. I've read some of his short stories and am going to see a play based on his best-known novel, Las Islas (about the Falklands), this Saturday. I could follow the entire interview quite well, except for a word here and there. One of which was zhoopy. They kept referring to his latest novel, which has a longish title, something about a zhoopy. But what's a zhoopy? About three-quarters of the way through the interview, after they said the word for at least the seventh time, it finally dawned on me that they were saying "yuppie" with an Argentine accent. (Later checking proves my conclusion correct. The full title is Un yuppie en la columna de Che Guevara" or "A Yuppie in Che Guevara's Column," I assume the military meaning of column, though I could be wrong.)

Pelotudo Total

So I've just about finished another short story in Spanish, something I like to do when I'm down here and have the time. Through most of the story, the narrator is over-hearing a clutch of twenty-somethings. They mention Ricardo Fort, who is a local celebrity. His family founded the Felfort chocolate company and he's television personality, talentless and generally considered unbearabe, though also somehow popular. He was in a revue around the corner from me last October and there were always lines of people waiting to see him afterwards. Anyway, I had one of them say that he's a "pelotudo total" which, I hoped, was a way to say "total jerk." But I wasn't sure about using "totál" that way, so I decided to type "pelotudo totál" into Google Argentina and see if I got any hits. Eureka. Not only does it seem as if the phrase is used, the very first hit was for a Facebook page entitled: Ricardo Fort: Pelotudo Total!!!!! (exclamation points theirs, not mine.) So my hunch was doubly confirmed.


By the way, Martha, who edits my stories, said no, she wouldn't say it that way. But Max said it was fine, and I find the coincidence way too appealing, so I'm keeping it.