Glossary of Camp Spanglish
(As used in the family diaries)
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Horse coloring
The Benitz family members of the late 1800's, as did
most of their English speaking contempories in Argentina, created English terms
from Spanish words familiar to them in their everyday activities. These terms
(including: camp
- see below) are known collectively as “Spanglish”. The
terms were used extensively in their diaries and letters, and most of the terms
are still in use today. To retain the flow and feel of the diaries, we
have transcribed them as written and have interpreted the Spanglish
terms here. Within the glossary, we have highlighted in bold terms
that have their own entries.
We will be continually updating this glossary during
the process of transcribing the diaries. If you have corrections or
further information that would enrich the glossary, please e-mail us;
particularly for terms flagged with [-?-],
likely misspelled, we could not figure them out. Please keep in mind we
are interested in Argentine camp Spanglish and not all possible meanings to a
word such as would be found in a good dictionary, e.g. a junta is a yoke
of oxen, not a military dictatorship nor a Mexican business meeting. Our
addresses can be found at foot of the Benitz.com home page.
Our
references:
*
Folklore: “Diccionario Folklórico Argentino”, Felix Coluccio, c.
Editorial Plus Ultra, 1981, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
*
Guaraní: “Diccionario Guarania Ilustrado”, 1997 Colihue-Mimbipa SRL,
Asunción, Paraguay.
*
Birds: “Guía para la identificación de las Aves de Argentina y Uruguay”,
Tito Narosky - Dario Yzurieta, c. Vazquez Mazzini Editores, 2003, Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
* Other
wild-life: “Fauna de mi Argentina”:
http://faunademiargentina.blogspot.com/, Martín Pedriera Kanter provides
detailed descriptions & excellent pictures.
*
Otherwise we recap what is available on the web.
Abbreviations & notes:
[H]
– Herman Benitz's spelling (in the La California and Los
Palmares estancia diaries) was quite inventive. Words he didn't
know, including from Spanish, he spelt phonetically as if pronounced in English.
He also had some peculiar but consistent spelling errors which suggest he may
have been dyslexic, e.g. he consistently spells “peon” as “poen”. In the
glossary we have included his more obtuse spellings, flagged with [H].
a-o /
e-i / j-i-y / d-h-l-t / c-n-r-s-u / s-z – when looking up words,
please allow for spelling and transcription errors. It is often difficult
to distinguish between these letters in handwriting.
a.k.a.
– also known as: a synonym or
alternative name.
CH, LL, and RR - are
not treated as separate letters (as they would be in the Spanish alphabet)
Ñ
- is listed separately between N and O.
- A -
- @
- symbol for arroba, see arroba
- $
- symbol denotes the peso, see peso
- 2 x 3 - [dos-por-tres]
- phrase: “in a blink of an eye”; right away, in a hurry, rushed.
- abroja [abrojo]
- cocklebur, a plant with a spiny very prickly seed, considered a pest.
There are 2 kinds found in Santa Fé: “abrojo chico” or “abrojo grande” (Xanthium
spp.).
- a/c [a/c - a cuenta]
- on account
- accompañared, acompanared [acompañar]
- to acompany, acompanied
- aceite [aceite]
- oil
- acheno, achero [achero]
- (i) unbranded livestock: cattle or horse;
- (ii) see hachero
- administrator [administrador]
- Until the mid-1900's, the management of an estancia
was structured approx. as follows: The
manager (a.k.a.mayordomo) was
the person at the top of the estancia management hierarchy. If he was also the
owner, he would be an estanciero, and if his estancia was large enough,
he might have had a mayordomo
(hired manager) assisting him. Below the manager would be one or two
segundos (apprentices) and one or more capataz’s (foremen) in
charge of cuadrillas
(crews) of peones (workmen). Estancias might be split up into sections
with puesteros to take care of them. Because of his position, the
manager was well respected in the community. A hired manager lived very well
on an estancia with many perks (house, food, servants) but it was not a
lucrative position. Retirement, often without benefits, was a rude change in
lifestyle. Using a naval ship as a corollary, the administrador
corresponds to the captain, mayordomo to XO, segundo to ensign,
capataz to bosun, peón to seaman.
- aflojando [aflojando]
- growing tired / weakening
- afueras [afueras]
- outlands, remote areas (in Alfred's 1889 context: the wilder areas west,
beyond the Calchaquí river)
- ageno [ajeno]
- see ajeno
- aguada [aguada]
- (i) watering hole;
- (ii) set of cattle watering troughs
- aguara [aguará guazú]
- a fox/wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) once common on the northern
pampas and Chaco regions (as well as Paraguay & Brazil), now only found in
remote areas. It is endangered due to habitat loss & hunting (in part due to
superstition). Its name is Guaraní for: “big fox”. In English it is
known as the “maned wolf”. It is unique, neither a fox nor a wolf. Looks like
a large fox on black stilts, it stands 1 meter tall (taller than almost all
dogs), and weighs 20kg.
- agunel [-?-]
- - in a list of cows he milked, Alfred: 13 June'77
- ajeno [ajeno]
- foreign / alien – a person or item (e.g. cattle or horse) that is not of
or does not belong (i.e. alien to the estancia)
- alambrador [alambrador]
- fencer
- alambrados [alambrados]
- fences / fencing enclosing potreros (fields).
La California: the fences were typically of 7 wire strands, 6
plain, 1 barbed, spaced closer together near to the ground to prevent calves
and sheep from passing through. Fence posts were set approx. 12 meters apart
with 5
varillas (wood spacers) distributed evenly between them. The posts were of
quebracho colorado, the wires passing through holes drilled in
the posts and tightened via
torniquetas (turnbuckles) at field corners. (see turniquetes and
varillias)
- alambre [alambre]
- wire
- alasan, alesan, alisan [alazán]
- horse coloring: chestnut / sorrel (US). (See caballo
for more terms & colors.)
- “al corte” [al corte]
- non-selective / arbitrary split of a herd
- alfalfa (abbrev.: alfa) [alfalfa]
- common forage legume – very productive but can cause bloat, particularly
new growth. Sometimes known as lucerne.
Like all legumes, it fixes (adds) nitrogen to the soil and is very often
included in a rotation with crops.
- algaroba [algarrobo]
- a spiny leguminous tree found on the drier western and northern edges of
the pampas. (Prosopis alba, Prosopis nigra) Prized for its hard red
wood. Member of the same genus as mesquite, ñandubay,
espinillo, and caldén.
- algarrobal [algarrobal]
- a wood/stand/forest of algarrobo trees
- alisan
- see alasan
- almacen [almacén]
- general store.
- almacenero [almacenero]
- owner of a general store.
- almidon [almidón]
- starch
- almudo [almud]
- pre-metric measure for grain by volume, 12 almud = 1 fanega.
See fanega and our page on Measures.
- alpargatas, alpergatas, alpagatos [alpargatas]
- black canvas topped, rope soled slip-on shoes. (Still used today.)
- amanecered [almanacer]
- arise, as in the morning.
- anegada [anegada]
- flooded (as in: camps are anegadas)
- “ant bear” [oso hormiguero]
-
the South American giant ant-eater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), they are
about the size of a large dog. Alfred had one as pet.
- apartar [apartar]
- to cut-out, to separate or classify cattle; divide by owner (see
apartes) or categorise by sex, age, or condition, e.g. separate steers
from heifers, cull old cows, or select ready for market. See also:
part.
- apartes [apartes]
- event of parting (separating / dividing) a herd of cattle / horses.
Often by
brand to the different owners, a regular occurrence when there were no fences
and the livestock mixed in with those of the neighboring camps (estancias).
- apartadors [apartador /es]
- owner representatives at an
apartes, those doing the cutting out.
- apestada [apestada]
- infected, sick.
- apretared [apretar]
- squeezed
- aprovechared, aprovochared [aprovechar]
- make use of, e.g. take advantage of an opportunity
- apuro [apuro]
- (i) in a hurry, rushed;
- (ii) tight spot.
- aquerenciar [aquerenciar]
- to accustom an animal or a herd (horses or cattle) to a place so that they
will consider it their home and if strayed will return to it. See
querencia.
- ar
- abbreviation for arroba or peso argentino.
- areglared
- see arreglared
- ariador
- see arreador
- ariar [arrear]
- to herd, to drive a herd
- arkones
- see horcon
- aroba
- see arroba
- arrastrar [arrastrar]
- to drag
- arrear
- (i) to herd cattle.
- (ii) to rustle / steal cattle.
- arreador [arreador]
- (i) long whip used when herding (arrear) cattle;
- (ii) someone who herds cattle - see tropero.
- (iii) someone who steals cattle.
- arreglared [arreglar]
- (i) to fix/repair;
- (ii) to settle accounts.
- arroba, @ [arroba]
- pre-metric measure of weight. In Santa Fé, 1 arroba = 11.58 Kg. (25.5
lb.). (See our page on Measures.)
Also: “$x la arroba” is “$x per arroba”.
- arroyo, arroya [arroyo]
- creek, small river
- arroyita [arroyita]
- small creek, a stream
- arroz [arroz]
- rice
- asado [asado]
- barbecue, al asador – cooked standing on a spike,
a la parrilla – cooked on the grill; asado con cuero is an
un-skinned side of beef (or any animal) placed with its skin facing the fire,
preserving the juices, takes 12-24 hours to cook - Excellent!
- asucar [azucar]
- sugar
- asulejo, sulejo [azulejo]
- horse coloring: blue roan (mix of white & black with blue tones) - see
table at foot of glossary.
- attachared [atajar]
- to intercept; once rounded-up, to prevent cattle from escaping.
- avestruz [avestruz]
- literally: ostrich, the common misnomer for rhea - see
rhea for details
- avisar [avisar]
- (i) to notify or inform;
- (ii) the formal act of informing
- azotea [azotea]
- flat terraced roof
- “azucar ref.” [azucar refinado]
- refined (white) sugar
- B -
- BA [Buenos Aires]
- abbreviation universally applied to Buenos Aires within the
Anglo-Argentine community.
- bagre [bagre]
- cat-fish - quite common worldwide. A fish that has no scales, most have
spines in their dorsal and pectoral. There are about 20 species in Argentina
(2,000 worldwide), almost all found in warm waters.
- (i) Auchenipterus nuchalis:
hocicón, buzo;
- (ii) Bergiaria Westermanni: bagre trompudo;
- (iii)
Heptapterus mustellinus (eel-like): bagre anguila, yuska;
- (iv) Primelodous Albicans:
bagre blanco, mandí guazú / morotí, moncholo blanco;
- (v) Primelous Clarias:
bagre amarillo / misionero / overo, mandiá saigú;
- (vi) Rhamdia Sapo (no teeth): bagre sapo;
- (vii) Rhamdia Quelen: moncholo lagunero, bagre de arroyo /
negro;
- (viii) Trachycorsystes albicrux: bagre colorado / rojo / cruz
blanca.
- bagual, bogual, bagulas [bagual]
- wild horse - descended from escaped Spanish stock; mustang in the
US. See caballo for more horse terms.
- baile [baile]
- dance or dance party
- balde [balde]
- bucket
- “balde sin fondo” [balde sin fondo]
- “bottomless bucket”, figure of speech, equivalent to: “bottomless barrel”
(barril sin fondo) or “bottomless pit”
- baldero [baldero]
- (i) the person (rider) drawing water from a well via a jagüel
– see jagüel for a description of how it’s done.
-
(ii) the horse normally used for the task
- bañado, bañada, banado [bañado]
- marshy low-land. See also
estero
- barraca [barraca]
- see saladero
- barroso, varosa [barroso /a]
- horse coloring, translates as
muddy: a mixture of red, grey, and black hairs - more grey and black than
red.
- basco [vasco]
- person from the Basque area of Spain
- bastidor [bastidor]
- screen or frame used in the sheep dip.
- bayo [bayo]
- horse coloring: dun (See caballo for more terms.)
- beachado [H]
- see embichared
- beaches [bichos]
- see bicho.
- bebedero, berbedo [H], berbeador [H] [bebedero]
- water-trough – see bebida
- bebida, bebitta [bebida]
- (i) water-trough, for livestock. From photographs we know the
original bebidas
at La California were made of wood planks, they were later replaced
with metal, today most are of molded cement. For more details, see tanque.
- (ii) a drink, as in “have a drink”.
- bechado [H]
- see embichared
- bicho, becho [bicho]
- (i) a bug / insect / maggot;
- (ii)
slightly disparaging term for: creature, e.g. animal or wildlife
- bileta
- see pileta [AABz spelling]
- Biscachera
- see vizcacha
- blanco [blanco]
- (i) white;
- (ii) horse coloring: grey - see
table of
horse colors at foot of glossary.
- boals [-?-]
- “Boals ordered”? Alfred: 6 April'85
- bocal [brocal]
- See brocal
- bocero [-?-]
- probably: hackamore - a bit-less bridle. (Alfred: 13 July, 1877)
- bochincha [bochinche]
- (i) loud disorderly conduct or disagreement;
- (ii) a noisy / rowdy party
- bogual
- see bagual
- bol
- see peso boliviano
- bolas
- see boleadoras
- bolear, boleando [bolear, boleando]
-
to hunt (or hunting) with with boleadoras
- boleadoras [boleadoras]
- three ropes attached together at one end, with a stone or heavy wood ball
at each free end. Used to hunt large running animals (ñadú, deer, horses) by
flinging them spinning through the air so that the ropes will wrap themselves
around the legs of the prey. a.k.a.
bolas
- boleta de compra y venta [boleta de compra y venta]
- a contract or bill of sale.
- bolsa [bolsa]
- bag or sack
- “bolsas vacias” [bolsas vacias]
- empty sacks
- bogual [bagual]
- see bagual
- $B [peso Boliviano]
- denotes the Bolivian Peso, see peso Boliviano
- bombachas, bombatchos, bombags [bombachas]
- loose baggy pants (pantaloons) that button at the ankles, typically held up by a sash (faja)
not a belt. Worn by workmen (peones) and managers alike. Very
comfortable, cool in summer. The bombachas worn for dress occasions are very
baggy, heavily pleated, and are typically white or black. (Note: in modern
times, bombachas also means women's underwear!)
- bombero [bombero]
- pump-man, likely a repairer of pumps.
- boregas [borregas]
- ewes (female sheep)
- borego [borrego]
- ram (whole male sheep)
- bosal [bosal]
- halter - as in horse tack. It's lead is: cabestro.
- botoncita [botoncita]
- little button
- boyero [boyero]
- (i) livestock (oxen, horse) wrangler, cares for the oxen, brings in
the riding horses in the morning
- (ii) sometimes also the errand-boy
- (ii) name given to a black bird (24cm long), the most common in the
NE Argentina being the “Boyero Negro” (Cacicus solitarius), in English:
“Solitary Black Cacique”.
- Bramante [-?-]
- measured in
varas, likely a brand of some cloth (Alfred 15 Nov.'85)
- braunlie
- Braunlie is the name of one of Alfred's horses
- bravo [bravo]
- wild, fierce
- brazada [brazada, braza]
- (i) an arm-full;
- (ii)
braza is fathom - a measure of depth: 1.83 meters (6 feet).
- (iii)
Per context (17 Feb'85), Alfred probably meant the distance between outstreched
arms (brazos), either finger-tip to finger-tip, or more likely finger-tip
to nose.
- brea [brea]
- tar
- bretes [bretes]
- Cattle shute or raceway. Heart of a system of corrales
for working cattle (or sheep) on an estancia, it consists of a corral narrow
at one end (embudo) that funnels cattle into a raceway or narrow shute
(manga) with walls of solid wood planks. About ten head can be packed
head to tail in the manga to be branded, vaccinated, etc. At the far end from
the embudo is a vice (yugo) used to grip an animal about its neck so
that it can be worked upon while standing. Typically beyond the yugo is a tiny
enclosure (torín) from which several gates lead, used for parting
cattle to different corrales or for directing them to a scale / weighing machine
(balanza), cattle dip (baño), or truck loading dock
(embarcadero). Bretes are much more efficient and less harmful to
livestock than roping them individually.
- brin [-?-]
- measured in varas
- string? (Alfred 15 Nov.'85)
- brocal [brocal]
- the brick-lined “mouth” of a well, i.e. the well's lintel.
- brocaling
- to line a well mouth with bricks. See calsa.
- buey / bueyes [buey]
- ox / oxen. See carro, pertigo, & yunta.
- bulto [bulto]
- bundle, bulky parcel
- C -
- caballar [caballar]
- riding stock. See caballo for more horse terms.
- caballeta [caballete]
- (i) ridge of roof - per context, likely the ridge-pole (cumbrera ) and
its supports (horcones) - see
cumbrera for more details
- (ii) tresle or sawhorse - often used as
a place to put saddles.
- caballo [caballo]
- (i) Horse, either in general or a gelding (castrated male
horse) in the specific, depending on context. Montado a caballo - ride
on horse-back; montaba un caballo - rode a gelding - the crux of the
1982 movie: The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez.
- (ii) Caballos: is the common term for horses in
general, Yeguarizos is more refined but still a colloquial term,
Petisos is the colloquial term for polo-ponies, Equinos is
generally only used in official documents.
- (iii) More terms: bagual - untamed wild horse (mustang);
caballar - riding stock;
madrina - lead mare in a herd; manada - brood mare herd;
mancarrón - old / useless horse;
matungo - old moke; padrillo - stallion; pingo -
nice-looking horse; potrilla/o - foal or colt;
potranca - filly up to 3-4 years old; potro - colt up to 3-4
years old; redomón - horse being tamed (domado); tropilla -
herd of horses; yegua - mare.
- (iv) Horses are often refered to simply by their coloring (pelaje),
the ending “o” or “a” the only indication of their sex.
- (v) Hair colorings [pelaje] - see
table at
foot of glossary.
- cabezada [cabezada]
- headstall of a bridle
- cabestro, cabresto [cabestro]
- lead-rope of the halter (bosal)
- cachorro [cachorro]
- puppy
- cacique [cacique]
- indian chief
- calk [cal]
- slaked lime – used in white-washing
- callpon, calpon [H] [galpón]
- see galpon
- calsa [calsa]
- to fit or fits (in place)
- calsar [calsar]
- (i) to fit;
- (ii) to line, as in to line a well with bricks. See brocal.
- cactus
- prickly-pear or paddle cactus (Opuntia sp.) — its leaves were chopped
up and added to slaked lime to make it stick better when white-washing walls.
In Spanish, its red fruit is called: tuna.
- calzonzillas [calzoncillas]
- underwear, drawers
- camisa [camisa]
- shirt
- camolotes [camalotes]
- mats of floating water hyacinth
- camp [campo]
- Derived from the Spanish campo, it takes on all its meanings and
is still in wide use today:
- (i) fields – as in “riding out in camp” means “riding out in the
fields”;
- (ii) ranch – as in “I have a camp” means “I own a ranch”;
- (iii) farming & ranching community / agribusiness as a whole: “the
camp is up in arms over the new tax.”.
- campiar [campear]
- to be out in the field, to search
- canyada [H]
- see cañada
- cansado [cansado]
- tired, worn out
- canutillo [canutillo]
- Tender plant (Commelina erecta) that grows in calm waters, up to
1.4 meters tall, found throughout the warmer regions of the Americas, has some
medicinal properties.
In English: “Whitemouth Dayflower”.
- caña [caña]
- (i) cane (as in bamboo);
- (ii)
hut structural element: cane is used in the walls to provide a skeleton to the
adobe (chorizo) and in the roof to support the thatch (paja) - see
cañaveral. Other elements: horcón, cumbrera, tijeras, paja, chorizo;
- (iii) rhum - Caña Piragua is (and likely was) the most
popular brand.
- cañada, canada [cañada]
- (i) low-land / valley along an arroyo on the flat pampas.
- (ii) If capitalized, most likely refers to the town of Cañada de
Gómez 30 km. south of La California.
- cañaveral [cañaveral]
- dense stand of tall thick stemmed grass, or cane, found along rivers and
used for thatch, etc. See caña and paja - can be stands of
either.
- capar, capared, capered [capar]
- to castrate, or castrated (see capon and novillo.)
- capataz, capatas [capataz]
- foreman on an estancia. See Administrador for the
management hierarchy of an estancia.
- capon [capón]
- wether (castrated male lamb/sheep)
- carada [cargada]
- load, as in wagon-load.
- “cardo negro” [cardo negro]
- black thistle
- cargero [carguero]
- pack horse, freighter
- carne [carne]
- meat. In Argentine terms, when unqualified, means: beef.
- “carne con cuero” [carne con cuero, asado con cuero]
- barbecued side of beef, grilled with the hide on and facing the fire.
Takes 12 – 24 hours to prepare, the hide keeps the juices in. See asado.
- carneared, carneado [carnear]
- to butcher an animal
- carnicero [carnicero]
- butcher
- caronillias [caronillas]
- saddle-blankets, typically made of woven wool
- carosane [H] [querosén]
- kerosene (US: lamp oil)
- carpa [carpa]
- tent
- carpired, carpering [carpir]
- to cultivate – as in use a cultivator, a farm implement, to build soil
into ridges around the roots of row crops such as maiz / corn.
- carpincho /a [carpincho]
- the largest rodent in the world (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), it is
herbivorous; semi-aquatic it lives near water, diving into rivers or lakes
when frightened. About 1.0-1.3m long, males weigh as much as 65kg. - about
the size of a pig covered in coarse brown hair with a large square head.
Not endangered, it
is valued for its meat and hides which are very soft when tanned.
a.k.a.“capibara”, in Guaraní: “kapi-yva”, in English: “capybara”
- carral [H] [corral]
- see corral.
- Carrentino
- see Correntino.
- carrera
- race, as in: horse race.
- carreta [carreta]
- cart. During the 1800's, and earlier, the traditional cart of the pampas
was 2-wheeled and pulled by 1 to 3 yokes (yuntas) of oxen (bueyes).
Its wheels were 2-2½ meters in diameter with large solid wood hubs, joined by
a solid wood axle upon which rested the cart's box (cajón), 4 meters
long by 1-1½ meters wide. The box floor was made up of the foot of the 6½
meter long tongue (pertigo) and two parallel 4 meter long spars, held
together by cross-spars (teleras). The tongue extended forward from the
box 2½ meters, with a yoke (yugo) attached to its tip for the nearest
pair of oxen, known as the pertigueros. Each side of the box was made
up of woven rushes supported by six vertical stakes. Six high wood hoops
attached the pairs of stakes across the box; the hoops supported a roof of
tightly sown cattle-hides. Note: In the 1960's & 1970's, much smaller open
carretas (catangos) were still being used in Neuquen province - they
had solid wood wheels cut from a log (at most 1½ meters in diameter) and were
pulled by a single pair of oxen; the driver led them by resting a long cane on
their yoke (fishing-rods worked too...). For more details, see castilla,
coyunta, dorsal, yunta, &
pertigo.
- cartucho [cartucho]
- cartridge
- casco [casco]
- the estancia headquarters. It can sometimes be quite substantial
on large estancias (e.g. in their hey-days: La California, Las Tres
Lagunas, Los Algarrobos). A casco consisted of the owner’s
house and parkland, plus individual housing for the mayordomo,
capataz, bookkeeper, key married workmen, rooms for the household and
field workmen, additional buildings for admin. office, butcher’s shop, store,
dairy (tambo), kitchen to feed the workmen, blacksmith and machine
repair shop (herreria), as well as the requisite barns (galpón),
sheds, garages, windmills, and water reservoirs (tanque). The
corrales adjoined but not too closely because of dust (& irate wives) –
all surrounded by a woodland (monte) of planted trees (pine,
eucalyptus, paraiso
were popular because the locusts would not consume them). On estancias
that have shrunk (e.g. split up through inheritance), substancial cascos have
become non-productive burdens.
- castilla [castilla]
- an enclosed cart (carreta). The cart's box was fully enclosed
with small side-windows; at a distance it looked like a rolling castle
(castillo rodante). One was used on the first cattle drive from
La California to Laguna Yacaré (April, 1884) / Los Palmares.
- cat / wild cat
- see gato montes, puma, & jaguar
- catre [catre]
- simple narrow bed / cot, similar to a field bed of canvas or burlap on
crossed-legs.
- cavallete [caballete]
- see caballete
- ceibo [ceibo]
- The tree and national flower of Argentina (Erythrina cristagalli).
A subtropical broadleaf tree native to South America, with a twisted trunk &
many branches, not overlly tall, it is deciduous with brilliant red flowers.
a.k.a.seibo, in English: “Cockspur Coral tree”
- cencerro [cencerro]
- a bell worn by a cow (i.e. a cow-bell) or mare so it can be found in the
dark. In the case of a mare, it is the madrina that wears the bell
- cepayos [zapallos]
- squash (of the edible kind)
- certifico [certificado]
- certified statement, document, or mail
- cerca [cerco]
- hedge or enclosure (encercar is to enclose)
- chacarero, chacrero [chacarero]
- someone who makes a living from a small farm (chacra)
- chanchero [chanchero]
- pig-man (chancheria is the piggery).
- chacra [chacra]
- (i) a small farm;
- (ii) an area that is cultivated for farming, typically enclosed.
- charqui [charqui]
- salted strips of sun dried meat
- charquiared, chasquiared [charquear]
- (i) to salt and dry meat, to make
charqui;
- (ii) dry salted meat, i.e.
charqui
- charybono, charybo [-?-]
- a wild animal, hunted with boleadoras - but what? charabon? (Alfred, 4
Aug'84, 16 Feb'85)
- chasqui, chasques [chasqui]
- messenger, mail-man. Name comes from Quichua, meaning:
messenger runner.
- china [china]
- folksy criollo term for a woman or wife - not vulgar
- chinaje [chinaje]
- folksy criollo term for women as a group, as in “women-folk”
- choclo [choclo]
- corn (maiz) on the cob for eating as in sweet-corn, in the
camp usually from field corn.
- choriado [chorreado]
- brindle (dog or horse coloring)
- chorizo [chorizo]
- (i) sausage;
- (ii) hut structural element: a sausage of straw (paja) mixed
with mud used in building the walls of a hut. A wall is made by bending
successive layers of
chorizos across horizontal supports - a skeleton of cañas attached to
posts., one layer at a time with each layer folded down over the lower layers.
In particular, see cumbrera, other elemenst are: caña, chorizo,
horcón, paja, tijeras.
- Cia [Cia.]
- abbreviation for compañía, i.e. company.
- ciclon [ciclón]
- a storm on the pampas with very strong, intense winds, often on a narrow
front, destructive - uproots trees, flattens buildings.
- ciervo, cierbo [ciervo]
- (i) deer - per context, most likely the “ciervo de los pantanos” -
the largest deer of South America (Blastocerus dichotomus), it is
reddish-brown, darker in winter, with black legs below the elbows, black
muzzle, and white around the eyes and ear edges, up to 1.20m. tall at the
shoulder, males can weigh 150kg., females 100kg. Adult males grow large
(60cm.) many-tined (4+) antlers each spring. Originally found in north-east
Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil below the equator, today it is endangered,
found only in isolated pockets near esteros and lagunas,
particularly national parks. a.k.a: “ciervo isleño”, “ciervo del delta”, in
Guaraní: guazú pukú, in Englsih: “marsh deer”.
- (ii) “ciervo de las pampas” - see gama,
guasuncho, & venado.
- cigüeña [cigüeña]
- stork (Ciconia maguari), found throughout South America in marshy
remote areas, excluding Ecuador, Peru, and the patagonia. Stands 85 cm. tall,
white with black primary and secondary wing feathers. Full names: “Cigüeña
americana”, in Guaraní: “tuyango”, in English: “Maguari Stork”.
- cinche [cincha]
- girth, cinch
- cirdeared [-?-]
- no idea? (Alfred, 1 May '89)
- clums [-?-]
- no idea? (Alfred, 2 Dec. '84)
- cobrar, cobrared [cobrar]
- collect payment, or charge for a sale
- cobraring [cobrando]
- bill collecting, likely rents from the colonos
- cohudieto [cojudito]
- diminutive of cojudo
- cohudo
- see cojudo
- cojinillo [cojinillo]
- saddle cover, see recado for a desription in context.
- cojuntas [conjuntas]
- (i) per context June 11, 1884: yokes of oxen - see yunta.
- (ii) per context, Oct.12-13, 1884, a raw-hide lonja
(strap), likely used to tie an oxen to the yoke. See carreta.
- cojero, cojeared
- see collero / collear
- cojudo, cohudo [cojudo]
- Colloquial (& vulgar) term for an intact male (i.e. not castrated), most
often used with horses.
- cojunta [coyunta]
- see coyunta.
- collero [collero]
- yoke strap, harness that holds a yoke in place on an ox
- collear [collear]
- to acustom an ox to the collar
- colonia [colonia]
- a settlement, a section of land populated with colonos
(settlers), typically small farmers. Often promoted by provincial
governments, either directly or via contract, to attract immigrant settlers
from Europe. Some settler groups bought their land from the government, e.g.
Colonia California
near San Javier (SFé) was established by a group of Californians, of which
Frank X. Bz (b.1816) was a founding member. Other colonias were promoted
by speculators, e.g. Colonia Espín, in which Frank J. Bz
(b.1850) invested heavily, the leading cause of his debts. (See their bios.
for more details.) In other cases, the land was rented out, as at
La California, the
Las Tijeras
league was rented out to tenant farmers.
- colonist, colono [colono]
- (i) settler (usually immigrants from Europe),
- (ii) tenant farmer or share cropper.
- colony, colonie [colonia]
- see colonia
- colorado [colorado]
- (i) red;
- (ii) horse color: bay. See table at foot of glossary.
- (iii) cattle color: dark red. (e.g. red angus)
- comino [comino]
- cumin (a spice)
- commandante [comandante]
- military officer, equiv. to a major or colonel
- comisario [comisario]
- chief of police
- comolotes [camalotes]
- See camolotes.
- companero [compañero]
- friend, colleague
- compostura [compostura]
- a repair, or spare parts for a repair
- “con cuero” [con cuero]
- see
asado
- conjunta
- see coyunta and yunta
- “contribución directa” [contribución directa]
- provincial real estate tax levied upon the value of all land and fixed
assets, typically paid in quotas (installments).(La California:
first mentioned 4 June, 1888.)
- corador [H]
- see corredor
- “Cordoba nates”
- provincial currency of Córdoba. At sporadic intervals between 1815 and
1843, the province of Córdoba (also La Rioja) struck its own coins.
See currencies of Argentina on our Measures page.
- corintinos, Correntinos [correntinos]
- people from the province of Corrientes.
- cornaso [cornada/cuernaso]
- gored by a horn, jabed by a horn (cuerno)
- corneto [corneto]
- any bovine (bull or cow) with asymetric horns, e.g. with one curved down,
the other curved up.
- corral, corrales [corral / corrales]
- pen, enclosure; each estancia has a set of them for working cattle or
sheep, known collectively as the corrales or
bretes – see bretes. Sheep and cattle would have separate sets due
to the diffreence in size.
- corralon [corralón]
- Large pen or yard. Depending on context, could be a lumber yard or
building-supply yard.
- corredor [corredor]
- hall, veranda
- correspondencia [correspondencia]
- Correspondence / mail.
- corrida [corrida]
- junt / chase, e.g. chasing baguales
(wild horses)
- cosecha [cosecha]
- Crop or crop season.
- costa [costa]
- In the La California diaries: refers to the coast of the
Paraná river about 70+ km. to its east; in the Los Palmares
diaries: not sure what coast, likely the Paraná to its east.
- costaneros [-?-]
- per context, the posts of the outside walls of a hut (Alfred
22 Jan'85). See horcón
& cumbrera.
- costillar [costillar]
- side of ribs
- “counter mark”, countermark
- add a second correcting brand to an animal (or hide) already branded with
someone else's brand.
- covered [cubrir]
- served, to serve - as in “a male serves a female”.
- coyunta, cojunta, conjunta [coyunta]
- the strap that ties a yoke (yugo) in place upon an ox, as in
acoyuntar, the verb “to yoke” (i.e. tie-in) oxen. See carro,
dorsal, pertico, yugo, & yunta.
- crecida [crecida]
- (i) swollen, as in a river is swollen;
- (ii)
grown, as in a child has grown
- creciendo [creciendo]
- (i) rising, as in a river is rising;
- (ii) growing
- creciente [creceinte]
- flash flood, or flood stage
- crespo [crespo]
- curly haired
- criollo / criolla [criollo / criolla]
- (i) a creole person (literal translation): when referring to
people, it originally meant someone of Spanish ancestry born in the colonies.
In modern terms it means the country folk of the pampas, their customs, dress,
food, songs, and dances. Akin to country and western in the US. In
tourist terms, they are the gauchos. A true criollo is a man of his word, he
may be of modest means but he takes great pride in his honor.
- (ii) Horses: The native criollo breed, akin to the quarter
horse in the US, is stocky and strong and is descended from escaped Spanish
stock that ran wild on the pampas.
- (iii)
Sheep: The native sheep are descended from Spanish stock, still found
in Corrientes and other remote provinces.
- cuadra, cuadrado [cuadra]
- 19th century measure of land area: 150 x 150 varas. The length
of the vara varied by province; a Santa Fé cuadra was: 1.687 hectareas, in
Córdoba it was 1.694 hectareas (See our page on Measures.)
Though it was made obsolete when Argentina metrified during
the 1880's, it remained in use for many years, in particular by colonos.
In the JEBz diaries: he denoted it with a tiny square, e.g 200□
lotes.
- cuadrilla [cuadrilla]
- (i) crew of peones (workmen) on an
estancia. See Administrador for more about the management hierarchy
of an estancia.
- (ii) bands of baguales (wild horses - Dec.'84.)
- cuarta, quarta [cuarta]
- (i) quarter;
- (ii) a measure of length, one quarter (cuarta) of a vara,
i.e. 21.6 cm. in Santa Fé;
- (iii) a measure of dry volume, most likely a contraction of
”cuartilla” which is one quarter (cuarta) of a fanega,
i.e. 55 litres. (See our page on Measures.)
- cubiertos [cubiertos]
- cuttlery
- cuero [cuero]
- skin, hide
- “cuero vuelto” [cuero vuelto]
- “hide returned” - applies to livestock sales, price excludes the hide,
i.e. the hide is returned after slaughter.
- cumbrera [cumbrera]
- hut structural element: the roof ridge-pole, often curved up in the
middle for added height, as well as the lower horizontal tie-beams along
outside walls. The cumbreras rest on
horcones (forked posts); joining the the ridge-pole and the tie-beams are
lighter beams (tijeras). The tijeras in turn support a layer of
canes (caña) upon which lies the thatched roof of paja. See the
other elements: caballete, horcón, tijeras, caña, paja, chorizo
- cureared [curar]
- see cured.
- cured [curar]
- to treat animals, usually for fly-blown wounds and such. See
desembichar.
- D -
- ”de valde” [-?-]
- work on his own account or day by day? (Alfred 21 May'85)
- deer
- see ciervo, gama, guasuncho, & venado.
- delgado [delgado]
- slim, skinny
- delgadar [adelgar]
- to slim down
- delijincia
- see dilegence
- demandared [demandar]
- official questioning or suit; to bring suit
- demijohn, demijuan [damajuana]
- 5, 10, or 20 litre bottles, typically encased in a wicker-basket, used for
wine, chemicals, etc.
- dentudo [dentudo]
- a “toothy” slim fish (Acstrorhynchus sp.), about 25cm long, common
to the tropical & subtropical rivers & lagunas of South America. A
voracious predator of smaller fish. It is bright silver with a greenish back,
and has small scales, large eyes, and a large mouth with sharp conical teet.
Various species with non-specific common names: dientón, dientudo dorado,
dientudo paraguayo, pez cachorro, pez zorro. In English, it is known as:
freshwater barracuda, or spotted cachorro.
- derake [H]
- derrick
- descansar [descansar]
- rest
- desconosidas [desconocidas]
- per context: unknown / unbranded livestock
- descuadrillado [descuadrillado]
- dislocated (arm or leg)
- desembichar /ed [desembichar]
- treat fly-blown wounds; typically involves clearing eggs and maggots from
wounds and applying an ointment that kills eggs and/or dissuade
re-infestation. See cured and embichado.
- desgranared [desgranar]
- shell corn/maiz, shelled
- desperando
- see disparared
- desparared
- see disparared
- desparramada [desparramada]
- scattered
- dilegence [diligencia]
- a diligencia is an errand; however, in the context of the diaries
it refers to the light express / hitch wagon (vagoneta) pulled by a
team of 2 or 4 horses typically used by
estancias to run daily errands in the local town for small purchases, mail, fresh bread, etc. The La
California diligencia was still making its daily run into Las
Rosas during the early 1950’s. Before the advent of paved roads and 4x4 trucks,
horse drawn vehicles fared much better in mud than did motorized, which after rain all too often bogged down or slid into ditches.
- discharged, disechared [despedir]
- let go, rejected, terminate employment
- discornared [descornar]
- de-horn cattle - horns are tipped or removed to reduce the possibility
wounding others. Usually done when weaning calves. See yerra. Polled
(mocho) cattle are selectively bred without horns.
- discounted [descontado]
- JEBz diaries: Typically refers to a
discounted loan or note (bill) taken out at a bank. The loan includes the
interest and stamp taxes, i.e. the net amount received is the loan amount less
interest and taxes.
- disembichar /ed /ing [desembichar]
- See desembichar.
- disgrain /ed /ing [desgranar]
- shell corn/maiz
- disparared [disparar]
- (i) to run away;
- (ii) to stampede, e.g. cattle stampeded;
- (iii) to fire a gun
- disparrama [desparrame]
- to scatter or a scattering
- disparramared [desparramado]
- scattered
- dispatched [(i) despachar; or: (ii) despidir]
- (i) send / post / dispatch;
- (ii) dismiss or fire (an employee)
- dispunta [despunta]
- per context, where river doubles back (Alfre 27 Nov.'85)
- dispuntaring [despuntando]
- trimming burrs and barbs (e.g. from fence posts)
- $
- In the camp diaries, this symbol symbol denotes the peso, see
peso. It does NOT denote the US dollar unless specified.
- dordillo, doridillo [doradillo]
- horse coloring: light bay/red (see table at foot of glossary).
- dorsal [-?-]
- harness part attached to the tongue (pertigo) of a cart (carreta).
We don't know its function, but we suspect it could be what attaches the
traces (tiras) of the lead pairs of oxen to the tip of the tongue (pertigo).
(Alfred, Oct.11, 1884)
- dorzida
- see dorsal
- domaring [domando]
- taming or breaking-in horses.
- Durham
- Alternative name for the Shorthorn breed of cattle.
- E -
- ear-mark
- See señal.
- egualars [iguala / igualar]
- matches, equals
- embarared [embarar]
- to apply or cover with mud, e.g. to plaster a wall with mud.
Revocar is probably more correct.
- embargar, embaragared [embargar]
- to embargo or seize, i.e. by court order
- embichadas [embichadas]
- fly-blown animal - see embichared
- embichared, embechared [embichado]
- fly-blown. Flies lay their eggs in wounds, the eggs hatch into larvae
(maggots) that then feed on and enlarge the wound. See
desembichar.
- embra [hembra]
- female
- empatanared [empantanado]
- bogged down (stuck) in a mud hole in the road (pantano is a bog)
- “en cerco”
- see encercar
- “en pelo” [en pelo]
- bareback - litteraly to ride “on hair”
- “en rodeo”
- see rodeo
- encajada, encajared [encajada/o]
- stuck, as in bogged-down in mud
- encargado [encargado]
- the person in-chage of a task or place. Can be a manager, capataz, or
anyone higher management has designated.
- encargared [encargar]
- to request
- encargoes [encargues]
- (i) requests;
- (ii)
requested items
- enceinta [encinta]
- with child (politer form of embarazada - pregnant)
- encercar [encercar]
- (i) to enclose or surround, e.g. with a hedge (cerco is a
hedge);
- (ii) to encircle or box-in cattle, or prey when hunting.
- encomienda [encomienda]
- (i) parcel post; courier or package sent by courier;
- (ii) an errand requested as a favor.
- enronchado [enronchado]
- to be covered in ronchas - discolored swellings or bruises, e.g.
from insects bites.
- ensenada [ensenada]
- large corral or enclosure.
- entregared [entregar]
- hand over / deliver
- espiga [espiga]
- cob - as in “corn cob”. If “in espiga” then it is a partial translation of
en espiga - on the cob.
- escribano [escribano]
- notary public. However, in US terms they are more akin to a para-legal,
more than a notary but less than a lawyer. Most contracts (e.g. land sales)
must be written and certified by an escribano, for which they charge a
fixed percentage of the value of the contract; the percentage rate is
determined by their
colegio (association). Today computers have made their tasks very simple
and their rates can be negotiated down.
- espinillo [espinillo]
- a short spiny tree (Acacia cavenia, 3-4 meters high, yellow
flowers) standing alone or in small groups, found in the northern pampas and
chaco regions. See also algarrobo and ñandubai
- estaca [estaca]
- stake, as in horses tied to a stake.
- estancia [estancia]
- ranch, hacienda, fazenda, station – usually spoken of as a camp. In
the late 1800’s and early 1900's, Argentine estancias were akin to Texas
ranches: extensive cattle and crop enterprises. See administrador for
more on the management hierarchy of an estancia.
- estanciero [estanciero]
- estancia owner, i.e. rancher - see administrador.
- estantes [estantes]
- shelving, cubboards
- estero [estero]
- a large expanse of low land, mostly under water, filled with thick stands
of tall grass (paja), its open water partly covered by floating
hyacinth (camalotes)
- estrapiadas [estraviadas]
- strays, as in cattle that strayed off
- estropeado [estropeado]
- crippled, damaged by rough treatment
- “exposición rural” [exposición rural]
- Agricultural show (fair), typically organized by a
sociedad rural at the town, county, or provincial level. The national
exposición rural is held every winter (sometime during July through
September) at the Palermo show grounds in Buenos Aires and is organized by the
Sociedad Rural Argentina – known as the Palermo Show amongst
Anglo-Argentines. JEBz: judged Durham (short-horn)
cattle at the show in Rosario.
- F -
- F
- probably an abbreviation for peso fuerte.
See“peso duro”.
- falso [falso]
- false
- faulting [faltando]
- missing (i.e. one short, absent) [Alfred: 27 May'92]
- fanega [fanega]
- pre-metric measure for grain by volume. In Santa Fé: 220 litres,
6.24 bushels. In modern terms: 1 fanega = 173.7 kg. wheat, = 185.3 kg. maiz,
= 139 kg. maiz+cob. See almud & cuarta. (See our page on Measures.)
- farina, farinha [farina]
- wheat meal - actually it is an English term but included here, for
non-cooks. Fine ground whole wheat, analogous to corn-meal (polenta),
or oat-meal / porridge (US / UK).
- felastico [-?-]
- roll of wire? (Alfred 17 Feb'85)
- feretteria [ferreteria]
- (i) iron-works, metal tools, most likely black-smithing tools &
supplies,
a.k.a.herreria.
- (ii) in modern terms, it is a hardware store.
- fiared [fiar]
- to sell on credit; to give credit
- fiesta [fiesta]
- party
- finado [finado]
- the late (dead person)
- flacage [flacage]
- skinny cattle, as a group
- flaco [flaco]
- thin, skinny
- flacura [flacura]
- thining, starving.
La California diaries: Mentioned on 8 Oct. ’88, the end of winter.
In central Santa Fé winters (June-Sept.) are typically very dry with almost no
rain, so that by the end of winter grass for feed is often scarce.
- fonda [fonda]
- inn (lodging & meals)
- fosfores [fosforos]
- matches (to light a fire)
- fotografista [fotógrafo]
- photographer
- frutas [fruta]
- fruit
- fuente [fuente]
- serving-dish
- fuerte [fuerte]
- fort
- G -
- gagared [-?-] [gaguer?]
- stuttered ?
- gain [ganar, ganan]
- when discussing wages: earn, earnings, e.g. gain $2.00 per day.
- galera [galera]
- stage-coach pulled by a team of 6 riders on horseback
- galgo [galgo]
- greyhound dog
- galletas, galletes [galleta]
- (i) a bread which when dry flakes easely.
Estancias provided it to their workmen because it would keep for a long
time;
- (ii) today, galletitas are dry crackers / biscuits (US / UK
terms respectively).
- galpon [galpón]
- barn or large shed
- gama [gama]
- a small reddish-brown deer of the pampas (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) -
max. height: 70cm. at the shoulder, weight: 40kg. Males grow antlers,
typically 3 points. Once numerous, it is currently endangered due to habitat
loss. a.k.a. “venado
de las pampas”, “ciervo de las pampas”, “ciervo pampero”, in
Guaraní: guazú-tí, in Englsih: “pampas deer”. See also ciervo,
guasuncho, &
venado.
- gamita [gamita]
- little gama
- “gangrena gaseosa”
- see mancha
- garrapata [garrapata]
- tick; cattle ticks cause loss in condition, severe anemia, and itching.
- gastos [gastos]
- expenses
- gateado [gateado]
- horse coloring: line back. See table at foot of glossary.
- gato montes [gato montés]
- The smallest wild cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) found in Argentina, its
territory encompases Argentina & Chile north of the Patagonia, all of Uruguay
& Paraguay, southern Brazil, & south-eastern Bolivia. Crepuscular & nocturnal
it sleeps by day hiding up high in trees or in tree hollows. It feeds on
small mamals, birds, & fish. Similar to a domestic tabby cat, but larger &
more robust: average weight: 4.8 kg., body length: 45-75 cm., tail: 25-35 cm.,
height: 30 cm. Once the most numerous wild cat in Argentina, it is currently
highly endangered due to habitat loss & illegal hunting.
a.k.a.
“gato moteado grande”, “gato de Geoffroy”, in Guaraní: mbaracayá, in English:
“Geoffroy's Ocelot” or “Geoffroy's Cat”, or by Alfred et al: “wild cat”.
- gato once, gato onza [gato onza]
- a small wild cat (Leopardus pardalis, formerly: Felis pardalis),
dark spotted on a tan coat, white belly, 10-15 kg., up to 1.30 meters
including its tail. Crepuscular & nocturnal, lives in jungles from the
south-west US to north Argentina, feeds on small animals and birds. In danger
of extinction. a.k.a.: titica, tiricón, ocelote, gato tigre; in English:
ocelot; in Guaraní: chiví guazú.
- gato overo [gato pintado?]
- probably the gato pintado (Leopardus wiedii, formerly:
Felis wiedii). Similar to the gato onza
/ ocelot, smaller (less than 4 kg.) with more pronounced coloration and a
longer heavier tail. Nocturnal, found in dense forests from Mexico to
northern Argentina and Uruguay. a.k.a.in
Spanish: gato tigre, tigrillo; in English: margay; in Guaraní: maracayá.
- gde [grande]
- large (standard abbreviation)
- genero [genero]
- cloth
- gente [gente]
- people
- ginebra [ginebra]
- gin
- giro [giro]
- money order, also: bank draft or bank-transfer
- gisado
- see guiso
- golpeared [golpeado]
- struck, hit, banged-up as in an accident (golpe
is a bang or punch)
- gordo [gordo]
- fat, as in over-weight
- grano [grano]
- (i) grain,
- (ii) [-?-] per context, have no idea (Alfred 14
Act.'85).
- guacho, guascho [guacho]
- (i) orphan animal or child;
- (ii) volunteer crop plant, i.e. a crop plant out of place.
- (iii) perverse person
- Guaraní [Guaraní]
- Indian tribe of north-eastern Argentina, southern Brazil, and all of
Paraguay. Their language is still spoken widely in that area today. It is
also one of the two official languages of Paraguay, the other is Spanish.
- guasuncho [guasuncho]
- a small greyish-brown deer (Mazama gouazosubira with very short
simple antlers (i.e. 10 cm. spikes), originally common throughout South
America's dry open areas and the edges of swamps and forests. Maximum height:
65cm., weight less than 20kg. a.k.a.: viracho, masuncho, in
Guaraní: guazú virá, in English: “gray brocket deer”. See ciervo,
gama, & venado.
- guia [guía]
- permit to move livestock, or Bill of Lading. No livestock may be moved
between locations (e.g. estancia, market) without an official guia
issued by the local police that documents the ownership, head-count, brands,
etc.
- “gum trees”
- most likely eucalyptus trees, term borrowed from Australia.
- guiso, guisado [guiso, guisado]
- stew of meat, rice, and potatoes. Also made with mandioca
(manioc).
- guzanas [gusanos]
- worms, grubs, caterpillars
- gwatcho
- see guacho
- H -
- ha., Hs. [ha.]
- abbreviation for hectare.
- hachero [hachero]
- (i) wood-cutter;
- (ii) see
acheno
- hacienda [hacienda
- livestock, generally cattle.
- hectare, ha., hect. [hectaria]
- metric hectare, 100x100 metres square (equal to 2.47 acres); abbreviated:
ha. or hect.
(See league and our page on Measures.)
- hembra, hembre [hembra]
- female (male: macho)
- “honduras grass” [honduras (?)]
- a forage grass. Per UN dictionary of agricultural terms, Guatemala or
Honduras grass (Tripsacum fasciculatum) is a tall broadleaved perennial
with stems up to 3.5 m that grows in humid areas on rich soils. Tolerates
acidity. Essentially cultivated for fodder as it is unsuitable for grazing.
NOTE: Do not recall seeing any grass at La California meeting
this description other than the native Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana).
- “hooked by novillo”
- received a horn thrust by a steer
- horcon, horcones, horjones [horcón]
- hut structural element: forked posts upon which the ridge-poles and
horizontal tie-beams (cumbreras) rest. In particular, see
cumbrera, other elemenst are: caña, chorizo, paja, tijeras.
- hornero [hornero]
- (i)
brick-makers, those who tend the ovens (horno is an oven);
- (ii) the oven-bird of the pampas & Chaco (Furnarius rufus) - a
short tailed reddish-brown bird with a distinctive call, it makes its nests out
of mud in the shape of brick-ovens, hence its name. In Englsih it is known as
the Rofous Hornero or Red Ovenbird.
- horqueta [horqueta
- forked post that would support a cross beam, such as a hut structural element - see horcón
- huntar, huntaring, huntared [juntar]
- gathering or to gather / collect
- I, J, K -
- imbechared, imbeechared, imbechada [embichado]
-
see embichared.
- impantanared
- see empantanared
- “in beachado” / “in bechado” [H]
- see embichared
- indiada, indiado [indiada]
- (i) mass or large group of indians;
- (ii) the native indian people of a place, spoken of as a whole.
- indio [indio]
- indian (not capitalised, nationalities are not capitalised in Spanish); a.k.a. in the US: amerindian or Native American.
- Ingleses [ingleses]
- Englishmen
- invernada [invernada]
- derived from “to winter”, generic term for yearling cattle (steers &
heifers) being fattened for market, pastured for 12 – 24 months depending on
breed. “Recria” are stockers. See vacunos
for more cattle terms.
- isleta [isleta]
- islet - small island
- jaguar [jaguar]
- The largest wild cat in the Americas (Panthera onca), its name is
derived from the Guraraní word: yaguá
(fierce). Yellow-orange coat, darker on top with a white underside, covered
in black spots with a ringed tail; due to a genetic mutation, the occassional
jaguar's coat is entirely black. It is stout with a large head and the
strongest bite of any cat - body length: 70 cm., tail: 80 cm., height at the
shoulder: 1 meter, weight: 70-130 kg. It is the only cat in the Americas that
roars. Solitary, it prefers jungles and plains; it is a great swimmer; it
hunts large animals (deer, tapir, carpincho, yacaré) and smaller
prey of opportunity. It originally ranged the non-mountainous areas from
southern California (USA) to Chubut (Argentina). Persecuted by humans, it has
been pushed off the plains. Today in Argentina it is listed as endangered and
is found only in jungle preserves of Salta, Formosa, Chaco, and Misiones.
a.k.a.in Spanish: tigre, “tigre americano”, in Guaraní: its name
changed (due to European influences) from yaguá
to yaguá-eté then yaguareté, in English: jaguar.
- jaguel, jarguel [jagüel]
- well, usually for watering cattle – in the days before wind-mills, the
water was often drawn from open wells using a large metal or leather bucket.
The bucket’s rope was tied to the cinch of a rider’s saddle who would raise
and lower the bucket by walking his horse back and forth from the well. (see
baldero, tanque,
and bebida.)
- jaquel
- see jaguel [jagüel]
- “jefe politico” [jefe político]
- head-man, of a provincial county (departamento) or mayor of a town.
- jente
- see gente
- jornalero [jornalero]
- day-laborer - a workman paid by the day (jornada). See also mensual.
- junta [yunta]
- (i) when referring to oxen, see yunta.
- juntar [juntar]
- (i) collect
- (ii) join
- kinta [H] [quinta]
- see quinta.
- L -
- “la pesada” [la pesada]
- “as weighed”, e.g. priced as weighed - no adjustments.
- labrared [labrar]
- work at, worked on
- lampas / lampers / lampra
- inflamation & swelling on the roof of the mouth of horses behind the front
teeth. Called lampers or lampass (in English) because it used to be removed
by burning with a lamp or hot iron.
- lanar, lanares [lanar, lanares]
- sheep livestock (woolies), more refined than ovejas
(sheep). The technical term ovinos is often used in official surveys.
- lance [lanza]
- the draft pole of a cart, to which horses or oxen are harnessed. In true
Spanish, a lanza is also a spear, i.e. lance. a.k.a.
pertigo on older carts.
- langosto [langosta]
- locust. See locust and saltonas.
- laguna [laguna]
- lagoon or small lake on the pampas
- lasso [laso]
- lariat, rope typically made of rawhide (4, 6, or 8 braided strands) used
for roping livestock. See trensa and maneador.
- lasso dorcida [laso torcida]
- lariat similar to a twisted hemp rope but of twisted (not braided) rawhide
strands.
- latas [-?-]
- per context (Alfred 23 Feb.,1892), long branches used in place of cane to build
huts of mud and straw (see caña & cumbrera). The term is most likely
the abbreviation of lata'i pobre, a plant who's long branches were/are used in building huts.
- lbs [libras]
- abbreviation (in English) for pounds (libras) 2.2 lbs = 1kg.
- league / legue [legua]
- (i) distance: 1 league = 5 kilometres or 3 miles;
- (ii) land area: In the 1880’s it would have been 2,800 hectares
(6,000x6,000 varas). Today’s metric league is 2,500 hectares (5x5 km).
Estancias were / are typically quoted in leagues. La California
was originally 4 leagues, or 11,200 ha. (See our page on Measures.)
- lechera [lechera]
- milk cow (abbreviation for: vaca lechera).
- lechiguano, “leche iguana” [lechiguana]
- a honey producing non-aggressive wasp (Brachygastra lecheguana),
they make their nests of paper (not wax) in trees. There are several species,
from Texas to Argentina; this one inhabits southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay,
& northern Argentina. The honey is sweet, delicious, aromatic, and not as
dense/sticky as bee honey; depending on the flowers from which it is made it
can be poisonous. Their nests last several years and their honey can be
harvested annually. Their name comes from Quichua: lláchiwána - the
wasp that makes honey. a.k.a.In
Guraraní: camautí (camoatí, camutí, cábachui) - the friendly social wasp.
- leña / lena [leña]
- fire-wood
- leña / “lena de vaca” [leña de vaca]
- fuel of dried cattle dung /chips (buffalo chips, bois de vache) .
- lienzo [lienzo]
- linen cloth
- lindero, lindando [lindero, lindando]
-
next-door neighbor, bordering property owner
- lion [león]
- A colloquial name for puma. No lions & tigers in Argentina.
- lobo [lobo]
- (i) wolf, see aguara;
- (ii) could be a contraction of:
lobito de rio (river otter).
- “lobito de rio” [lobito de rio]
- the river otter (Lontra longicaudis) of Central & South America.
Like all otters, it is long and sleek - body length: 70 cm., tail:l 50 cm.
long, weight: 8-12 kg., males are larger than females. It lives in or near
water and feeds on crustaceans, frogs, molluscs, and other similar small
fare. Loners, and great swimmers, a male's territory may stretch 15 km. along
a river (visited every 2-3 days), a female's about half that. It ranges from
Central America to north-eastern Argentina; however, due to its valuable fur,
it was heavily hunted 1950-1980 and has become extinct in some areas. It is
now endangered and is protected in Argentina.
a.k.a. “lobito del Plata”, “lobo de agua”, “gato de agua”, in
Corrientes: “lobo pé”, in Guaraní: [-?-],
in English: “neotropical river otter”.
- locusts
- During the summer months clouds of these insects (langostas) would
descend from their breeding grounds in the north, devouring everything in
their path. Barreras (barriers) of metal sheets (still found stacked
in the back of old galpones) were erected to protect crops by directing
the young saltonas (flightless hoppers) into pits where they were burnt
using kerosene flame-throwers. Many an estanciero lost his crops, and
sometimes his fortune as well, to locusts before they were exterminated in the
1940's & 1950's using DDT. Estancia montes are predominantly made up of
paraíso trees from Africa and eucaplytus trees from Australia because they
were disliked by the locusts.
- loma [loma]
- (i) low hill or brow of a hill,
- (ii) mispelled
lomo.
- lomo [lomo]
- (i) loin (as in cut of meat),
- (ii) the back of an animal.
- lona [lona]
- tarpaulin (tarp) or canvas
- lonja [lonja]
- long strap or strip of rawhide
- lote [lote]
- Field or paddock. See potrero for more details. Term favored by
JEBz in his diaries.
- lunanka [lunanca]
- animal with one hind-quarter higher than the other
- M -
- macha, macho, marcho [macho]
- male (female: hembra)
- machona [machona]
- male-like (slang), in referring to a female
- madrina [madrina]
- in a horse-herd, the mare with the bell (cencerro) hung from its
neck, making it easy to find in the dark, and which the other mares gravitate
to. Term derived from madre – mother. See caballo
for more details.
- madrugado [madrugada]
- sunrise
- madrugar [madrugar]
- to arise with the sun
- maizera/o [maicera/o]
- of maiz/corn,
- (i) as a noun: most likely the sacks of heavy burlap used in the
harvesting of maiz/corn by hand;
- (ii) in horse terminology: it is a horse that has been or being fed
maiz/corn.
- mala cara, malacara [malacara]
- horse with a broad blaze. See the horse coloring at the foot of the
glossary.
- mal-paris [mal-parir]
- miscarriage. With cattle, could be Brucellosis,
a.k.a. “contagious abortion”, “bangs disease”. The bacterium (Brucella
abortus) causes cows to abort their fetus and often become sterile. There
is no cure, it is spread by infected bulls. Prevented today by controlled
vaccination of young heifers, and the slaughter of infected animals. Can
spread to humans via infected milk (undulant fever).
- malo [malo]
- bad. In reference to a horse: bad tempered, difficult, possibly even
vicious.
- malon [malón / malones]
- A raiding party of hostile Indians. La California: was
never threatened by hostile Indians. Los Algarrobos: by the
time JEBz purchased it, malones were no longer a threat in
south-eastern Córdoba. Los Palmares: Alfred A. Bz
installed a watch-tower as raids were common in northern Santa Fé, the last
was in 1902. The Indians mostly stole horses & livestock for they were short
of food, however anyone caught alone risked being killed. Colonia
California: The colony in north Santa Fé where Frank X. Bz
(Uncle Frank) was a settler in 1867, though well defended it eventually failed
on account of the constant Indian raids.
- manada, manad [manada]
- herd of brood mares (yeguas), with or without the stallion (padrillo).
See caballo for more details..
- manager [administrador]
- Within the context of the management of an estancia, he is the
head-man, or mayordomo. See administrador for more on the
management hierarchy of an estancia.
- mancarron [mancarrón]
- old / useless horse. See caballo for more terms.
- manca /o [manca]
- quadruped lame on a fore-foot. Lame on a back-foot: renga /o.
- mancha [mancha]
- (i) stain;
- (ii) the common name for an infectious bacterial disease (Gangraena
emphysematosa) of cattle and sheep, known as “blackleg” in English (a.k.a.in
Spanish:
gangrena gaseosa). Before the advent of vaccines (1897 in the US) it was
highly lethal, particularly among young animals. It names come from the spongy
swellings under the skin (often in the hind quarters) that crackle when you
press them. Infection typically leads to death within 12 – 48 hours, i.e. dead
animals are the first indication of an infected herd. Burying dead animals and
burning an infected pasture helps prevent the bacteria (Clostridium chauvoei) from spreading, however, it will remain in the soil for years.
- maneador [mañador]
- see mañador
- maneo [manea]
- hobble — a strap that holds a horses front legs together, preventing it from
straying far. See also mañador, which may be used as a manea.
- manga [manga]
- (i) swarm (of locusts – see locust);
- (ii) raceway / shute – see bretes.
- mange
- skin disease: skin thickens, scabs, and hair falls out
- mantenida /o [mantenida]
- vain, self-important (Alfred 8 Mar'85)
- mañador /es [mañador]
- similar to a laso but made of a single long wide rawhide strap (lonja)
with a ring at one end. Typically used with horses because it is wide and
soft, reducing the risk of cutting their thin skin. See also manea.
- mañero [mañero]
- stubborn, contrary animal or person
- mañadorcita
- small mañador
- mar [mar]
- sea, or a large lake on the pampas
- marcacion [marcación]
- branding - see yerra.
- march, marched [marchar]
- to move, to drive a herd, or be on the move (marching), e.g.
JEBz: the saltonas are marching = the locust hoppers are on the
move.
- marcho [macho]
- male - see macho
- marchos [H] [-?-]
- No idea. 17 Oct’90: cart-horses?
- mark, marked [marca / marcación]
- brandor, or to brand - see
yerra. See also “counter mark”.
- mars [H]
- mares
- martineta, martinetes [martineta]
- Most likely the Martineta Común (Eudronia elegans-8r), a crested
ground bird of the pampas much prized by hunters, similar to grouse or
partridge. Its correct English name is “Elegant Tinamou”. Larger than
perdiz. Few if any found today at La California.
- “massas de cuenta” [masas de cuenta] [-?-]
- “100 masas de cuenta' likely means bundles of 100 plants (Alfred 13
Oct.'85)
- matrero [matrero]
- a person (or animal) who hides out in remote areas, e.g. someone who hides
from the police
- maved [-?-]
- no idea (Alfred's day-book: 10 January 1892)
- mayordomo [mayordomo]
- A hired manager, and in the absence of the owner, he's the boss at the top
of the management hierarchy of an estancia. Equiv. to XO on a Navy ship. See
administrator.
- mecha [mecha]
- wick (lamp wick)
- “media res” [media res]
- side of beef - see res
- medico [medico]
- doctor, medic !
- mellada/o [mellada/o]
- toothless, or almost so
- melon /es [melón]
- melon
- mensual [mensual]
- a workman paid by the month. See also jornalero.
- mercurio [mercurio]
- mercury
- mestisa, mestizo [mestizo / mestiza]
- mixed breed or cross-bred animal
- m/n [m/n]
- abbrviation for moneda nacional. See peso moneda nacional.
- mocha, mocho [mocho]
- horn-less, polled cattle
- mojon, mohones, mohons [mojón / mojones]
- landmark used by surveyors to mark the corners of a property, a post
(often a length of rail / rail-road) set deep & immovable.
- molde [molde]
- mold
- “moneda nacional” [moneda nacional]
- see peso moneda nacional See also nats and nacionales.
- montarase [-?-]
- no idea - uncouth people / gang of thugs? (Alfred: 30 March'92)
- monte [monte]
- woods.
- (i) The original Argentine pampas was grassland bare of trees except
for the occasional isolated ombú, or group of espinillo (see
algarrobo) trees along an arroyo. Anything such as a woods stood out upon
the flat horizon much like a distant hill, or in Spanish: monte. Hence,
on the pampas woods became known as montes.
- (ii) The natural woodlands of the Chaco region in north Argentina are
also referred to as montes, in particular the denser thickets. To
desmontar is to cut down / remove trees, i.e. clear the natural forest - see quebracho.
- mora, morro [mora/o]
- horse coloring: iron-grey. See table at foot of glossary.
- mortero [mortero]
- mortar, for pounding / crushing
- mosca brava [mosca brava]
- biting fly or horse-fly The larger ones are known as tabanos.
- mosquitero [mosquitero
- mosquito netting
- mula, mulita [mula, mulita]
- mule / little mule.
- mulita [mulita]
- the common name for armadillos except the
peludo & tatú carreta. There are at least 5 armadillos found in
Argentina:
- (i) Peludo, see peludo;
- (ii) Mulita Común (Dasypus septemcinctus) light brown,
long eared, 7-banded 27-30cm body, 25cm tall, 15cm tail, 1.5kg., found in the
chaco region north of Santa Fé, Paraguay, & eastern Brazil south of the Amazon -
not threatened (NT). a.k.a. “mulita chica”,
”armadillo de siete bandas”; in English: “seven banded armadillo”.
- (iii)
Mulita Grande (Dasypus novemcinctus) brown, long eared 9-banded, body
38-58cm long, 38-48cm tail, 5.5kg., ranges from Texas (US) to NE Argentina south
through Entre Rios - widespread. a.k.a.
“armadillo de nueve bandas”; in Guaraní: tatú-eté; in English (Texas, US):
“nine banded armadillo”.
- (iv)
Mulita Orejuda (Dasypus hybricus) very dark brown with shorter ears,
narrow head, 6-7 banded 30cm body, 17cm tail, up to 2kg. Found in the eastern
provinces (pampas & chaco regions), Uruguay, & south Brazil - not threatened
(NT). a.k.a. “mulita chica”, “mulita
pampeana”; in Guaraní: “tatú mbiricá”; in English: “southern long-nosed
armadillo”.
- (v) Tatú Carreta - see Tatú Carreta.
- multa, multared [multa, multado]
- (i) fine, as in pay a fine;
- (ii) fined
- N, Ñ -
- nac., nacionales [nacionales]
- name/abbreviation for
nacionales, see peso argentino (pre-1933) and/or peso moneda
nacional (1933-1970).
- nandubuy
- see ñandubai
- natives
- unattractive / derrogatory term used by some members of the Anglo-Argentine
community when referring to Argentines of Spanish ancestry (including the most
wealthy and the leaders of society!).
- nats, nates [nacionales]
- name/abbreviation for nacionales, see
peso argentino (pre-1933) and/or peso moneda nacional
(1933-1970). See also “Cordoba nates”.
- negocio [negocio]
- business
- negro [negro]
- black
- nochero [nochero]
- night horse — kept handy at night, used in the morning to bring in the day’s
riding stock.
- noticia [noticia]
- news or word about someone or something
- nov, novillo, novillio [novillo]
- steer (male calf castrated at weaning before it takes on the features of a
bull). See vacunos for more cattle terms.
- novillietos [novillitos]
- little steers - see novillos.
- nutria [nutria]
- a herbivorous semi-aquatic rodent (Myocastor Coypus), it is similar
in appearance to the beaver but with a small tail. Native to the rivers of
temperate South America, it is prized for its fur. a.k.a.
coipo in some Spanish speaking countries, but not
Argentina (countries where the term nutria is applied to the sea
otter), in Guaraní: kyja, in English: coypu.
- nutriar [nutriar]
- to hunt nutria
- nutrieros /as [nutrieros /as]
- (i) nuntria hunters;
- (ii) area where nutria found, i.e. a nutria colony
- nyato [ñato]
- flat-nosed or pug-nosed
- ñandu [ñandú]
- the correct name for the rhea of the pampas (Rhea americana).
See
rhea for more details.
- ñandubai [ñandubai]
- a legumenous tree (Prosopis afffinis), it reaches 13m., native to
Argentina, Brasil, Paraguay, & Uruguay. Threatened in Argentina due to loss
of habitat. Its hard-dense wood makes excellent fence posts - not as brittle
as quebracho. See algarrobo & espinillo.
a.k.a. algarrobillo, espinillo,
ibopé-morotí.
- O -
- olla [olla]
- cooking pot, stew-pot.
- ombu [ombú]
- large broad-leaf tree (Phytolacca dioica) native to the pampas,
with an umbrellalike spread it makes deep cool shade, very welcome on a hot
summer day. Its wood is soft and spongy; it shreds when it dries, making it
useless as firewood. NOTE: Web sites (e.g. Wikipedia) describe it as an
evergreen, yet every ombú I climbed as a kid dropped its leaves in winter,
making it deciduous!
- “on rodeo”, “on rodayo” [H]
- see rodeo
- order [orden]
- in relation to money, would be an “orden de pago”, a money order.
- orechano [orechano]
- "whole/entire ear" - cattle that have not been ear-marked (notched), i.e.
young stock. Ear-marking is typically done at weaning. See also orejano
- orejano [orejano]
- (i) cattle with entire-ears, more correctly: orechano
-
(ii) big eared, e.g. a mule.
- oscuro [oscuro]
- horse coloring: black. See table at foot of glossary.
- osko, oskito [hosco]
- dark colored,hosquito is its diminutive, e.g. a small dark bull
- orjon, orjones [horcón / horcones]
- see horcón
- orkito, orketos [horquito]
- per context, a small horqueta - post with a forked top, used in
fencing.
- orkones, orkonos, orkonas [horcones / horcón]
- see horcón
- ornero [hornero]
- see hornero (oven bird)
- osage orange
- a small deciduous tree or large shrub (Maclura pomifera),
typically growing to 8–15 metres (26–49 ft) tall. Its fruit is about the size
of an orange, yellow/green, bumpy, it is inedible.
- oscuro [oscuro]
- (i) dark, e.g. like dark of night;
- (ii) horse coloring: black - see table below.
- “osecho volteado” [-?-]
- “saino osecho volteado” (Alfred, 27 Aug.'84): zaino = dark-chesnut,
asecho = trap, volteado = knocked-over. Is it a hair-coloring?
- ostrich [avestruz]
- the common misnomer for rhea
- see rhea for more details.
- ostromanes [-?-]
- beams of a certain shape or wood with which to build a barn [Alfred: 10 May, 1892]
- outside, out side [afueras]
- in relation to
Los Palmares in the late 1800's, it meant the area further west, far
from the rio & laguna Calchaquí (a.k.a.
las Aves), north of the
Salado river and the town of San Cristobal. Full of esteros, it was likely
still very wild.
- over
- see overo
- overo [overo]
- horse & cattle coloring.
- (i) horse: spotted or patches, one of many spot-related
qualifiers to a color, see also: rosillo &
tobiano. An overo colorado or overo manchado is white patches
on bay [English: apaloosa?] whereas tobiano colorado is a striking mix of
large white and bay patches, [Englsih: skewbald, paint, or pinto]; overo
rosado is a paler version, etc. There are many other terms: poroteado
(bean-size spots),
sabino (tan spots or patches), salpicado (splattered), fajado (belted), etc. related to the size,
color, and placement of the
patches/spots. (See caballo for more terms & colors.)
- (ii) cattle: Overo Negro
is the Argentine term for the Holstein / Friesen breed (of milking cows), often
shortened to simply “overo”. In Spanglish, they are often called “black & white”.
- "overo negro"
- black and white piebald, typically refers to cattle - see overo.
-
- P -
- pacha [paja]
- see paja
- padre [padre]
- father. Casual term used in place of toro
(bull).
- padrillo [padrillo]
- stallion (horse) [or boar (pig)]. See caballo for more details.
- pagare [pagaré]
- IOU, note
- paisano [paisano]
- (i) peasant;
- (ii) Italian settler
- paja, paija [paja]
- straw. Los Palmares: straw from tall grass found along
river banks, used to thatch roofs and make
chorizos for walls (also see cumbrera).
- pajero [pajero]
- straw cutter, person who cuts paja.
- palenkeared [palenquear]
- to accustom an untamed (young) horse or ox to being tied up, typically to
a post; the first step in taming a young horse. (palenque
is a hiching-rail)
- palmar [palmar]
- wood/stand/forest of palm trees
- “palo a pie” [palo a pie]
- fence made of a row posts, most often tied together – a palisade. Often
used for fences in corrales, particularly the embudo, where
strength is needed. See bretes.
- “palo negro” [-?-]
- no idea (Alfred 14 Dec'91)
- pampa [pampa]
- (i) a pampa is an open mostly flat grassland,
- (ii) the Pampas (or pampas) are the Argentine prairie, originally a
treeless grassland, described as a “dessert” by first arrivals (surface water
was scarce). European immigrants of the late 1800's dug wells and transformed
this humid dessert with its deep rich loess soils into the agricultural /
economic engine of Argentina. Geographically it includes the following
provinces: all of BA, east edge of La Pampa, east half of Córdoba, south half of
Santa Fé, and southern Entre Rios (mostly alluvial soils, it is often included
with Corrientes and Misiones in the mesopotamic region between the Uruguay &
Paraná rivers).
- (iii) cattle: a white faced animal, e.g. the Hereford breed.
- pampero [pampero]
- litteraly “of the pampas”, it is the name given to the cold winter wind
that blows from the south / south-west
- pangare [pangaré]
- horse coloring: faded or pale areas, e.g. zaino pangaré would be a
chestnut with faded or paler areas
- pap [-?-]
- probably: ford/cross - (Alfred 2 Oct'89: intend to pap the Calchaqui
)
- papel fumar [papel de fumar]
- cigarrette paper
- paquete [paquete]
- package or box
- parar, parado, parando, parared [parar rodeo]
- to gather / hold a herd (rodeo) for inspection or a yerrra
(branding, etc.)
- paraiso (trees) [paraiso]
- Chinaberry tree (melia azedarach L.), a deciduous small leafed tree
with blue-purple flowers. Paraiso (from Africa) and eucalyptus (from
Australia) were popular trees to plant in the treeless pampas because they are
fast growing and locusts would not eat them - not surprising given paraiso
berries have insecticidal properties.
- pariente [pariente]
- family relative
- parrar
- see parar
- parted / to part [apartar]
- to cut-out, to separate cattle or horses - see
apartar, apartes, apartador.
- pasarcachufla, pasacachula [-?-]
- no idea (Alfred, 28 May, 1877)
- paseo, pasear [paseo, pasear]
- joy ride, sight-seeing trip, take a joy-ride
- paso [paso]
- river crossing, ford
- pass [paso / pasar]
- (ii) river crossing, ford
- (ii) to cross / ford a river
- pastel, pasteles [pastel, pasteles]
- pastry, pastries
- pastilles [pastillas]
- pills
- pastage [pastage]
- rented pasture
- pasto [pasto]
- (i) grass / pasture;
- (ii) rent for pasture (see pastage)
- “pasto fuerte” [pasto fuerte]
- see pasto puna.
- “pasto puna” [pasto puna]
- harsh native bunch grass (Stipa brachychaeta) of the pampas, likely
covered all of La California and Los Algarrobos
before it was burnt to allow ploughing. Today it is considered a weed and will
invade sown pastures if not controlled.
- pastorearing, pastoreared [pastorear, pastoreo]
- pasturing, to pasture. La California: when grass was in
short supply during the dry winter months (June-September) rye and wheat
fields were sometimes sacrificed for winter feed to pasture cattle.
- pastoreo [pastoreo]
- on pasture, being pastured.
- pasuko [pasuco]
- a horse trotting gait (natural or trained) where the horse, alternating
side to side, lifts both legs of one side at a time. It is a smoother faster
trot (e.g. used in trotter sulky-races). In the more normal trot, a horse
lifts its legs paired diagonally.
- patacon [patacón]
- slang for the
peso argentino or peso duro (See our page on Measures.)
- patatas [batatas]
- sweet potatoes
- patio [patio]
- typically an enclosed area next to the house to keep the animals out (e.g.
chickens, pigs, etc.), it can be as simple as a fenced-in area to a fully
enclosed veranda with a roof and tile floor.
- “pato real” [pato real]
- a large black duck (Cairina moschata) with a large white patch on
each wing; perches in trees, found near marshes and rivers; native to Central
and South America down to northern Argentina. Names: in English: “Muscovy
Duck”.
- patrerito [potrerito]
- small potrero
- pats [patacón]
- abbreviation for patacón
- pava [pava]
- kettle
- pavilla [pavilla]
- small kettle
- pecaso [H]
- see picaso
- pechar, pechared [pechar]
- when handling livestock, to push or shove cattle with a horse; the ability
of a horse to pechar.
- pelared, pelaring [pelar]
- to strip bark from timber
- pelota [pelota]
- (i) small boat typically made of rawhide, used to cross small
rivers / arroyos;
- (ii) today: a ball, e.g. a foot-ball.
- peludo [peludo]
- (i) hairy;
- (ii) a numerous armadillo (Chaetophractus villosus), quite
hairy, it is flatter and wider than the mulita, it's body is 26-40cm
long, tail 15cm, weighs 2-3kg. found throughout Argentina (except the NE) into
Bolivia & Paraguay - widespread, numerous it is making a comeback with the
advent of no-till farming.
a.k.a.in Spanish: “quirquincho grande”; in Guaraní:
[-?-]; in English: “big hairy armadillo”. See
mulita & tatú carreta.
- peon /s [peón / peones]
- generic term for all workmen on an estancia. See also jornalero
and mensual. See Administrador for more about the management
hierarchy of an
estancia.
- peón de campo [peón de campo]
- the proper modern term for a gaucho (ranch-hand/cowboy).
- perdiz [perdíz]
- Most likely the Inambú Común (Nothura maculosa), the most common
ground bird hunted on the pampas. Its correct name in English is “Spotted
Tinamou”, however, it is more commonly referred to as a “partridge”. Smaller
than the Martineta.
- pertico / pertigo [pertico]
- the tongue (draft pole) of a 2-wheeled cart (carreta). A long beam of hard wood
(typically urunday), it was fixed to the floor of the cart and extended out front 3
meters with a yoke (yugo) attached to its tip. The pair (i.e. yoke or
yunta) of oxen (bueyes) tied to that yoke were known as the
pertigueros. See: lance (lanza), carreta, coyunta, yunta, & yugo.
- pertigueros [pertigueros]
- the pair of oxen closest to the cart, see carreta & pertico.
- pesadero [pisadero]
- see pisadero
- $
- In the diaries and documents, the unqualified symbol “$” denotes
the peso, not the US dollar (USD). See peso Argentino
(before-1933) and peso moneda nacional
(1933-1970).
- $B [peso Boliviano]
- see peso Boliviano
- $N
- see peso moneda nacional
- $ m/n
- see peso moneda nacional
- $ pat [patacón]
- slang for the peso argentino
- “peso argentino” [peso argentino]
- the original Argentine peso was known as the patacón or peso
duro
because it was made of silver and valued equal to the Spanish real.
Often recorded as
nacionales, abbreviated to nats.
See currencies of Argentina on our Measures page.
- “peso Boliviano” [peso boliviano]
-
Bolivian currencies ($B) were used widely in Argentina
during the 1800's. See currencies of Argentina
on our Measures page.
- “peso duro”, “peso fuerte”
- see real and peso argentino
in the sections for Spanish and Argentine currencies
on our Measures page.
- “peso moneda nacional” [peso moneda nacional]
- The currency of Argentina between 1933-1970. The term moneda nacional
(denoted by the
m/n) differentiated it from the earlier peso argentino. Often
abbreviated as
$xx m/n or simply
nacionales or nats. See also “Cordoba nates”.
See currencies of Argentina on our Measures page.
- peste [peste]
- generic term for a harmful bug or illness affecting a crop or livestock.
In cattle during the 19th century, the term often meant aftosa, i.e.
hoof and mouth disease.
- petiso /s, petizo [petiso]
- (i) short, or “Shorty” if a nickname.
- (ii) colloquial term for ponies, particularly polo-ponies (see also
pingo). When polo was first played, there was a height restriction on
horses (to slow the game to a gentlemanly pace) - hence the
terms pony and petiso. The restriction (height at the withers, 14 hands =
56 inches or 1.42 m.) was removed c.1920. See caballo for more details
about all horses.
- picaso, picasso, picasito [picaso, picasito]
-
horse coloring: black with white stockings & blaze - see caballo for
more details.
- picar, picando [picar]
- (i) most likely to break up the ground with a spade or pick-axe,
i.e. prepare it for planting;
- (ii) generically: to break or cut into smaller pieces, e.g. to
chop-up a garlic-clove, or to mince meat.
- pig [pecarí]
- the pig hunted at Los Palmares in the late 1800's was most
likely a pecarí. There were 3 species in north-eastern Argentina:
- (i) ”pecarí labiado” (Tayassu pecari) similar to the
pecarí de collar, except it has a pale beard; up to 0.55m. at the shoulder &
1.0m. long, weighs 25-40kg. a.k.a. “pecarí
barbiblanco”, “pecarí de quijada blanca”, & “chancho mojano”, in Guaraní:
[-?-], in English: white-lipped pecary. Not
endangered.
- (ii) ”pecarí de collar” (Tayassu tajacu) with a lighter
colored hair about the head; up to 0.5m. at the shoulder & 1.0m. long, weighs
15-30kg. a.k.a. “chancho rosillo”, in
Guaraní: tayasú, in Englsih (US): javelina or collared pecary. Not endangered.
- (iii) ”pecarí orejudo” (Catagonus wagneri), has longer
thicker hair and is the largest (with males larger than females), reaching 1.10m
long and weighing 30-50kg. a.k.a. “pecarí
chaqueño”, “pecarí del Chaco” & “chancho quimilero”; in Guaraní: taguá, in
English: Chacoan pecary. Endangered due to hunting and habitat loss.
- pigeno [-?-]
- per context, likely a misspelling of “pigeon” (Alfred 4 June'85: pigeons
eating alfalfa [seed] up ?)
- piki [Guaraní: piky]
- small , tiny. (Alfred: 9 May'85:
kill pikis and fleas - kill lice and fleas ?)
- pila [pila]
- pile
- pileta, bileta [pileta]
- term implies a water-trough, wash-tub, or small tank. Tanque would
be a larger reservoir. See also bebida.
- “pine tea” [pinotea]
- pine wood imported from the US in the early years, it is today grown
commercially in Arg. A fast growing tree, its name is derived from the latin
Pinus taeda (Loblolly pine), the largest of the native pine trees found in
the SE USA. However, the term pinotea is also mistakenly applied to the
Longleaf pine tree (Pinus palustris), also native to SE USA, much
prized for its “heart” of very hard wood. It is a slow growing tree (100+
years) and today its wood is scarce and expensive.
- pingo [pingo]
- fast, agile, good-looking horse (e.g. polo-ponies, see petiso
and caballo for more.)
- pinotea [pinotea]
- See pine tea.
- piolo [piola]
- twine, e.g. piolo blanco is white twine.
- pisadero [pisadero]
- Pisar is to: step upon. A pisadero is an enclosed shallow
pit within which horses are driven to mix straw and mud by their trampling;
the mud is then used to make
chorizos, bricks, or to plaster walls.
- plaso [plazo]
- grace period, terms, or installment payment
- poblacion [población]
- town or settlement, e.g. a colonia. Alfred's 1884 Arpil 14th entry
refers to a poblacion which is most likely Frank's failed Espín colony (Frank
- Alfred's oldest brother, drowned in the El Tobá river in 1881).
- poblador /es [poblador]
- settler, see colono
- poblar [poblar]
- to establish a settlement, e.g. a colonia.
- podrid [podrido]
- putrid
- poen [H] [peón]
- See peon.
- point [punta]
- (i) a point;
- (ii) a trace or handfull (of something);
- (iii) the lead group in a herd of cattle.
- polilla [polilla]
- moths. apolillado: moth eaten
- polvoro [polvora]
- powder
- porteño [porteño]
- a person from the port, i.e. Buenos Aires. The term is applied to anyone
from Buenos Aires and its suburbs. Like their counterparts from New York and
Paris, they are often arrogant towards by their unfortunate countrymen.
- portmanteau [French!]
- leather suit-case that opens in half.
- posso [poso]
- well, typically dug for water
- potranca [potranca]
- untamed filly / young mare - See caballo for more details.
- potrero [potrero]
- field or paddock. Also known as a: lote. La California:
The first fenced fields of La California were each of 100
cuadras (almost 169 hectares). Most of the fields were known by number. The
smaller fields were named, particularly those close to the
casco. However we don’t know their location. In 1890 the potreros were:
estancia, horse, pig, Peters, puesto, south, stack.
Los Algarrobos & Los Palmares: fields were known by
name. See
rodeo and maps.
- potrerito [potrerito]
- small potrero
- potrilla /o [potrilla/o]
- foal, filly or colt. See caballo for more details.
- potro [potro]
- untamed colt - young male horse 2-3 years old.
- “potro fat” [grasa de potro]
-
rendered down horse fat; liquid at room temperature, it was used to oil
leather, etc.
- portilla
- see potrillo
- precisieras [-?-]
- no idea (Alfred 31 May, 1877)
- prolongation [prolongación]
- La California: per context, extension (of a rail-road) or
spur.
- provisiones [proviciones]
- provisions, food stock.
- puchero [puchero]
- a traditional meal: meat and vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions,
zapallito (squash)) boiled until soft and tender. The soup is delicious, so
is the marrow from the bones, the meat and vegetables are typically overcooked
and tasteless.
- puerta [puerta]
- door, gate
- puerto [puerto]
- port
- puestero [puestero]
- on an estancia, someone who lives in a puesto, usually with
his family. Typically a trusted or valued peón (e.g. the horse tamer)
he could keep a limited number of his own livestock. On larger estancias, a
puestero was akin to a section manager on a ranch. He was responsible for the
care of all livestock in his section and was expected to revise the
livestock on a daily basis. In the estancia management hierarchy, he was
almost level with a capataz. See administrador for more on the
management hierarchy of an estancia.
- puesto [puesto]
- line or section house, a house located in a field or section of an
estancia. Literally: a place or a posting. See puestero. At
Los Palmares they were numbered (e.g. puesto No3 see list
of place names).
- “puestos en …” [puestos en …]
- term used in a purchase or sale agreement to denote where the goods are to
be shipped or received: “placed in/on …” a given location: loading-dock,
estancia, etc.
- puma [puma]
- The second largest wild cat (Puma concolor) of the Americas, its
name comes from the Quichua word: pomo. Typically tan coloured,
but it can be grey to reddish - body weight: male 53-72 kg, female: 34-48 kg,
body length: 1-2 meters (avg. 1.25), tail: 65 cm., height at the shoulder: 65
cm. Solitory and territorial, it is active in the evenings and early
mornings; it is a fast runner (up to 50 kph), agile it can climb trees and
jump. It hunts deer and guanaco as well as smaller animals of opportunity
such as monkeys and armadilos. It is not classified as a large cat because it
doesn't roar, instead it makes sounds more like a domestic cat. It originally
ranged from the Yukon (Canada) to the southern tip of mainland Argentina,
inhabiting mountains, jungles, and plains. Currently listed as endangered,
displaced by urbanization and illegal hunting. In Argentina it is no longer
found in the heavily farmed central plains (i.e. the pampas).
a.k.a. in Spanish: león, “león americano”, in Guaraní:
jaguá-pytá, in English: cougar, “mountain lion”. See cats.
- “pull water”
- see baldero and jagüel.
- pulperia, pulperae [H] [pulperia]
- pub, bar – sometimes also a store - often known by their owner's name.
La California: in the 1890's, likely refers to the pulperia(s) run
by Andel and/or Peter.
Los Palmares: 1880's - Benjamín.
- pulpero [pulpero]
- publican, see pulperia
- Q -
- quarta
- see cuarta
- quebrachal [quebrachal]
- forest of quebracho trees
- quebracho [quebracho]
- a tree, name translates as: “axe-breaker”. There are two main varieties,
the blanco (white) and colorado (red), both found in the Gran Chaco areas of
Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
- (i)The quebracho blanco (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco)
is a yellow-ochre wood, hard and heavy, it will bend and is useful for making
carts & wheels, also makes excellent charcoal, & has some medicinal
properties: as an aphrodisiac it is used to treat EDS.
- (ii)The quebracho colorado
(Schinopsis quebracho-colorado) is a very hard deep-red wood, so dense
it will sink in water; it is highly valued for fence posts, rail-road ties,
and as a source of tanin. A good quebracho colorado fence post will last
50-70 years, outlasting the fence wire - see alambrado. For over fifty
years, c.1880-1940, the colorado was heavily “harvested” for its tanin leading
to extensive defosteration. It takes centuries to grow, consequenlty there
are few large specimens left standing today. (See “La Forestal” on our page:
People & Place Names of North Santa Fé.)
- querencia [querencia]
- the home place to which a horse (or other animal) will return when
released or strayed.
- Quichua [Quichua]
- Language of the Inca people, a pre-Columbian civilization that thrived in north-western
Argentina, Bolivia, Perú, and Ecuador.
- quillape, quillapí [quillapi]
- Leather coat worn by the indians of the pampas (Manta de cuero de los
indios pampa). Alfred 27 Nov.1884: “Indian woman entregared
quillapí of 16 nutria skins.”. Likely the combined Guaraní
words “kyja-py”, where: “kyja” is “nutria”, and “py” is “wide”.
- quinta [quinta]
- vegetable garden
- quintal [quintal]
- a common measure of weight for crop yields, abbreviated “qq”. Prior to
metrification in the 1880's it was 46 kg., after metrification it came to mean
100 kg. (See our page on Measures.)
JEBz diaries: It is unclear which of the two he meant, in
particular when he refers to it in context with squares (cuadras), an
obsolete measure of land area.
- quintero [quintero]
- gardener. Los Palmares: cultivator (farmer) of corn/maiz.
- R -
- r. [real]
- abbreviation for real, see real
- radao [H] [rodeo]
- see rodeo.
- rama [rama]
- branch or branches (of a tree, of a river)
- ramada [ramada]
- open shed roofed with branches to provide shade for livestock
- rastrear [rastrear]
- to harrow (rastra is a harrow)
- rastrojo [rastrojo]
- stubble, corn-stubble
- real [real]
- the peso real (Spanish silver coin),
a.k.a.peso duro;
peso fuerte. See “peso duro”.
- rebenque, revenque [rebenque]
- the standard whip of the pampas, a wide (3-7cm) leather striking strap
(30-40cm long) attached to a leather covered handle (30-40cm log), often
decorated with silver and fine leather-work. Smacks loudly, causes little
harm.
- rebocared [revocar]
- see
revocar
- recado [recado]
- the saddle of Argentina. Unlike most saddles, it consists of several
pieces that are assembled on the horse. The first layer is one or more
peleras or caronillas (saddle-blankets); next comes the
bastos (two tubes of leather stuffed with rushes, 10cm diameter, 40-50cm
long) placed so that they lie parallel to horse's spine 25-35cm apart. Across
the bastos is placed the encimera, a strong piece of leather 20-30cm
wide and about twice as long with a ring at each end (with an extra ring on
the off-side for attaching a laso). Alternatively, the bastos and the
encimera are one piece known as the corona. The primary cinch (cincha)
attaches to the rings of the encimera or corona and is 10-15cm wide at the
girth. Over the bastos are placed one or two unshorn sheep skins (cojinillo
or pellón) and lastly a soft leather cover (carpincho is
favored), all held in place by the
sobrecincha, a second lighter cinch. The stirrups hang from the bastos
and are typically of dark leather and adorned with cut-out designs. The seat
of the recado is relatively flat. The rider retains his seat by pressing up
from the stirrups jaming his knees up under and against the bastos.
- recero
- see resero
- recojered, recojering [recoger]
- to gather or gathered
- recorered, recorering [recorrer]
- to ride through the fields inspecting the condition of the livestock,
pastures, crops, fences, water level in the tanks, etc. An estancia
manager or his delegates will recorrer the camp daily, checking
for problems that may need attention. See also revise.
- redomon /es, redemones, redimon [redomón]
- (i) horse that is in the process of being tamed;
- (ii) a raw-hide that has not been fully worked – see sobar.
- “reducing indians” [reducir, reducción]
- placing Indians in settlements (reducciones)
- reduction, reduccion [reducción]
- indian settlements, originally set up by the Spanish crown with the
purpose of assimilating them into Spanish society. Many (of the better ones)
were set up by the Franciscans and Jesuits. The practice continued after
independence and were run by local government bodies with varying results.
- redunging [-?-]
- No idea, done to clean a room (Alfred day-book: 7 January, 1892)
- reforzar, reforzando [reforzar]
- to stregthen.
- reglar, reglared, reglaring [arreglar]
- (i) to fix or repair;
- (ii) to settle (accounts). See
areglar and regulate.
- regulate, regulated, regulating [arreglar]
- (i) settle (accounts). See areglar and reglar.
- (ii) fix, set right
- reindas, reindes
- see riendas
- rematador [rematador]
- auctioneer, i.e. livestock auctioneer. See remate.
- remate, “remate feria” [remate, remate feria]
- auction, i.e. livestock auction. Typically livestock is sold in small
lots, each lot is herded into a corral next to a stand where the
cattle-buyers sit, signaling their bids to the rematador standing
between them and the corral.
- remedio [remedio]
- medicine or cure
- rengo [rengo]
- lame. In terms of a quadruped, lame on a back-foot; manco is lame
on a fore-foot.
- repositard [H] [reposicionar, reponer]
- reposition, as in return cattle to their proper place
- represa [represa]
- water reservoir or tank. Term favored by JEBz. See tanque.
- repuntared [repuntar -or- rejuntar]
- (i) to head, as in: “head the cattle” in a certain direction;
-
(ii) to gather / collect, as in “gather the cattle”
- res, reses [res, reses]
- (i) beef animal, as in
beeves;
- (ii) if already butchered, a media res is a side of beef.
- resabiared [resabiar]
- to be obstinate, reluctant, hard to control
- resero [resero]
- cattle buyer, usually for slaughter.
- revenque
- see rebenque
- revise, revisared [revisar]
- to revise a camp is to inspect it and the cattle. The more correct
term is to recorrer.
- revocar, revocando, revokaring [revocar]
- to plaster, or plastering; hut construction (see cumbrera):
applying a layer of mud to the walls made of chorizos.
- rezero
- see resero
- rezes
- see reses
- rhea
- the large fast-running flightless bird of South America. Rheas are quite often
refered to incorrectly as avestruz (ostrich). Typically a
male will have a harem of females - and it is the male who takes care of the
common nest. In the diaries of La California, a nest is
mentioned that held 90 eggs. There are several types, two in Argentina,
neither is endangered:
- (i) the larger ñandú (Rhea
americana, 1.3-1.5m. tall) of the pampas and deserts north of the Rio
Negro, into Bolivia, Paraguay, and Brazil; in English known as the “Greater Rhea”.
- (ii) the smaller choique (Pterocnemia pennata, 1.1m. tall) of the patagonian
steppe south of the Rio Negro and the Andean foot-hills north to Perú; in English known as the “Lesser Rhea”.
- riendas, rienndas [riendas]
- bridle reins
- rincón, rinconada [rincon, rinconada]
-
(i) an inside corner (e.g. within a room); an outside corner is an esquina (e.g. of a house or of a city block)
-
(ii) the area contained within the bend of a river, or an open space
enclosed by monte (woods).
- rinconada [rinconada]
- (i) see rincón,
- (ii) Laguna Yacaré: likely the area SW of the
headquarters that lay within the corner of the arroyo Espín (where its southerly
course turns east).
- rinconero [rinconero]
- corner fence post, a.k.a.: esquinero
- rio [rio]
- river
- “rl. bolivianos” [reales bolivianos]
- see peso boliviano
- “rls. bol.” [reales bolivianos]
- see peso Boliviano.
- roano, ruano [ruano / roano]
- roan or sorrel with white mane and tail, e.g. palomino (horse coloring - see table below)
- rodado, rodared [rodar]
- as in rolled by a horse - happens when a horse trips & falls in a roll,
the rider ends up underneath.
- rodayo [H]
- see rodeo
- rodeared [rodear]
- (i) to surround or encircle;
- (ii) Alfred 27 Dec.'84 - seems to mean “collect”
- rodeo, rodero [rodeo]
- (i) el rodeo - is the
herd, i.e. collectively all the cattle in a field or the entire estancia;
- (ii) on rodeo –
La California: mixed Eng.+Span., per context: “on pasture” or “on
rented pasture”;
- (iii) en rodeo or on rodeo – Los
Palmares: cattle rounded up (gathered together) to be worked upon or
selected from - see yerra and tropa;
- (iv) gave rodeo – gathered the cattle for review or
selection;
- (v) rodeo del medio, rinconada, east / middle / west, Mistolar
– Laguna Yacaré & Los Palmares: prior to fencing, the
cattle herds were known by herd name (see list of place names and map).
- rondared [rondar]
- hold a herd (ronda) at night
- rondaring [rondar]
- nightwatch or night-patrol (around a herd)
- rosillo, rasillo [rosillo]
- horse coloring: roan - a uniform mix of red and white hair. See caballo
& overo for more terms & colors.
- ruano [ruano / roano]
- see roano
- S -
- $
- symbol denotes the peso
- saballos
- see zapallos
- sainito [zainito]
- diminutive of saino [zaino].
- saino [zaino]
- horse coloring:
- (i) zaino: dark chestnut;
- (ii) zaino colorado: bay.
- (iii) zaino pato bay with yellow (egg-yolk) shades. See table at
foot of glossary.
- sal [sal]
- salt
- sal grueso [sal gruesa]
- rock salt, coarse ground salt
- saladaro [saladero]
- a.k.a.: barraca. A business that buys hides from estancias. The raw
hides are cleaned, sorted, and salted down for sale to tanneries (curtiembres).
- saltones [saltonas]
- hoppers – young locusts before they can fly. See
locusts & langostas
- sandia [sandia]
- water-melon
- sanjear, sanjeared [zanjar]
- dig ditches (zanja
is ditch)
- Santeagenians, Santiagenians [santeagueños]
- people of the province of Santiago del Estero, north-west of La
California
- sapallo [zapallo]
- squash, pumpkin
- saraza [zaraza]
- chintz, printed cotton
- sargento [sargento]
- sergeant
- sarza, saya [-?-]
- no idea - possibly a sacking cover or sides to a cart? (Alfred: 28 March'92)
- savallas [sábalo]
- - a river fish (Prochilodus Platensis), large bluish back silver
sided found in slow moving waters of Argentina's north-eastern rivers. It has
a small mouth with which it sucks slime off mud. It is valued for its
(greasy) meat and is hunted by spearing or with nets.
- savandija [sabandija]
- (i) bugs (bichos) - particularly bothersome or unpleasant
insects/slugs/etc.;
- (ii) Also slang for an unpleasant person. Likely origin is
Quichua, in which it means “small lizard”.
- sebruno [cebruno]
- horse coloring: dark grulla. See table at foot of glossary.
- second [segundo]
- See segundo.
- segundo [segundo]
- An apprentice manager on an estancia, they were typically well
educated adventurous young men from Europe or the sons of estancieros.
If they made a career of it, they could rise to mayordomo (manager).
See administrador for more on the management hierarchy of an estancia.
- senal, señal [señal]
- ear-mark - the pattern of notches cut in the ears of livestock that
indicates the year of birth or ownership (same as a brand would) - which
depends on local custom.
- sencerro
- see cencerro
- senuela
- see sinuelo
- señalared, senalared, senelared [señalar]
- to ear-mark - to cut notches in the ears of livestock. See señal.
- setobado [-?-]
- if retobado, then: venado retobado is a covered deer?
(Alfred, 4 Aug.'84)
- Short-horn
- A breed of cattle, also known as Durham: red with variegated white
markings. Developed in the US during the mid to late 1800’s as a more
productive beef animal than the Texas Long-horn. It was imported into the
Argentine, but lost favor to the beefier British breeds Hereford and
Aberdeen-Angus (red with white faces, and all black or red respectively).
- show [esposición]
- Agricultural show or fair. See exposición rural.
- siesta [siesta]
- noon-day nap, typically after lunch
- siestar, siesteando [siestar]
- to take or be taking a siesta
- sina-sina [cinacina]
- a spiny shrub or a small tree with yellow flowers (Parkinsonia aculeata),
grows 2 to 8 m. Can be invasive. aka: in US English: “palo verde”.
- sinch [cincha]
- cinch, attaches saddle to horse, see recado.
- sinuelo [señuelo]
- decoy, but in terms of cattle is a tame older animal included in a herd of
young stock to lead and/or calm them.
- sobar [sobar]
- To soften up, sobado is softened. Typically refers to the process
of working raw-hide to soften it up. See redomon and trenza.
- “sociedad rural” [sociedad rural]
- Association of farmers and ranchers; in the US would be a Cattleman’s
Association. They oftern orgnise shows see exposición rural.
- soga [soga]
- rope
- soldado [soldado]
- soldier
- sorda [sorda]
- La California diaries: Not sure per context: rope of hide or
a measure / count of hides.
- sorro [H] [-?-]
- La California diaries: 17 Oct’90: per context, possibly a
type of cart.
- sovared [H]
- see sobar
- squares [cuadras]
- see cuadra. Literal translation from Spanish, often used by
JEBz.
- stop, stops, stoped [parar]
- to stay, as in stay the night.
- sulejo
- horse coloring, see asulejo [azulejo]
- T -
- tab.
- possibly an abbreviation for tabaco (tobacco)
- tab hoja [tabaco hoja]
- tobacco leaf
- tab colorado [tabaco colorado]
- red tobacco
- tab negro [tabaco negro]
- black tobacco
- tabana, tavena [tábano]
- horse fly, bites.
- tacurú [tacurú]
- a very hard ants nest, most are conical 50-75cm in height, occasionaly
they may reach 2 meters; each nest may last 25 years. Their name comes from
the Guaraní word for the red-soil of which the nests are often made.
The ant (Camponotus Punctulatus) that makes these nests is native to
northern Argentina and Paraguay.
- tacurusal [tacurusal]
- an area or field filled with tacurú. An infested field looks like
a dense sea of pimples.
- tala [tala]
- a medium sized, spiny, deciduous tree (Celtis tala) with yellwoish
flowers, 3-12 metres tall depending on water availability, found from Bolivia
and Paraguay, and throughout the Argentine pampas to southern Buenos Aires
province; it prefers well drained damp soils; in tree form it is a main
component of the Gran Chaco monte, it is found in the pampas in shrub form along
river banks. Hard twisted wood, makes excellent firewood.
- talero, talera [talero]
- a rebenque with a short, very wide striking strap, and a thick
handle.
- tambo [tambo]
- dairy
- tambera/o [tambera]
- adjective of dairy: vaca tambera - dairy cow, tambero –
dairyman.
- tank [tanque]
- water reservoir or tank, typically round. Sometimes referred to as a
represa. Originally made of a circular berm of earth, later by corrugated
iron sheets (a.k.a.an Australian tank),
today most often of molded cement slabs. Each field was equipped with at least
one, filled via a jagüel
or molino (wind-mill), it provided water to the bebidas / bebederos
(water-troughs) for the livestock. See jagüel, pileta, bebida.
- tapa [tapa]
- cover, lid – (June 1888: cement lid for a well)
- tapado [tapado]
- in terms of horse coloring, tapado means entirely “covered”, all
one color, i.e. no markings: no white socks, no star nor blaze.
- tapera [tapera]
- (i) an abandoned single house or shelter,
- (ii) per context, sometimes an abandoned village (word from
Guaraní)
- tarro [tarro]
- tin-can, e.g. tarro polvora - can of powder
- tassa [tasa]
- cup
- tatú carreta [tatú carreta]
- the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus) is brown on top with
yellowish lower sides, body 70-100cm, long, 50cm wide & 30cm high, tail 60cm,
weighs approx. 60kg., nocturnal it feeds on ants & termites (breaks open nests
with its large claws) as well as worms & the like. Found throughout the
jungles of South America, including Argentina's north Chaco region. A living
fossil, threatened (EN) a.k.a. “armadillo
gigante”; in Guaraní: “tatú-guazú”; in English: “giant armadillo”. Alfred had
a shell of one hanging on the wall next to the African buffalo head at Ea.
“Las Tres Lagunas”. See peludo and mulita.
- tavena [tabano]
- horse fly - see tabano
- techa [teja]
- roof tile [Alfred: per context 9 May'92]
- techar [techar]
- to roof, to make or thatch a roof (techo is roof)
- temporal [termporal]
- a period, typically in winter, of dismal weather. Winds from the SSW
bring cold clouded damp drizzly/rainy days.
- terantes [tirantes]
- see tirante.
- terraplen [terraplen]
- earthed-up / raised road
- testementura [testamentura]
- testify, testimony
- testamentaria []testamentaría
- estate sale, auction (by executors) of the property of a person who has died
- tigres / tigre’s [tigres / tigre]
- (i) a coloquial name for the
jaguar;
- (ii) La California diaries: 8 Apr’90 - name of a stallion &
his manada (brood mares).
- tijeras [tijeras]
- (i) scizzors;
- (ii) hut structural element: light cross-beams, they rest on the
cumbreras
(ridge-poles & outside wall tie-beams). Other elements: cumbrera, horcón,
caña, paja, chorizo
- tirante [tirante]
- rafter or beam (of wood), often quite long – see pine tea.
Typically measured in inches (width and thickness) and varas, metres or yards
for length.
- “tob leaf”
- abbreviation for tobacco leaf
- toba [Toba]
- Indian tribe of north-central Argentina. See People & Place names for
more details.
- tobiano [tobiano]
- horse coloring: a striking mix of large distinct patches of any color upon
a white background, term always qualified by a color, e.g.: tobiano negro
- piebald,
tobiano zaino & tobiano alazán - skewbald. Other terms in English: paint,
pinto. See overo &
caballo for more terms & colors.
- “todo lo que pisa”
- phrase: “whatever it weighs”, i.e. price per head, regardless of weight
- tolderia [tolderia]
- indian village / encampment
- toldo [toldo]
- indian hut / shelter, often open on one or more sides.
- topo [H] [tropa]
- see tropa
- tordillio [tordillo]
- horse coloring: speckled grey or chestnut on white. See caballo for
more terms & colors.
- tormenta/o [tormenta]
- storm (heavy rain, often with strong winds)
- tormentoish [tormentoso]
- stormy
- torito [torito]
- little bull or bull calf. See padre,
toro, vacuno, and yerra.
- toro [toro]
- bull (as in cattle) - a whole male. See padre, vacunos for
more cattle terms.
- toruno [toruno]
- late or improperly castrated male livestock. (Oops! Missed one!)
- “toslada tapada” [tostada tapada]
- horse coloring: see tostado and tapado
- tostado [tostado]
- horse coloring: “toasted” – chestnut (alazán) or bay (zaino
colorado) with darker shadows, often with darker legs, tail, and mane
- tranca, tranceros [tranca]
- sliding poles or gates used to close a corral or parts of a cattle shute
or raceway. See bretes.
- tranquera/o [tranquera]
- wide farm gate — wide enough for a cart to pass through
- trap
- a.k.a.sulky - a light one horse
carriage capable of transporting 2 (or at a squeeze 3) people.
- trascorral, “tras corral” [-?-]
- corral trasero? i.e. a back corral? [Alfred: 13 Nov'91, 23 Feb'92]
- trasera [trasera]
- rear, back
- trash [H], Trahser [H] [--]
- misspelled thrash or thrasher; for which the modern is “thresher”
- trata [trato]
- agreement, as in made an agreement.
- tratar, tratared [tratar]
- (i) deal/delt with, trade / negotitate a sale or purchase;
- (ii) tried (to do something).
- trensa [trenza]
- a braid or plait - a rope made of intertwined rawhide strands. See
redomon and sobar, the first step. There are many different braids,
each with its uses. A laso is made of 6 or 8 strands of raw-hide, braided in a
fashion that results in a round rope - more strands make a smoother more
rounded braid. Women often braid their hair using 3 strands in a fashion that
results in a flat braid.
- trensar, trensaring [trensar]
- to braid (or plait) lasos, reins, belts, etc. from rawhide. See trensa
and sobar.
- triste [triste]
- unhappy or sad. When referring to cattle: stressed, unhealthy, downcast.
See also tristeza.
- tristeza [tristeza vacuna o bovina]
- a tropical disease of cattle caused by parasites in the blood, transmitted
by ticks and mosquitos. a.k.a.: Texas cattle fever. The cattle are weakened
and may have fevers, they appear downcast (triste). Like measles in
humans, it affects adult animals more than the young; often leading to death.
- tronco, tronca [tronco]
- log
- troop, troup, tropo [H] [tropa / tropear]
- (i) herd of livestock;
- (ii) to drive a herd of livestock. See tropa.
- tropa [tropa]
- herd of livestock, typically cattle, that is being moved / driven /
herded. See rodeo.
- tropero [tropero]
- someone who drives/herds cattle from one place to another. (NOTE: Tropero
is not the translation of herdsman.)
- tropillia, trepillia [H], trapillo [tropilla]
- (i) small herd, typically of horses
- (ii) see yegua overa & yegua picasa for names of
horse herds at “La California”, 1877.
- trun / trunes [trun / trunes]
- A Chilean bur oak tree. JEBz: Based on context, we believe
he meant beams of its wood.
- tubo [tubo]
- (i) tube;
- (ii) per context (19 June'85): clear glass tube of an oil lamp.
- turniquetes [torniquetas]
- turn-buckles used in fences, typically attached to fence posts and used
for tightening the wire strands; a torniqueta voladora is a “flying”
turn-buckle strung on the wire in the open space between posts. Forr more
about fencing, see alambrados.
- tuviano [tobiano]
- horse coloring: piebald (pinto, paint) - if alone and ends in ‘a’, refers
to a piebald mare. See caballos for more horse terms and colors.
- tuyango
- see cigüeña
- U, V, W -
- vaca [vaca]
- cow. See vacunos for more cattle terms.
- vaca con cuero [vaca con cuero]
- cow with skin - butchered but not skinned. See asado.
- vacillas [H], vacillars [vaquillas]
- heifers or young cows - colloquial. See also vaquillonas, and
vacunos for more terms.
- vacunos [vacunos]
- cattle. Bovinos is the more formal term and is generally only used
in official documents or academic research.
- Other terms: cria breeding or offspring; invernada
yearlings; lechera
milk cow; novillo steer; res beef; rodeo cattle
herd/group; ternera/o calf;
toro bull; toruno not fully castrated; tropa herd being
herded;
tropero herder; tropilla small herd; vaca cow;
vacillas [H] - cows or heifers; vaquillas young cows, heifers,
or cattle;
vaquillona heifer
- “walde sin fondo”
- see balde sin fondo [AABz, 20 June'77]
- vale, valor [vale]
- note, or IOU
- vaqueano, vaquiano [baquiano]
- guide or expert person; becomming skilled or expert
- vaquilla, vaquillona, vaquillone [vaquilla o vaquillona]
- heifer (young cow). See vacunos for more terms.
- vara [vara]
- a measure of length, varied slightly by province. In Santa Fé: 86.6 cm.
(See our page on Measures.)
- varillias [varillas]
- In US: “spacers” - wood staves hung vertically on the fence wires to keep
them correctly spaced. For more about fences at La California,
see alambrados)
- varosa
- horse coloring, see barroso (AABz spelling)
- vasura [basura]
- garbage, trash.
- vermicelli [vermicelli]
- pasta
- venado [venado]
- (i) deer, stag;
- (ii) “venado de las pampas” deer of the pampas, another name
for gama. See also ciervo, gama, & guasuncho.
- vergs [verga]
- slang for penis
- vieja/o [vieja/o]
- old
- viga [viga]
- beam or heavy post
- vinagre [vinagre]
- vinegar
- viuda [viuda]
- widow
- vizcacha, biscacha [vizcacha]
- a rodent (Lagostomus maximus]
-
of the pampas, similar to a prairie-dog with black and grey horizontal stripes
across its face. Live in colonies (vizcacheras) made up of many
burrows. Behave like pack-rats in the sense that they collect anything and
everything.
- “wild cat”
- see “gato montes”
- wrax [-?-]
- no idea (Alfred 14 Dec'91).
- X, Y, Z -
- yappa [yapa or ñapa]
- (i) an extension (enyapado is patched on);
-
(ii) an extra piece tossed in for free, a gift.
- yds
- abbreviation (English) for yards (yardas). 1 yard = 3 feet = 36 inches
(pulgadas) = 0.91 m.
- yegua [yegua]
- mare
- "yegua overa tropilla"
- “La California” — horse herd of the spotted black & white (piebald)
mare (Alfred 1877)
- "yegua picasa tropilla"
- “La California” — horse herd of the black coat & white markings
(face, socks) mare (Alfred 1877)
- yeguada [yeguada]
- mare herd, colloquial term could include more than just mares.
- yeguarisas [yeguarizos]
- generic colloquial term for horse livestock. See caballo
for more horse terms.
- yerba [yerba]
- Yerba litterally means “herb”. However, unless qualified otherwise referes
to yerba mate – the bitter tea drunk in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay,
and southern Brazil.
- yerra [yerra]
- the inspection of cow-herds: each herd (rodeo) is rounded up (put
on rodeo), the new calves are branded (marcar / marked) and
ear-marked (señalar), their horns are tipped or removed (descornar),
male calves (except the very few, if any, kept as bulls (padres)) are
castrated making them steers, sick or fly-blown animals are treated,
non-produtive cows and bulls are replaced by young stock. The larger steers
and culled cows, heifers, and bulls are parted out and/or sold. Typically an
annual event involving many workmen (peones). In more recent times the cattle
are also vaccinated, dosed, and/or dipped, typically done periodically
throughout the year, but this process by itself is not referred to as a
yerra.
- yugo [yugo]
- (i) yoke, usually the wood-beam that lies across the knecks of a
pair (yunta) of oxen & is tied to their horns.
- (ii)
can be the pair of oxen, a.k.a.yunta.
See carro, coyunta, yunta, & pertico;
- (iii) vice in a raceway (manga) to grip cattle by their neck,
see bretes.
- yunta, junta [yunta]
- (i) a yoke (pair) of oxen (bueyes). See
carro, coyunta, pertico, & yugo.
- (ii) a pair.
- zaino [zaino]
- horse coloring: bay or dark chestnut. See caballo for more horse
terms and colors.
- zaballo, zapallo [zapallo]
- squash (of the edible kind), pumpkin
- zarscito [zarcito]
- little czar, mangled name of a horse
- zebruno [cebruno]
- horse coloring: dark grulla. See table at foot of glossary.
- zorro [zorro]
- fox
In the table below we include only those terms used in
the diaries. We do not pretend to be experts. There are many sites
on the web listing horse colors. Guillermo A. Terrera, an authority on the
criollo breed, provides a list at:
Pelajes Criollos. The American Horse Registry provides a list at
Equine Colors & Markings. Below the table, is an image of the American
Quarter Horse color chart to which we have associated (subject to discussion)
the terms used in Argentina for the colors shown (not necessarily the color
named). For other horse terms, see
caballo in the glossary above.
| Pelaje |
Hair Color |
Description |
| alazán |
chestnut, sorrel |
|
| bayo |
cream, dun |
|
| blanco |
grey (white) |
often with a wall-eye |
| cebruno |
dark grulla |
|
| chorreado |
brindle |
color qualifier |
| colorado |
bay, red |
|
| doradillo |
light bay |
|
| estrella |
star |
qualifier |
| gateado |
line-back |
qualifier: dark stripe down the back and leg barring |
| hosco |
dark shadows |
|
| lobuno |
light grulla |
with shadows - wolf-like coloring |
| malacara |
wide blaze |
qualifier: face with a broad white blaze |
| moro |
iron-grey |
|
| oscuro |
black |
|
| overo |
spotted |
qualifier, see overo in glossary |
| pangaré |
pale / faded patches |
qualifier, e.g. zaino pangaré - bay with pale patches |
| pato |
tinged / shaded yellow |
qualifier, e.g. zaino pato - bay with (egg-yolk) yellow tints |
| picaso |
black w/white |
brilliant black, usually with white stockings & white face
/ wide blaze |
| rodado |
large white spots |
see overo |
| rosillo |
roan |
see overo in glossary for more |
| ruano |
dark palomino |
qualifier: sorrel, chestnut, or bay with white mane & tail |
| tapado |
no markings |
qualifier: no star, blaze, or socks (i.e. fully covered). |
| tobiano |
piebald / skewbald
pinto / paint |
see tobiano & overo in glossary |
| tordillo |
dapple-grey |
|
| tostado |
darker shadows |
qualifier: “toasted” e.g. zaino tostado - bay with dark
shadows |
| zaino |
dark chestnut / bay |
|
| zaino colorado |
dark bay |
|
zaino colorado
”sangre de toro” |
very dark bay |
”bull's blood bay” - beautiful dark blood red |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
tordillo
rodado |
| oscuro |
zaino
hosco |
alazán |
| tostado |
zaino |
bayo
encerrado |
bayo
ruano |
lobuno |
cebruno |
| doradillo |
azulejo |
gateado |
| |
|
|
