Dictionary of Spanish Slang (Barron's) [Paperback]

Michael Mahler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764106198 | ISBN-13: 978-0764106194 | Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Travelers with intermediate-level knowledge of Spanish, and language students on intermediate and advanced levels will value this book as a key to getting past the slang barrier and grasping Spanish and its idioms as people actually speak the language. More than 4,000 words or colloquial expressions seldom found in standard bilingual dictionaries are listed alphabetically and defined. A phrase or short sentence is presented in Spanish to give readers a sense of the word or expression as it is used in various contexts, and is followed with an English translation. Because of the nature of the subject matter, books in this series necessarily contain expressions that some readers will find offensive.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764106198
• ISBN-13: 978-0764106194
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #652,797 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very useful learning tool in a user friendly format., February 12, 2002

By 

Marianopolita2005 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dictionary of Spanish Slang (Barron's) (Paperback)

This dictionary of Spanish slang and colloquial expressions is a very complete learing tool organized in a user friendly format. Like all dictionaries the expressions are in alphabetical order and also the country or region of frequent usage is indicated along with how to use the expression in a sentence. This dictionary would be useful for all Spanish speakers at all levels due to the diversity of the Spanish language. There is definitely a variety of expressions which one may have heard in colloquial speech but unsure of the meaning or the dictionary can be used to learn expressions and to broaden everyday speech. I recommend this dictionary to anyone who wishes to expand their colloquial and everyday vocabulary in Spanish.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ¿Por donde se termina?, October 25, 2007

By 

Matthew S. Kimber (Ogden, UT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dictionary of Spanish Slang (Barron's) (Paperback)

At first I was reluctant to learn the "modismos" of Spanish but after having run into a few situations where I've been embarrassed by a native speaker I decided to take the plunge.

The content is great. My one complaint is the layout. For some reason my eyes have a hard time distinguishing where one entry starts and the other ends.

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty decent translation, more direct than others, could do with a pronunciation guide., April 2, 2010

By 

Michael D. Chlanda - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dictionary of Spanish Slang (Barron's) (Paperback)

This book has more direct translations than, say, The Red-Hot Book Of Spanish Slang and Idioms (but which I'd also recommend), but less direct than the out of print Calo, Gutter Spanish by Jay Rosensweig. [See Alibris or Abebooks for a copy.]
The one thing it suffers from, as with the other aforementioned book is a
pronunciation guide, e.g., for an expression that signifies b**ls, the Spanish word uses an umlaut, normally used in German but occasionally in Spanish. Otherwise, good to know so you don't get "killed" if you'd use some of the expressions in this book in a Latino setting.