Customer Reviews

Dictionary of Spanish Slang (Barron's)

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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.

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.

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.

Thanks so much for the speedy delivery! The dictionary came brand new as promised. I would definitely do business with this salesperson again :-)

I wish I had known about this dictionary when I was south of the border, researching MEXICAN AUTUMN, my book of inter-related short stories set in the little Mexican fishing village of Bahia de los angeles in Baja California. Having this book at my side would have saved many an embarrassing moment when my hosts were forced to explain the meaning of words and phrases (most of them quite innocent, mind you) that are simply not thought worthy of inclusion in standard dictionaries, because they are regarded (oh, horrors!) as "slang". Author Michael Mahler not only defines all these "strange" (but often commonplace) words and phrases, but employs them in sentences so that you can see exactly how they are used. The only thing missing from his book (and it would be a valuable addition) is a corresponding English to Spanish supplement so that you don't have to remember such things as that Mexican slang for "typist" is "gatigrafa", but can instantly look it up.

i found this book to be quite helpful and the seller was very speedy and cooperative