22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great little tool!, November 20, 2008
This review is from: Dirty Spanish: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!" (Dirty Everyday Slang) (Paperback)
They never teach you slang in those high school foreign language classes. At least they never did in mine. But of course, we all wanted to learn how to swear in the language we were learning. I became better acquainted with the intricacies of another language when Maria, a foreign exchange student from Colombia, and I became friends. I mispronounced something that caused her (1) face to turn tomato red, and (2) to break out in hysterical laughter. Although I knew I'd just committed some major faux pas, she would never tell me what I'd actually said. That alerted me to the fact that I'd better be careful what I say when I try to speak someone else's language.
A little book like Dirty Spanish is a great tool. Not only will it help you to not sound as if you've just wandered out of Spanish 101 in high school, you'll learn that harmless slang in Mexico might get you a fist in the nose in Spain. Divided into chapters such as Howdy Spanish, Friendly Spanish, Party Spanish, Body Spanish, Angry Spanish and Hungry Spanish (among others), the author also tells you which Spanish-speaking country uses the particular phrase. There's lots to learn in these 126 pages, and you'll laugh along the way.
Dirty Spanish is indispensable for any trip you're planning to a Spanish-speaking country, or if you just want to understand what Spanish-speaking employees are saying as they walk past. (I'd received a compliment and didn't even know it!)
[...]
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disorganized, Contains Typographical Errors, July 28, 2010
This review is from: Dirty Spanish: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!" (Dirty Everyday Slang) (Paperback)
As a native Spanish speaker I was disappointed with this book. I gave it two stars because it contains at least some useful material. My main gripe with the book is how disorganized it is. I liked the fact that it contains slang from Mexico down to Argentina, but the slang is completely disorganized. You can't use Mexicanisms with someone from Bolivia or Chile or anywhere. Sometimes the regionalisms are not even labeled as such - so the reader would not know with whom to use a phrase or word. A non native speaker will have a hard time with this book. Slang in the Spanish language is regional. What works in one country does not work in the next. Eg. You say X phrase to someone from Mexico. It turns out that X phrase is only understood in Colombia. So your Mexican interlocutor will have no clue what you're saying -- and vice versa. The idioms are regionally mixed and this is not effective. Eg. you will read a Mexicanism, next to a Venezuelanism, coupled with an Argentinism. I believe only a native speaker can benefit from this book as a reference. I intended to give this book to friends that are learning Spanish, but this book would only confuse them and it would be counterproductive to their learning. What I can do is pick sentences from different chapters and explain them to them. Hope my review is helpful to you. Had I known this fact before the purchase, I would not have bought this book.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
save your money, October 9, 2009
This review is from: Dirty Spanish: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!" (Dirty Everyday Slang) (Paperback)
Good title, weak content. I'd suggest "The Red-Hot Book of Spanish Slang and Idioms" if you'd like to get "dirty Spanish" plus about all the idioms and slang you may ever encounter in Spanish speaking countries.
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