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Argentina Glossary



Glossary

ACA (Automovil Club Argentino) National motoring organization (pronounced A-ka)

ACAMPAR To camp.

ADUANA Customs post.

AEROSILLA Chairlift.

AGRESTE Wild or rustic (often used to describe a campsite with very basic facilities).

ALERCE Giant, slow-growing Patagonian cypress, similar to the Californian redwood.

ALMACEN Small grocery store, which in the past often functioned as a bar too.

ALTIPLANO High Andean plateau.

AONIK'ENK The Southern Group of Tehuelche (q.v), the last of whose descendants live in the province of Santa Cruz.

ARAUCARIA Monkey puzzle tree.

AROBA The @ sign on a computer keyboard.

ARROYO Stream or small river.

ASADO Barbecue (either on a parrilla or on the spit); tira de asado is beef ribs.

AUTOPISTA Motorway.

BACHE Pothole.

BAILANTA Dance club, where the predominant sound is cumbia .

BALNEARIO Bathing resort; also a complex of sunshades and small tents on the beach, often with a bar and shower facilities, for which users pay a daily, weekly or monthly rate.

BANADO A type of shallow marshland, often caused by a flooded river, and common in the Chaco region.

BANDA NEGATIVA Airline tariff bracket, where a percentage of seats are sold at heavily discounted rates.

BAQUEANO Mountain or wilderness guide.

BARRIO Neighbourhood.

BOFEDAL Spongey Altiplano wetland.

BOLEADORAS BOLAS Traditional hunting implement, composed of stone balls connected by thick cord, thrown to entangle legs or neck of prey. Traditionally used by gauchos, who inherited it from Argentina's indigenous inhabitants.

BOLETERIA Ticket office.

BOLETO Travel ticket.

BOMBACHA Wide-legged gaucho trousers.

BOMBILLA Straw-like implement, usually of metal, used for drinking mate from a gourd.

BONDI Colloquial term in Buenos Aires for a bus.

BOTIQUIN Medicine kit.

C/ The abbreviation of calle (street); only rarely used.

CABILDO Colonial town hall; now replaced by Municipalidad.

CABINA TELEFONICA Phone booth.

CACIQUE Generic term for the head of a Latin American indigenous community or people, elected or hereditary.

CAJERO AUTOMATICO ATM, cashpoint machine.

CALAFATE Type of thorny Patagonian bush, famous for its blue berries.

CAMIONETA Pick-up truck.

CAMPESINO Country-dweller; sometimes used to refer to someone with indigenous roots.

CAMPO DE HIELO Ice cap or ice-field.

CANA COLIHUE Native Patagonian plant of the forest understorey, which strongly resembles bamboo.

CANCHA Football stadium.

CANTINA Traditional restaurant, usually Italian.

CARACTERISTICA Telephone code.

CARAGUATA Sisal-like fibre used by the Wichi for weaving yica bags.

CARPA Tent.

CARRETERA Route or highway.

CARTELERA Agency for buying discounted tickets for cinemas, theatres and concerts.

CASA DE TE Tearoom.

CASCO Main building of estancia; the homestead.

CATARATAS Waterfalls, usually used to refer specifically to Iguazu Falls.

CAUDILLO Regional military or political leader, usually with authoritarian overtones.

CEBAR MATE To brew mate .

CEIBO Tropical tree with a twisted trunk, whose bright-red or pink blossom is the national flower of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

CERRO Hill, mountain peak.

CHACO HUMEDO Wet chaco habitat.

CHACO SECO Dry chaco habitat.

CHACRA Small farm.

CHAGUAR See Caraguata .

CHAMAME Folk music from the littoral region, specifically Corrientes Province.

CHANGO Common term in the northwest for a young boy; often used in the sense of "mate"/"buddy".

CHAQUENO Someone from the Chaco.

CHATA Slang term for pick-up truck.

CHE Ubiquitous, classically Argentinian term, tagged onto the end of numerous statements and generally meaning "mate" or "buddy". From the Mapuche for "person".

CHOIQUE Common term, deriving from Mapudungun, for the smaller, southern Darwin's rhea of Patagonia.

CHURRO Strip of fried dough, somewhat similar to a doughnut, often filled with dulce de leche .

COLECTIVO Urban bus.

COMBI Small minibus that runs urban bus routes.

COMPARSA Carnival "school".

CONFITERIA Cafe and tearoom, often with patisserie attached.

CONVENTILLO Tenement building.

CORDILLERA Mountain range; usually used in Argentina to refer to the Andes.

CORTADERA Pampas grass.

COSTANERA Riverside avenue.

COUNTRY Term for exclusive out-of-town residential compound or sports and social club.

CRIOLLO Historically an Argentinian-born person of Spanish descent. Used today in two ways: as a general term for Argentinian (as in comida criolla, traditional Argentinian food) and used by indigenous people to refer to those of non-indigenous descent.

CUADRA The distance from one street corner to the next, usually 100 metres (see also manzana ).

CUCHILLA Regional term for low hill in Entre Rios.

CUESTA Slope or small hill.

CUMBIA Popular Argentinian "tropical" rhythm, inspired by Colombian cumbia.

DEPARTAMENTO Administrative district in a province; also an apartment.

DESCAMISADOS Term meaning "the shirtless ones," popularized by Juan and Evita Peron to refer to the working-class masses and dispossessed.

DESPENSA Shop (particularly in rural areas).

DIA DE CAMPO Day spent at an estancia where traditional asado and empanadas are eaten and guests are usually given a display of gaucho skills.

DIQUE Dock; also dam.

E/ The abbreviation of entre (between), used in addresses.

EMPALME Junction of two highways.

ENCOMIENDA Package, parcel; also historical term for form of trusteeship bestowed on Spaniards after conquest, granting them rights over the native population.

ENTRADA Ticket (for football match, theatre etc).

ESTANCIA Argentinian farm, traditionally with huge areas of land.

ESTEPA Steppe.

ESTERO A shallow swampland, commonly found in El Litoral and Chaco areas.

FACON Gaucho knife, usually carried in a sheath.

FEDERALIST Nineteenth-century term for one in favour of autonomous power being given to the provinces; opponent of Unitarist.

FERIA ARTESANAL DE ARTESANIAS Craft fair.

FERRETERIA Hardware shop (often useful for camping equipment).

FERROCARRIL Railway.

FICHA Token.

FOGON Place for a barbecue or campfire; bonfire.

FONDA Simple restaurant.

GALERIA Small shopping arcade.

GASEOSA Soft drink.

GAUCHO The typical Argentinian "cowboy", or rural estancia worker.

GENDARMERIA Police station.

GOMERIA Tyre repair centre.

GOMERO Rubber tree.

GRINGO Any white foreigner, though often specifically those from English-speaking countries; historically European immigrants to Argentina (as opposed to criollos), as in pampa gringa, the part of pampa settled by European immigrants.

GUANACO Wild camelid of the llama family.

GUARANI Indigenous people and language, found principally in Misiones, Corrientes and Paraguay.

GUARDAEQUIPAJE Left-luggage office.

GUARDAFAUNA Wildlife ranger.

GUARDAGANADO Cattle grid.

GUARDAPARQUE National park ranger.

GUNUNA'KUNA The northern group of the Tehuelche (q.v.), now extinct.

HACER DEDO To hitchhike.

HUMEDAL Any wetland swampy area.

IGM (Instituto Geografico Militar) The national military's cartographic institution.

IMPENETRABLE Term applied historically to the area of the dry chaco with the most inhospitable conditions for white settlement, due to lack of water; the name of a zone of northwestern Chaco Province.

INTENDENCIA Head office of a national park.

INTENDENTE Administrative chief of a national park.

INTERNO Telephone extension number.

ISLETA DE MONTE Clump of scrubby mixed woodland found in savannah or flat agricultural land, typically in the Chaco and the northeast of the country.

IVA (impuesto de valor agregado) Value-added tax or sales tax.

JACARANDA Tropical tree with trumpet-shaped mauvish blossom.

JUNTA Military government coalition.

KIOSKO Newspaper stand or small store selling cigarettes, confectionery and some foodstuffs.

KOLLA Andean indigenous group predominant in the northwestern provinces of Salta and Jujuy.

LANCHA Smallish motor boat.

LAPACHO Tropical tree typical of the littoral region and distinguished by bright-pink blossom.

LENA Firewood.

LENGA Type of Nothofagus southern beech common in Patagonian forests.

LICUADO Milkshake.

El LITORAL Littoral, shore - used to refer to the provinces of Entre Rios, Corrientes, Misiones, Santa Fe and sometimes Eastern Chaco and Formosa.

LITORALENO Inhabitant of El Litoral.

LOCUTORIO Call centre, where phone calls are made from cabins and the caller charged after the call is made.

LOMO DE BURRO Speed bump.

LONCO Head or cacique of a Mapuche community.

MADREJON A swampy ox-bow lake.

MALLIN Swamp, particularly in upland moors.

MANZANA City block; the square bounded by four cuadras .

MAPUCHE One of Argentina's largest indigenous groups, whose ancestors originally came from Chilean Patagonia and whose biggest communities are found in the provinces of Chubut, Rio Negro and especially Neuquen.

MAPUDUNGUN The language of the Mapuches.

MARCHA Commercial dance music.

MATACO See Wichi.

MATE Strictly the mate gourd or receptacle, but used generally to describe the national "tea" drink.

MENU DEL DIA Standard set menu.

MENU ECECUTIVO Set menu. More expensive than the menu del dia (q.v.), though not always that executive.

MESOPOTAMIA The three provinces of Entre Rios, Corrientes and Misiones, by analogy with the ancient region lying between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, in modern-day Iraq.

MICRO Long-distance bus.

MICROCENTRO The area of a city comprising the central square and neighbouring streets.

MILONGA Style of folk-guitar music usually associated with the pampa region; also a tango dance and a subgenre of tango, more uptempo than tango proper.

MIRADOR Scenic lookout point or tower.

MONTE Scrubby woodland, often used to describe any uncultivated woodland area. Also used to refer to the desertified ecosystem that lies in the rainshadow of the central Andes around the Cuyo region.

MOZARABIC Spanish architectural style, originally dating from the ninth to thirteenth centuries and characterized by a fusion of Romanesque and Moorish styles.

MUELLE Pier or jetty.

MUNICIPALIDAD Municipality building or town hall.

NANDU A common name, derived from Guarani, for the greater rhea, but also used to refer to its smaller cousin, the Darwin's rhea.

NIRE Type of Nothofagus southern beech tree common in Patagonian forests.

NOQUI Argentinian spelling of the Italian gnocchi, a small potato dumpling. Used to refer to phoney employees who appear on a company's payroll but don't actually work there; also slang for a punch.

NOTHOFAGUS Genus of Patagonian trees commonly called southern beech (includes lenga and nire q.v.).

OMBU Large shade tree, originally from the Mesopotamic region and now associated with the pampa where it was introduced in the eighteenth century.

PAISANO Meaning "countryman"; sometimes loosely used as equivalent to gaucho and often used by people of indigenous descent to refer to themselves, thus avoiding the sometimes pejorative indio (Indian).

PALMAR Palm grove.

PALO BORRACHO Tree associated especially with the dry-chaco habitat of northern Argentina; its name (literally "drunken stick") is derived from its swollen trunk in which water is stored.

PALOMETA Piranha/pirana.

PAMPA The broad flat grasslands of central Argentina.

PARQUIMETRO Parking meter.

PARRILLA Barbecue grill or restaurant.

PARRILLADA The meat cooked on a parrilla .

PASAJE Narrow street.

PASEAPERRO Professional dog walker.

PASTIZAL Grassland, often used for grazing.

PATO The Argentinian national sport; similar to handball on horseback.

PAYADA Traditional improvised musical style, often performed as a kind of dialogue between two singers ( payadores ) who accompany themselves on guitars.

PEAJE Road toll.

PEATONAL Pedestrianized street.

PEHUEN Mapuche term for monkey puzzle tree.

PENA Circle or group (usually of artists or musicians); a pena folklorica is a folk-music club.

PEON Farmhand.

PICADA A roughly-marked path; also a plate of small snacks eaten before a meal, particularly cheese, ham or smoked meats.

PLANTA BAJA Ground floor (first floor, US).

PLAYA Beach.

PLAYA DE ESTACIONAMIENTO Parking lot; garage.

PLAZOLETA/PLAZUELA Small square.

PORTENO Someone from Buenos Aires city.

PREFECTURA Naval prefecture for controlling river and marine traffic.

PUESTO Small outpost or hut for shepherds or guardaparques .

PUKARA Pre-Colombian fortress.

PULPERIA A type of traditional general-provisions store that doubles up as a bar and rural meeting point.

PUNA High Andean plateau (alternative term for altiplano ).

PUNTANO Someone from San Luis.

QUEBRADA Ravine, gully.

QUERANDI Original indigenous inhabitants of the pampa region.

QUINTA Suburban or country house with a small plot of land, where fruit and vegetables are often cultivated.

QOM An indigenous group, living principally in the east of Formosa and Chaco provinces. The word means "people" in their language.

RANCHO Simple countryside dwelling, typically constructed of adobe.

RASTRA Gaucho belt, typically ornamented with silver.

RC (Ruta Complementaria) Subsidiary, unsealed road in Tierra del Fuego.

RECARGO Surcharge on credit cards.

RECOVA Arcade around the exterior of a building or courtyard, typical of colonial-era buildings.

REDUCCION Jesuit mission settlement.

REFUGIO Trekking refuge.

REMISE/REMIS Taxi or chauffeur-driven rental car, booked through a central office.

REMISE COLECTIVO Shared cab that runs fixed interurban routes.

REPRESA Dam; also reservoir.

RIO River.

RIPIO Gravel; usually used to describe an unsurfaced gravel road.

RN (Ruta Nacional) Major route, usually paved.

RP (Ruta Provincial) Provincial road, sometimes paved.

RUTA Route or road.

SALTO Waterfall.

SAPUCAY Bloodcurdling shriek characteristic of chamame .

SELK'NAM Nomadic, indigenous guanaco-hunters from Tierra del Fuego, whose last members died in the 1960s. Also called Ona, the Yamana (q.v.) name for them.

SENDERO Path or trail.

S/N Used in addresses to indicate that there's no house number ( sin numero ).

SOROCHE Altitude sickness.

SORTIJA Display of gaucho skill in which the galloping rider must spear a small ring hung from a thread.

SUBTE Buenos Aires' underground railway.

TANGUERIA Tango club.

TASA DE TERMINAL Terminal tax.

TAXIMETRO Taxi meter.

TEHUELCHE Generic term for the different nomadic steppe tribes of Patagonia, who early European explorers named "Patagones".

TELEFERICO Gondola or cable car.

TENEDOR LIBRE Eat all you like buffet restaurant.

TERERE Common drink in the subtropical north of the country and Paraguay, composed of yerba mate served with wild herbs ( yuyos ) and ice-cold water or lemonade.

TERMINAL DE OMNIBUS Bus terminal.

TERRATENIENTE Landowner.

TIPA Acacia-like tree often found in northern yungas.

TOBA See Qom.

TRUCO Argentina's national card game, in which the ability to outbluff your opponents is of major importance.

UNITARISTS Nineteenth-century centralists, in favour of power being centralized in Buenos Aires; opponent of Federalist.

VILLA Short for villa miseria , a shanty town.

WICHI Semi-nomadic indigenous group, living predominantly in the dry central and western areas of Chaco and Formosa provinces, and in the far east of Salta. Sometimes referred to pejoratively as Mataco.

YAHGANES See Yamana.

YAMANA Nomadic indigenous canoe-going

© 2003 by Rough Guides Ltd. as trustee for its Authors. Published by Rough Guides. All rights reserved. Rough Guides name is a trademark of Rough Guides Ltd. Buy the book here! The Rough Guide to Argentina

people who inhabited the channels to the south of Tierra del Fuego, and whose culture died out in Argentina in the early twentieth century. Called Yahganes by later nineteenth-century missionaries.

YERBA MATE The leaves of the plant, used to brew mate .

YPF (YACIMIENTOS PETROLEROS FISCALES) The principal Argentinian petroleum company, now privatized. It is usually used to refer to the company's fuel stations.

ZONA FRANCA Duty-free zone.


your food is yummy

isabella says "i think yalls food is super dooper yummy keep up the good work
"

what

samanth says "nothing. you can survive on your own. dont go there its a horrible place."

what you need

katie says "bring lots of food and water. try to bring non perishable food. and bring warm and cold clothes. you will need it."

Buenos Aires City of Design

Bob Frassinetti says "In August 2005 Buenos Aires was appointed City of Design by the UNESCO. This is recognition the city of “good airs” shares with other top notch design areas of the world such as Berlin, Montreal.



This appointment evidences recognition towards what Buenos Aires is doing in this particular area, and it cannot be understood if not put in perspective to the recent boom that took place in this area recently. BA features a constant flow of movement in terms of design, from mind-blowing creations to average regular, items the broadness of the design movement in the Argentine capital provides a wide rainbow of options featuring something for every taste.



Buenos Aires has been among the firsts of the American Continent to take upon the challenge of design together with Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Mendoza in Argentina –as well-. The turning point in contemporary design in South America can be dated at the end of the 1950s and all throughout the 60s. The decade of 1960 was a strong decade for innovation, creation and design in the deepest sense of the words. The Arts in general had a strong input back then, and design was not an exception, from aesthetics to usefulness, Argentina has been taking upon the challenge of designing new and innovative objects ever since. After a couple of decades of ups and downs, ins and outs, always in tune with the general panorama of what was going on in our country, today, Buenos Aires is breeding and furthering some interesting aesthetic and conceptual approaches to objects.



In terms of industrial design today in Argentina, there are at several different disciplines working in an avant-garde creations and innovating in theory and practice in this sense. The range goes from industrial products to vehicles, furniture and lighting, making of Buenos Aires a design spot pretty much hyper-comprehensive in terms of design for the visitors.



An interesting insight on design in Buenos Aires is provided by worldly known Argentine architect and designer Ricardo Blanco in his book entitled Crónicas del diseño industrial en la Argentina – Chronicles of the Industrial Design in Argentina-, where he reconstructs the path of evolution thru means of a particular historical perspective and journey. Not aiming to cover the entire historical process, but more in the sense of providing an organized insight into the world of useful aesthetics, Blanco attest to evidence the intention and cultural bases of the Argentine design path.



Thru means of the current literature and the ever growing production of industrial design objects Buenos Aires takes upon new airs of discovery, as it mutates from the traditional city of beef and tango to a much more interesting and amusing spot of arts, design and aesthetics… And all in all, in the meantime we explore the new inputs of design we can always stop to enjoy the delightful Argentine cuisine and culture, but now in a broader and richer way.

Bob Frassinetti, Buenos Aires, Argentina"

Ganja

Faith says "look for ganja at all times"


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9/7/2008 4:55:53 AM