General Info

[QUOTE=MrGogo;1871621]
The good thing is that when they realized this dumb gringo in love set her up by taking her out of her culture and ruined her life, she will be hauling ass back to the DR to be with Ramon and her Dominican cousins and not taking all your money with her.[/QUOTE]Right on Mr GG:

Where I live I see a a lot of Viet, Thai and Philippino "war brides".

It's stereotypical. We have a pub with a nice patio in the summer and the boys can get quite "friendly" with passing girls. There's a lot of apartments and condos in the area and a lot of retired guys.

It happens often, the old guy, arm in arm, or holding hands (yuk!) with his young Asian girl are walking past. She gets smiles, and the odd polite comment from some of the younger guys, she looks over and smiles back, as if she wishes the old man would bring her in for a refreshment.

The old guy pulls her away to get her back to the apartment (bed and kitchen), but she takes one last look over her shoulder at the guys, before he drags her off.

I can imagine the conversation when they get home :)

It's a lose, lose for everybody involved.

[QUOTE=Tempoecorto;1871788]I just want to add a cautionary tale. When I first heard "vaina", I thought they were saying "vahina" - in other words referring to vagina, which created not a few funny and confounding situations. Beware![/QUOTE]A tip: "vaina" is two syllables, "vahina" or "vagina" is three syllables.

[QUOTE=Oakie;1872079]Right on Mr GG:

Where I live I see a a lot of Viet, Thai and Philippino "war brides".

It's stereotypical. We have a pub with a nice patio in the summer and the boys can get quite "friendly" with passing girls. There's a lot of apartments and condos in the area and a lot of retired guys.

It happens often, the old guy, arm in arm, or holding hands (yuk!) with his young Asian girl are walking past. She gets smiles, and the odd polite comment from some of the younger guys, she looks over and smiles back, as if she wishes the old man would bring her in for a refreshment.

The old guy pulls her away to get her back to the apartment (bed and kitchen), but she takes one last look over her shoulder at the guys, before he drags her off.

I can imagine the conversation when they get home :)

It's a lose, lose for everybody involved.[/QUOTE]Agreed. (Heavy sigh).

[QUOTE=Oakie;1872079]Right on Mr GG:

Where I live I see a a lot of Viet, Thai and Philippino "war brides".

It's stereotypical. We have a pub with a nice patio in the summer and the boys can get quite "friendly" with passing girls. There's a lot of apartments and condos in the area and a lot of retired guys.

It happens often, the old guy, arm in arm, or holding hands (yuk!) with his young Asian girl are walking past. She gets smiles, and the odd polite comment from some of the younger guys, she looks over and smiles back, as if she wishes the old man would bring her in for a refreshment.

The old guy pulls her away to get her back to the apartment (bed and kitchen), but she takes one last look over her shoulder at the guys, before he drags her off.

I can imagine the conversation when they get home :)

It's a lose, lose for everybody involved.[/QUOTE]I agree. (Tears welling up in eyes).

On the other hand.

A chica I knew years ago told me her mother (late 40's) lived with an old Dominican in his 70's. (No money here).

In a Colombian family I know, Grandma married Grandpa when she was 18 and he was 37.

Same family, a male cousin in his 50's married a woman in her 20's.

A female cousin married a Colombian man more than 20 years her senior.

(In the States, however, these couples would be the subject of a lot of jokes and behind the back snickering). The odds are against such pairs, especially when the elder starts to age and lose their physical attractiveness. Even Ashton Kutscher could only put up with Demi Moore for so long before he found a woman his own age.

[QUOTE=Yanqui69;1872143]I agree. (Tears welling up in eyes).

On the other hand.

A chica I knew years ago told me her mother (late 40's) lived with an old Dominican in his 70's. (No money here).

In a Colombian family I know, Grandma married Grandpa when she was 18 and he was 37.

Same family, a male cousin in his 50's married a woman in her 20's.

A female cousin married a Colombian man more than 20 years her senior.

(In the States, however, these couples would be the subject of a lot of jokes and behind the back snickering). The odds are against such pairs, especially when the elder starts to age and lose their physical attractiveness. Even Ashton Kutscher could only put up with Demi Moore for so long before he found a woman his own age.[/QUOTE]I cried too, when I found out it wasn't really love.

Her aunt was always asking me why I wouldn't marry the girl. I said what's the point?, I'll be dead in a couple of years.

She said, No problem, she will love you 'till you die.

Then what? I asked.

No problem, she said, She'll just find somebody else!

Got to love the philosophy :)

[QUOTE=Yanqui69;1872102]A tip: "vaina" is two syllables, "vahina" or "vagina" is three syllables.[/QUOTE]In all due respect, when in context the words are never confused. My friends are always saying "deja la vaina. " Some people even say the 'v' with a 'be' sound. Also, 'vaina' is slang while 'vagina' isn't. For the most part any Spanish speaking person knows what 'vagina' is while many, especially outside the Caribbean, are not familiar with 'vaina. ' Like 'guagua' and 'pon'; region based words. Not unlike English. When I was in Texas my cousin used the words 'fender lizard' and 'The Courts. ' he had to explain these terms to me.

[QUOTE=Boriman;1872172]In all due respect, when in context the words are never confused. My friends are always saying "deja la vaina. " Some people even say the 'v' with a 'be' sound. Also, 'vaina' is slang while 'vagina' isn't. For the most part any Spanish speaking person knows what 'vagina' is while many, especially outside the Caribbean, are not familiar with 'vaina.[/QUOTE]Of course, for us who speak fluent Spanish, the difference is clear, but not necessarily for those who are learning Spanish and are trying to pick a word here and there and have no idea of the context.

In the ISG Brasil section there is a thread for words and phrases in Portuguese and I think the same would be useful for many DR mongers too.

[QUOTE=Boriman;1872172]In all due respect, when in context the words are never confused. [/QUOTE]They are etymologically the same.

"Vagina" was the Latin word for "sheath". Like many Latin words it survived in English only as a medical term.

It shortened to "vaina" as Latin corrupted to Spanish (and to "guaina" in Italian) but retained its original meaning of "sheath". It also became an all-purpose slang word for "thing" in Caribbean Spanish. In this usage it has no particular sexual connotation, but I am confident it originally did, many centuries ago. When I was a schoolboy, "thing" was the usual name for the female organ for us smutty-minded oiks. Perhaps it still is?

I do not think there is an exact equivalent in English. I have seen words like "thingamabob" suggested, but they are not the same. They refer to things we do not know the correct name of, or it has slipped our mind. But "vaina" can be used for everyday familiar objects like chairs, bags, shirts, where everyone knows the word.

So why use it, with no advantage and a potential loss of precision? Ask a Dominican, but I suspect it is usually slightly demeaning or suggests impatience. "Pass me the vaina" is more polite than "Pass me the fucking monkey-wrench".

[QUOTE=Boriman;1872172] Some people even say the 'v' with a 'be' sound.[/QUOTE]In Spanish, the letters bee and vee are pronounced identically, and there is no vibration of the lips as with the English vee. In Spanish, both letters are pronounced bee.

[QUOTE=Oakie;1872158]I cried too, when I found out it wasn't really love.

Her aunt was always asking me why I wouldn't marry the girl. I said what's the point?, I'll be dead in a couple of years.

She said, No problem, she will love you 'till you die.

Then what? I asked.

No problem, she said, She'll just find somebody else!

Got to love the philosophy :)[/QUOTE]"No problem, she will love you 'till you die. "

It actually makes some sense, if you're happy with her.

I can think of worse things.

Once you're gone, you won't care if she finds someone else.

[QUOTE=Dickhead;1872308]In Spanish, the letters bee and vee are pronounced identically, and there is no vibration of the lips as with the English vee. In Spanish, both letters are pronounced bee.[/QUOTE]Except, when between two vowels, like in caballo or lluvia, they are pronounced as "v".

[QUOTE=Dickhead;1872308]In Spanish, the letters bee and vee are pronounced identically, and there is no vibration of the lips as with the English vee. In Spanish, both letters are pronounced bee.[/QUOTE]Now there may be certain regional pronunciations and / or words here or there where the two letters are pronounced the same, but the chart here shows the proper pronunciation of these two letters in Spanish when the language is spoken correctly: [URL]http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/114[/URL] (it's beh and veh). Now, it's easy to see how the two letters might sound the same to the unacclimated ear, especially when hearing them spoken at a rapid pace, but the two letters generally speaking do not share identical pronunciation. Close, but not identical.

[QUOTE=TheCane;1872332]...[URL]http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/114[/URL]...[/QUOTE]I clicked the link and cut and pasted the two sounds. The sounds are very similar.

Be beh After a pause or the letters l, m, or and, it sounds much like an English be. However, in all other cases, the lips do not even touch, producing a more whisper like sound almost close to the pronunciation of the letter v.

V veh Much like the Spanish be where the lips do not touch and there is less aspiration.

That said, no disrespect to anyone but formal Spanish and saying things properly I do not think is a top priority for some of the locals we meet along the way. I am sure some of the chicas I've met have not touched a book in years. Just writing their names becomes a challenge (on this trip alone I asked two chicas to write their names down and, would you believe it, they spelled their names wrong! I kid you not.). For the average local, as long as they are understood that is all they care about. Some probably do not make a distinction between 'be' and 'v' as long as you get their drift.

And, of course, education is a factor. The more highly educated, the less slang (although never totally eliminated), and the more formal their usage.

[QUOTE=Boriman;1872380]That said, no disrespect to anyone but formal Spanish and saying things properly I do not think is a top priority for some of the locals we meet along the way.[/QUOTE]This is very, very true. In fact, just like with English, there are different pronunciations and dialects throughout the Spanish-speaking world to where some people would not understand what you were saying to them if you were speaking to them using "proper" Castilian Spanish. I tried to think of words that I learned to pronounce where the letters "B" and "V" were pronounced 100% exactly the same, and the only one I can recall for now is the word "veinte", which means "twenty". I'm sure there are others, but I just can't think of any others right now. The real trick to good communication in Spanish is to learn how the local "gente" (people) say it, and then you're golden! I remember that the first time I went to Argentina, it took me two or three days to fully understand what people were saying to me because they had this strange "sh" sound that they would add to words. Bunch of Italians trying to speak Spanish LOL!

[QUOTE=TheCane;1872332]Now there may be certain regional pronunciations and / or words here or there wbhere the two letters are pronounced the same, but the chart here shows the proper pronunciation of these two letters in Spanish when the language is spoken correctly: [URL]http://www.spanishdict.com/topics/show/114[/URL] (it's beh and veh). Now, it's easy to see how the two letters might sound the same to the unacclimated ear, especially when hearing them spoken at a rapid pace, but the two letters generally speaking do not share identical pronunciation. Close, but not identical.[/QUOTE]Huh. Because what the link [B]actually says[/B] about vee is: "Much like the Spanish be where the lips do not touch and there is less aspiration. " However, I would rate this site as a poor source, especially since it does not seem to know that bee is called "bay grande" while vee is called "bay chica" (other names such as 'bay larga' are also used).
One thing about the Spanish language is that there is an official authority, Real Academia Española in Madrid. Here you can see that they show that the two letters represent the same sound:

[URL]http://www.rae.es/diccionario-panhispanico-de-dudas/representacion-de-sonidos[/URL]

See also:

[URL]http://www.studyspanish.com/pronunciation/letter_bv.htm[/URL]

Then this is straight from the Academia Real (my emphasis added):

'[B]No existe en español diferencia alguna en la pronunciación de las letras b y v[/B]. Las dos representan hoy el sonido bilabial sonoro /b/. La ortografía española mantuvo por tradición ambas letras, que en latín representaban sonidos distintos. En el español medieval hay abundantes muestras de confusión entre una y otra grafía, prueba de su confluencia progresiva en la representación indistinta del mismo sonido, confluencia que era ya general en el siglo xvi. La pronunciación de la v como labiodental no ha existido nunca en español, y solo se da de forma espontánea en hablantes valencianos o mallorquines y en los de algunas zonas del sur de Cataluña, cuando hablan castellano, por influencia de su lengua regional. También se da espontáneamente en algunos puntos de América por influjo de las lenguas amerindias. En el resto de los casos, es un error que cometen algunas personas por un equivocado prurito de corrección, basado en recomendaciones del pasado, pues aunque la Academia reconoció ya desde el Diccionario de Autoridades (1726-1739) que «los españoles no hacemos distinción en la pronunciación de estas dos letras», varias ediciones de la Ortografía y de la Gramática académicas de los siglos xviii, xix y principios del xx describieron, e incluso recomendaron, la pronunciación de la v como labiodental. Se creyó entonces conveniente distinguirla de la b, como ocurría en varias de las grandes lenguas europeas, entre ellas el francés y el inglés, de tan notable influjo en esas épocas; pero ya desde la Gramática de 1911 la Academia dejó de recomendar explícitamente esta distinción. En resumen, la pronunciación correcta de la letra v en español es idéntica a la de la b, por lo que [B]no existe oralmente ninguna diferencia en nuestro idioma entre palabras como baca y vaca, bello y vello, acerbo y acervo.[/B]'

It's the same sound, dudes. There are two ways to pronounce both letters, lips touching (labial stop) and not touching, depending on the preceding letter (s), but for any given combination of letters, bee and dee are the exact same.

Q. E. D.