Saturday, 23 November 2013

Cuchara

Today's WOTD is: "cuchara" = spoon


In Spanish, “cuchara” is a feminine noun of Latin origin which means spoon.




The Spanish noun “cuchara” may be used also to refer to:
  • A tablespoon -the amount of something in a tablespoon
  • The bucket of a mechanical digger
  • A trowel or similar implement used in bricklaying
  • A special kick of the ball in football/ soccer

A related noun is “cucharada”, which means a spoonful.

The noun “cucharilla”* is often used to refer to a tea spoon/ small spoon.

*NB In some countries, for example in Venezuela, the noun “cuchara” is considered a rude word and word “cucharilla” is used instead.

Some expressions with the word “cuchara” are:
  • Cuchara de madera (wooden spoon*);
  • Cuchara de palo (wooden spoon*);
  • Cuchara de plástico (plastic spoon);
  • Cuchara de postre (dessert spoon);
  • Cuchara sopera (soup spoon);
  • Gol de cuchara (in football/ soccer a goal scored by lobbing the ball over he keeper's head);
  • Juego de la cuchara y el huevo (egg and spoon race);
*NB The Spanish expressions “cuchara de madera” or “cuchara de palo” are not commonly used to refer to a wooden spoon when that English expression means the imaginary prize given to the person coming last in a contest/ competition/ race. The Spanish expression “farolillo rojo” although a similar expression, it is not quite the same (it makes no reference to any 'prize'). Nevertheless, it is an expression often used to refer to the person or team occupying the last position in a competition or race. An example of the use of this expression could be: el Betis es el farolillo rojo de la liga (Betis are bottom of the league).


Some examples of the use of the word "cuchara" and related words are:
  • Las cucharas se suelen colocar al lado derecho de los platos (spoons are usually placed to the right of the plates);
  • En una cuchara al ras caben unos veinte gramos de arroz, ¿no? (in a level tablespoon there is room for around 20 grammes of rice, is that right?);
  • Añadir una cucharada de aceite (add a spoonful of oil);
  • Comiendo con cuchara de madera los alimentos tienen otro sabor, ¿no? (eating with a wooden spoon food tastes different, doesn't it?);
  • Comiendo con cuchara de plástico los alimentos tienen otro sabor, ¿no? (eating with a plastic spoon food tastes different, doesn't it?);
  • Comiendo con cuchara de palo los alimentos tienen otro sabor, ¿no? (eating with a wooden spoon food tastes different, doesn't it?);
  • Raúl marcó varios goles de cuchara (Raúl scored several goals lobbing the ball over the keeper's head);
  • El juego de la cuchara y el huevo resultó un éxito (the egg and spoon race was a success);

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "cuchara" in the YouTube clip: ManuChao - Mama Cuchara

For more on the word "cuchara", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Cuchara*

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “cuchara” in the link to hear the word pronounced.

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