Cubanisms. Pedro García-Menocal
are the little rascals. Not exactly bad kids, but not exactly good either. A child who is candela (literally, “flame” or “fire”) is a handful, a bit of a rogue, indeed, a little rascal. Often used to describe children who misbehave or are mischievous, it can be used to describe anyone who behaves this way. Colloquially, to be “la candela” is to be the smartest or the best. This usually has a negative connotation, unlike the positive English phrase, “you’re on fire!”, and used to describe some sort of bad or outrageous behavior or somebody’s poor or unattractive physical appearance. “Estás en candela” (“You are on fire!”), “Eso está en candela” (“That is on fire!”), and “Candela mi son” (more or less, “damn” or “wow,” but in a bad way). These are all phrases that come from the chorus of traditional Cuban songs in the musical and dancing style of son Cubano. In Cuban, if you are en candela, then you are engulfed in flames and burning down to the ground in a very bad way.
A student who is lazy, lax and does not study or do his homework is modorro. Can be used as a noun or an adjective. The literal meaning of the word is sleepy or drowsy. Pescar or pescando or echar una pesca (all different ways of saying “to go fishing”) refer to the act of dozing off. Lazy students will often need help from their less lazy friends. Soplar, during a written school exam, means to whisper the correct answer to one’s deskmate or classmate. The literal meaning of the word is to “blow,” but its probable origin is the Spanish soplón, an informer.
Ponchar, with regard to an automobile tire, means to get a puncture or flat. With regard to baseball, it means to
strike out a batter. In school, however, it means to flunk out. “Me poncharon,” “They flunked me.” Similarly, guindar, which means to hang, also means to flunk someone in any course in school. “Me guindaron,” “They flunked me.”
Children, of course, love to play in playgrounds. That is what they are for. Perhaps they will slide down a canal (a slide) or fly on an hamaca, which is the Spanish word for hammock, but in Cuba it is also a swing. Or perhaps they will roll around on a chivichana, a sort of homemade scooter or cart used by kids for racing. And if the kid falls off his chivichana, he may get a ñáñara or a yaya, which are each words used to describe any small bruise, wound, or scrape that a child may get from playing around.
A cachumbambé is an Afro-Cuban word for seesaw. It is also used to describe a person who keeps changing his mind. An old nursery song ran, “Cachumbambé, la vieja Iné’, que fuma tabaco y toma café.” Totally Afro-Cuban, it means, “Seesaw, old Inez, who smokes cigars and drinks coffee.” “La vida es un cachumbambé” (“Life is a seesaw”) means that life has its ups and downs.
Estar enbaracutey is to be pregnant, which may be a play on words from the name Baracoa, a city in Cuba, and the correct Spanish word embarazada (to be pregnant). Some people also say that it means “to live alone” or “to be a loner.” A pregnant woman may have jimaguas, which is the indigenous word for twins, still used by all Cubans and only by Cubans. The correct Spanish word for
“twins” is gemelos. Her babies may play with marugas, a baby’s rattle. Maruga is also the name of a musical instrument, also a rattle. Colloquially, the word is used to describe a person who does not pay his debts promptly. It can be used as a noun or an adjective.
Mija, mijo, mijita, mijito are colloquial ways of pronouncing mi hija (my daughter), mi hijo (my son), mi hijita (my little daughter), mi hijito (my little son). These can be terms of endearment or affection usually applied to friends, not usually to one’s own children, which really mean, “Listen, pal.”
Pura and puro, as well as mima and pipo, are other ways of saying mamá (mother) and papá (father). Pureta, pureto, puretano, are other words that used to mean mother and father, but that, today, are really only used to refer to elderly people. Cuña, which is an old Cuban word for a convertible car, is also short for the correct Spanish words cuñado (brother in law) and cuñada (sister in law).