word of the day

Hello #Vivers! Surely more than once, listening to a conversation between young people, you have heard the expression "cool" or in Spanish class your "teacher" has taught it to you as a possible answer to the question "how are you?"... This It is one of the funniest words in Spanish and you have surely wondered at some point what its origin is. Today in our word of the day, we bring you the meanings and origin of this expression.

The use of this expression became popular in the 80s and 90s. In those years, it became a catch-all word to refer to a thing or a person that is fun, surprising, attractive and fantastic. In this sense, to indicate that something was of good quality, it was associated with the rhyme “cool from Paraguay”, although it has no relationship with the South American country, other than a certain exoticism… Recently, a certain pejorative meaning has been added to the word. by including it in the expression "Ir de cool", which is said of a person who behaves falsely or who boasts of money and fame.

The origins of the use of the word cool

Now, "cool" is a very old word that was originally synonymous with the interjection ouch. Thus, it had the meaning of lament or threat: "Woe is me!", instead of "Woe is me!"; or "Woe to you if you abandon me!" instead of "Woe to you if you abandon me!" Its use already appears reflected in texts from the Middle Ages and we can find the word without any effort in La Celestina (1499), by Fernando de Rojas. Cool acquired its current meaning in the XNUMXth century by phonetically coinciding with the English word gay (funny, bright).

According to other theories, the word "cool" comes from the Eastern Arabic "quwais." This expression means “how good” and is widespread in countries such as Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and other countries in the region. It is said that in principle it was used in the south of Spain to describe something of good quality and its use was restricted to the trade of "hashish" (cannabis) from Morocco, but towards the 80s it ended up spreading in a broader sense to many areas and began to be used by young people as a synonym for "cool."

"This movie is cool"

«Yesterday we had a great time»

How cool! We go on tour!

Attend Spanish class and enrich your vocabulary in the Luis Vives Spanish School and take a look at the Spanish classes what we offer. They are sure to adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!

Hello #Vivers! In our Spanish courses for foreigners, we always try to teach our students to use the words they know best in our language, such as the word "olé". Without a doubt, this is one of the most international words in Spanish. Who hasn't used it or heard it at some point? Although many people relate it to the world of flamenco, bullfighting or football. It is usually used to express admiration for the good work someone does, such as a good Almodóvar film, a good song, or a Mbappe dribble, but do you know what its true origin is?

There are many hypotheses about the origin of this word. There are those who claim that it comes from the Greek verb ololizin, used as a shout of joy. Others say that it comes from the Bible, when Jacob is deceived at his wedding with Rachel, because people tried to warn him that it was Leah and not his beloved, saying Oh, Leah! But the most widespread hypothesis has to do with the Arabic expression Allah (Oh, God). The RAE, on the other hand, notes that olé! comes from the Arabic exclamation Wa-(a)llah (By God!), an exclamation of enthusiasm at surprising or excessive beauty or joy. In the Arabic language, there is no vowel “e” and sometimes the vowel “a” sounds similar to “e”.

Surely Olé is a word that you have used when you wanted to imitate the Spanish. If you want to learn Spanish and enrich your vocabulary, you should start with the Spanish courses for foreigners from the Luis Vives Spanish School. Take a look at the Spanish classes that we offer, they will surely adapt perfectly to your needs. Luis Vives Spanish School The best option to learn Spanish in Madrid!