¡Estoy de fodonga!

I had no idea what this meant when I heard it.  And I've certainly never seen this word in a textbook.  I imagine I never will.

Anyway, all of that aside, let's get to the bottom of this phrase.

Fodonga, or fodongo, basically means to be lazy, messy, have an unkept appearance, or perhaps just a slob.  In English we might say someone looks a mess, in public or private.   A woman who goes to the store with hair rollers in place, maybe even wearing her bathrobe.  The guy who goes out in public looking like he hasn't combed his hair in weeks and is wearing the most wrinkled t-shirt and pants you've ever seen.  Those are good examples of fodongos.

And if you've ever seen any of the 'people in Wal-Mart' emails, you definitely know what fodongo means.

But if you still have some doubts about what 'un fodongo' might look like, I think this photo will give you a good idea:

So if you tell someone...

Estoy de fodonga

That's means you're looking a hot mess right now and have yet to spruce yourself up.  Hopefully you're just sitting around the house, and not out in public. 

Have fun with this one, you can get a lot laughs with it as you and your friends make fun of the crazy looking people you see in Wal-Mart!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Allá viene la combi

Before we can talk about what this phrase means, we need to talk about what a combi is.  Actually, today's post is really about the combi itself, and not so much the Spanish.  Every now and then, despite not living in Mexico, I'm able to learn a little something about the life of the people on that side of the border, so I thought I'd share it with you.

While I've never actually ridden in a combi myself, now that I know what they are, I realize that I've seen plenty of them on my visits to Tijuana.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go:

A combi is nothing more than a van, basically your old school Volkswagon van.   To see more pictures of combi's,  click here. You really should take a look at the pictures, I found them fairly interesting.  In fact, here's one more:

As you can see, not all combi's are created equal.

Anyway, back to the combi.   In Mexico a combi is typically used as a taxi or bus, although as you can see by the photo above, they can serve other purposes.

While the focus of this post was really about the combi, we still need to deciper our phrase: 

Allá viene la combi

There goes the combi

This something you might say as you miss your ride. 

Let me clarify that "Allá viene" literally translates to "there comes", but I chose to translate it as "there goes", because it sounds kind of clumsy in English to say "there comes". Just something I thought I should point out.

There's also another meaning to this phrase, which isn't really very nice.  It's not vulgar by any means, but it's not a very nice thing to say.  If you're interested, you'll have to read about it (click here) in my other blog "No seas pelangoche", which is all about the groserías of Mexican Spanish. 

Let's look at some other ways to use the word "Allá".  You can say things like:

Allá arriba

Up there

Allá abajo

Down there

Vamos para allá

We're going that way

Allá voy

I'm coming

That's it for today.   While this was pretty straight-forward, being able talk to your Mexican friends about combi's will certainly impress them.

¡Hasta la próxima! 

Yo te hablo

Yo te hablo
I'll talk to you

Well, it seems like this one is pretty much an open and shut case.  And it almost is.  Almost.

But don't worry, this phrase really is pan comido.

Yo te hablo is a very informal and colloquial way of telling someone you'll call them back.  However, this may be something exclusive to Mexican Spanish.  With that in mind, let's take a look at some more universal ways of telling someone you'll call them back.

Te regreso la llamada

Te devuevlo la llamada

One thing you never want to say is:

Llamame pa' tras

This is a bit of English translated literally creeping into Spanish, and in some circles may be used to say "Call me back", but it's absolutely incorrect Spanish and I promise you most native speakers will cringe at the sound of this. 

Other than remembering not to use this phrase, the only other thing worth pointing out is that "pa'" is short for "para", and that is something you need to remember, because you'll hear it a lot.
¡Ya!

With these simple but handy phrases, you'll be able to return phone calls in Spanish with ease!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Traes mucho pegue

Sometimes literal translations just don't work, and this is one of those times, so we won't even try.

Let's start with "traes".  The verb is traer, which means "to bring".  Sometimes traer can be used as a synonym of tener.   I discussed this in a previous post, and you can read about it here if you like.  With that in mind, we can translate "traes" as something to the effect of "you bring" or "you have".

"Mucho" should need no translation, unless you're an absolute newbie to Spanish, but just in case, it means " a lot".

"pegue" comes from pegar, meaning to hit.  But since the literal translation doesn't work in this case, just file that bit of information away for some other time.

In this case, we have to look at "pegue" in combination with tener or traer.   So the key to understanding this phrase lies in understanding the phrase "tener pegue" or "traer pegue".  We're going to talk about "tener pegue", because that's actually the phrase, just keep in mind that you may also hear "traer pegue".

OK, I've drawn this out long enough, let's get to the point.  (ir al grano)

"Tener pegue" means   to have sex appeal, or charm if you like.  It means you've got a way with the opposite sex.

So if someone tells you "Tienes mucho pegue", well, lift your head up high and smile, because they just gave you a very nice compliment.  Especially if it comes from a person you're trying to "ligar" (hook up)  with.

Tienes (traes) mucho pegue
You got a lot of sex appeal

I've yet to hear this phrase directed at me, but perhaps you all have better luck and more "pegue" than me.

If you want some extra credit, or perhaps a little advice on how improve your sex appeal, check out the link below to get some consejos (advice).

http://guilleybruno.guateblogger.com/2009/10/tips-para-tener-pegue.html

¡Hasta la próxima!