Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Ya vienen esos gorrones

I found this bit of Spanish to be humorous and will make you sound muy Mexicano. But to explain this one we need to start off with the verb gorrear.

In Mexico, gorrear basically means to "comer de gratis en casa de alguien conocido o no" - to eat for free at someones house whether you know them or not. This is more in the sense of crashing a party or tagging along as an uninvited guest and freeloading, as we like to say in English.

People who gorrear are called gorrones, or gorrón for just one.

Here's a couple of sample sentences...

Ayer fuimos a gorrear a los XV años de Lupita.

Vamos a gorrear a los XV años de Lupita.

Les encanta ir de gorra.

Apparently it's very common for more guests than you anticipated to show up (los gorrones) so you may hear someone say "Tengo que cocinar para todos esos gorrones".

There's also a nifty expression...

"A la gorra, ni quien le corra". This basically means if it's free, who's going to turn it down? Or if it's free, why not. You get the picture.

To gorrear or not to gorrear is the question, pero si es gratis, ¿por qué no? Why not? Well, because in 2007 a town in Mexico (Actopan) passed a law against gorrones, called the "ley contra los gorrones". Interesting, if you ask me. The article is in Spanish, but it's a good read if you're up to the challenge.

If you do decide to ir de gorra/gorrear, ¡Buen provecho!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks, this is good to know. I found your blog through a post of yours on spanishpod101.com. I'll definitely read more! I haven't been able to talk to many native Spanish speakers, so cultural tidbits and slang really interest me. ¡Gracias!

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  2. Hi! I'd just like to say that I love reading this blog :) I also interact with many Mexican Spanish speakers, so the phrases and vocab you introduce are really valuable! I look forward to mreading ore entries.

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