BajaNomad

Casita

pauldavidmena - 9-17-2023 at 09:00 AM

I'm currently reading an otherwise well-researched book (Latinos: A Biography of the People by Earl Shorris) that states plainly that the Spanish word "Casita," which I have always assumed to mean small house or cottage, denotes an outhouse in Mexico. I have found nothing to corroborate this claim, and am wondering if it is perhaps outdated (the book was written in 1992)?

[Edited on 9-17-2023 by pauldavidmena]

[Edited on 9-17-2023 by pauldavidmena]

[Edited on 9-17-2023 by pauldavidmena]

SFandH - 9-17-2023 at 11:43 AM

Maybe it was just his experience, certainly not mine.

baño = outhouse

"The term "outhouse" is used in North American English for the structure over a toilet, usually a pit latrine ("long drop"). However, in British English "outhouse" means any outbuilding, such as a shed or barn."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outhouse

So, outhouse could translate to casita if you're a Brit speaking Spanish.


pauldavidmena - 9-17-2023 at 11:48 AM

The author was born in Chicago and grew up in El Paso before settling in San Francisco. Perhaps "casita" was a Juarez-ism.

pauldavidmena - 9-17-2023 at 11:54 AM

Quote: Originally posted by SFandH  
However, in British English "outhouse" means any outbuilding, such as a shed or barn."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outhouse

So, outhouse could translate to casita if you're a Brit speaking Spanish.



Oddly enough, what a Brit would call an "outhouse" a Mexican would call a "bodega." Even more oddly, where I grew up (Brooklyn), a "bodega" was an urban convenience store. Ain't language grand?

SFandH - 9-17-2023 at 01:19 PM

Quote: Originally posted by pauldavidmena  
Quote: Originally posted by SFandH  
However, in British English "outhouse" means any outbuilding, such as a shed or barn."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outhouse

So, outhouse could translate to casita if you're a Brit speaking Spanish.



Oddly enough, what a Brit would call an "outhouse" a Mexican would call a "bodega." Even more oddly, where I grew up (Brooklyn), a "bodega" was an urban convenience store. Ain't language grand?


I was in a small grocery store in the Dominican Republic with a Mexican friend. My friend asked the clerk for a bolsa (bag). The clerk and a couple of other women started to snicker. When my friend asked what it was all about, the clerk explained that "bolsa" translates to scrotum (perhaps slang) in the DR. They used another word for a shopping bag, I think it was funda.

AKgringo - 9-17-2023 at 05:32 PM

Well if the "bolsa" contained dos "huevos" that makes sense!