LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

  I have just discovered I suffer from Bag Lady Syndrome , and—upon reflection—that I have been suffering from it since childhood. It is a deep-seated anxiety, not a clinical diagnosis but a recognized psychological fear of running out of money. I am not an impulse buyer; on the contrary, I feel guilty after every purchase, including the necessary ones. I have never actually been short of money, yet I have spent a lifetime bracing myself for the possibility of becoming down-and-out—or worse, a penniless derelict, a panhandler with excellent grammar. I am not a miser. I simply suffer. And so I think a great deal about money. Unsurprisingly, I also collect the words for it. In Spanish, my collection so far includes: ahorrillos, alpiste, astillar, en B, banca, billetaje, billete, blanquear, blanqueo, caja B, candongas, cartón, pasar el cazo, céntimo, chavo, clavo, de clavo, colorado, crudo, cuartos, dineral, dinero extra, dinero negro, dos duros, extra, fajo, gañota, gastar un c...

M uchas expresiones se convierten en clichés a fuerza de uso. Cuando la gente termina el trabajo del día suele decir: Another day, another dollar, y quiere decir que se ha ganado un dólar más por el trabajo del día. Claro que con la inflación quizá debería decirse: Another day, another 100 dollars . Pero hay variantes para los pobretones: “Another day, another half-dollar,’ he said cheerfully.” Mike Ripley, Angel hunt. (London: Fontana Press, 1991). Y para los listos: “Another day, another dollar…70,000 to be precise.” Tennis World. (Sussex: Presswatch, 1991). En News of the World , 5 diciembre, 2009, leemos: “I also have my autobiography coming out next year, called Another Day Another Dollar . ” A dollar = 100 cents. A penny = 1 cent. To put one’s two cents in , meter uno baza. In for a penny, in for a pound , de perdidos al río. A nickel = 5 cents. Not worth a nickle , no valer un real, un chavo. A dime = 10 cents. A dime a dozen , a porrillo, a tutipl...