Partly depends on where you are. Southwestern states that have a border with Mexico tend to have more native Spanish speakers (not just immigrants, but also Chicano folks who were on the land before the US took it), so even the native English speakers tend to pick up a little Spanish.
this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2025
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Interesting. ¡Muchas gracias!
Now it makes me wonder if US states near Quebec use French expressions in a similar sense. "<.<
I've heard Americans use "Je ne sais quoi" for when they like something, but cannot articulate why.
"I love it, it's got that je ne sais quoi"
We do! Although now I think about it, I haven't heard many people say it ever since "vibe" got really popular as slang in recent years. More likely to hear "it's got some kind of vibe" for the same purpose.
That makes me wonder, since I've heard things like "Je ne sais pas" shortened to "je pas" do people shorten "je ne sais quoi" to "je quoi"?
Not that i've ever heard as a resident of Kansas. But "je ne sais quoi" doesn't come up in my life often.
I grew up in maine which has a large french population. People use quebecois swears like “putain” and “tabernack” but mostly use english. I can’t think of many french phrases that are used commonly. Just swears.
Mucho common, hombre.
We see and hear a lot of Spanish in California. So many road and city names are in Spanish. It’s the #1 foreign language to take in school. Hispanics are the #1 minority in California, maybe even the majority. At the very least you would know food names. If you go get street tacos, depending on their English proficiency, there’s a chance you may have to use some Spanish to order lol. Also people might speak and throw in some Spanish words in a funny ha ha way. Not everyday, but it wouldn’t be uncommon. It’s all very natural.
Galleon, guerilla, junta, lolita, lasso, macho, marijuana, vamoose.
canyon, picante, compadre, comprende, mosquito
Mesa, bodega, cafeteria, tango, fiesta, hurricane, tornado.
There are a fuckload of spanish word in english. It’s one of the reason spanish is so easy to learn for english speakers.
Guacamole by the el rio
Hurricane is huracan, and bodega in Spanish means "storage room", generally wine cellar but not exclusively.
If anything, I think this false equivalents make it harder to master
I see.
But about lolita specifically, doesn't it come from a French book?
Lolita is a spnish nickname. It’s a shortened form of Dolores.
The book was written in English by a Russian émigré (Vladimir Nabokov) in the US.
What's lasso and vamoose in Spanish? Lasso in English I only know as wonder woman's rope thing
Vamoose, dunno. But lasso, I'm fairly sure it's lazo in Spanish, the rope cowboys use to fetch cattle for example.
Just checked - according to Wikitionary, vamoose stems from "vamos", "to go" in the indicative first person plural form.
Vamos would mostly be translated as "Let's go!" or "we are going/ we go" depending on the context. I use it often to motivate my friends to get going and stop stopping on the trail on our bikes.
"Vamos, parceros. Hagale pues!" = "Let's go, dudes. Go on then!"
Chinga la migra
"Mi casa es su casa" is pretty common, along with words associated with food. People will also commonly say stuff like no problemo. Spanish phrases used in English outside of normal interaction between Latinos is usually something that makes the situation whimsical. I don't know why Spanish has that reputation, but that's how it's used. People say Spanish words to sound silly or come off as lighthearted. Like rather than "see ya later" someone might say "adiós amigo" to seem playful. Spanish might have this reputation because of things like cowboy movies?
There are also loan words from Spanish that maybe most Americans don't even realize are loan words. Like buckaroo (vaquero), macho, guerilla, embargo, rodeo, armada, canyon, etc.
Interesting!
About sounding more whimsical, coming from a population close to the latinos, it seems to me that both of ours are rather prone to levity (hope that's the word). So if this perception is shared with the Americans, maybe that causes Spanish to be associated with lighter situations?
Maybe? I'm a little more cynical and think it might have to do more with how Spanish is associated with cowboys and western movies in broader American culture, rather than any sort of perception of Latinos as a whole, or any sort of genuine consideration of Latinos. Like if a white American is saying words like hombre or amigo, they're gonna seem like they're affecting a sort of light-hearted cowboy character. They're gonna sound like Matthew McConaughey or something lol. I haven't done much research into this topic and can only say what my anecdotal experiences are.
You could be right though but there are a lot of different stereotypes regarding Latinos in American culture. There's some that regard Latinos as very genial and friendly, prone to big parties and celebrations but then there are other stereotypes that regard Latinos as very stern and focused on work and religion. I should also mention that in America stereotypes about Latinos are mostly stereotypes about Mexicans specifically that get transferred over to Latinos as a whole because a lot of Americans don't even bother to know the distinction
I also want to point out that US English used by Latinos (i.e. Spanglish and Chicano English) is completely separated from Spanish terms used by people who aren't Latino
Si
Hasta la vista, baby
In some communities it can be 50% or more, called Spanglish.
I’ve heard IRL: “Pero, the thing is mi tio da me un present for my quinceañera…”
And my Irish grandfather picked up some vocabulary like “chingadera” and my (not at all Latin) mother used “mintiroso,” “chismoso,” “chones,” etc.
A popular example of Spanglish is Caress Me Down by Sublime. Lyrics are explicit.
my friend's grandpa mixes three chinese dialects with english in a similar way, plus dementia, and nobody ever knows what he is on about.
Like you'll never hear disculpe or something, but realize that some Spanish words are deeply engrained in US pop culture since before the war back when white (by then standards) Spanish speaking entertainers were all the rage. If it was on looney tunes you can assume folks can use it without batting an eye.
There's a lot of very common ones that people don't even think about. Mano a mano (often 'mano y mano' when anglophones say it), simpatico, and mi casa es su casa.
mmmm. common. maybe more its not uncommon. hombre, amigo, caliente. A lot of terms are known and used but dude, friend, and hot are not going anywhere all the same.
Yes, but a lot of people say them incorrectly, like "no problemo" with all the diphthongs, instead of "no hay problema".