Three against one
 

When I put forward an opinion and my three friends disagree with it I say "three against one." Somewhere I recall hearing tres al mohino but looking up mohino I don't see how it fits. True or not?

You're using part of an ancient proverb - 'dos a dos y tres al mohíno. When someone gets mad in a conversation or a game, all of sudden everyone else is against the person that's mad. You'll also find it said 'dos al mohíno' when fewer people are involved.

Ah, thanks. Now why the accent in mohino?

The 'h' is silent. Without the accented vowel, you'd have a diphthong (a two-syllable word instead of the three-syllable word I'm sure you're saying). ;)

Good point, Rusty, thanks again.

You're welcome.

Just for giggles, check out the difference between the noun and the verb below, using IPA symbols.
vehículo (noun: vehicle) /beˈikulo/
vehiculo (verb: I'm acting as an intermediary) /beiˈkulo/

In my childhood we used to say, "se acentúa para destruir el diptongo"... ;-)

Indeed: the diphthong is "destroyed" because the accent turns a "weak vowel" into a "strong vowel" and two strong vowels never make a diphthong.

Strong vowels: a - e - o
Weak vowels: i - u - (y)


Strong-strong => hiatus
- a·e·ro·pla·no
- ca·os
- pe·le·a
- le·ón -> This hiatus is not introduced by the accent; the accent is necessary because this is a two-syllable "palabra aguda" that ends in "n".
- bo·a
- a·lo·e

Weak-weak => diphthong
- diur·no
- cui·da·do
- muy

Weak-strong => diphthong
- I·ta·lia
- die·ta
- ca·na·rio
- cua·li·dad
- nue·vo
- va·cuo

Strong-weak => diphthong
- frai·le
- rei·na
- co·loi·dal
- au·men·to
- feu·dal
- hay
- rey
- doy

Accented strong - strong => hiatus
- ha·rí·a
- guí·a·me
- tí·o
- pú·a
- ce·bú·es
- bú·ho

Strong - accented strong => hiatus
- a·hí
- le·í·a -> notice the double hiatus
- o·í
- ba·úl
- re·hú·sa·te
- mo·hí·no


Weak - accented strong = hiatus
- cu·í·da·lo
- hu·í·mos


_____


- in·ge·nie·rí·a
- za·na·ho·ria
- a·e·ro·puer·to


_____

All good points. I'll remember to place accents where they belong, since I obviously overlooked the fact that h is silent. What would I do without this forum?:o