Caveman/Cavedweller

[Sancho Panther]

Is there a Spanish translation for this? I can't find one anywhere.

[poli]

I remember a few years ago in Spain, I passed a theater where there was a stage production of "Defending the Caveman". The term used on the marquee was cavernícolo. I remember thinking, oh, that's how they say caveman!

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

"Cavernícola", always with "a", masculine or feminine.
It can be either a noun or an adjective.

- El cavernícola que hizo las pinturas de Altamira era un gran artista.
- Las cavernícolas recolectaban frutos.

- La vida cavernícola era simple.
- No sabemos mucho de las costumbres cavernícolas.


There is also "cavernario(a)", which is mostly used as an adjective, but I think I've also heard it used as a noun.

- Los paleontólogos han publicado varios estudios sobre la época cavernaria.


Of course, when used in modern context, both are insults meaning that someone is primitive and ill-mannered.

- Juan es un cavernícola que no puede ni decir "buenos días".
- No quiero salir con Lorena porque come como cavernaria.

[aleCcowaN]

Como dice Angélica, son cavernícolas. O más sencillo, son hombres de las cavernas. Cuando se refiere al estado de desarrollo cultural, se habla más del hombre de las cavernas: "el hombre de las cavernas tenía un pensamiento sincrético: la luna era un astro pero al mismo tiempo era un espíritu".

[pjt33]

I visited a museum of cave dwelling (including a section on modern cave dwellers) in Granada last year, and if my memory serves the preferred noun in their texts was troglodita.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

True, PJT.

"Troglodita" is commonly used for someone who eats much or for someone who is rough and ruthless.

[Sancho Panther]

You guys are brilliant - I knew there had to be Spanish word for 'caveman', yet it's not even in the online Diccionario de la Real Academia de Español, nor anywhere else that I can find on the internet - yet you guys come up with it within a couple of hours!

¡Muy bien hecho - muchas gracias!

[poli]

Sorry I got the gender wrong. My memory is more sketchy than photogenic.

[Sancho Panther]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

There is also "cavernario(a)", which is mostly used as an adjective, but I think I've also heard it used as a noun.

Of course, when used in modern context, both are insults meaning that someone is primitive and ill-mannered.

I presume that's pretty well the same as 'patán/patana' is it?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Hmm... this might be a regional use, but "patán" for me implies a bad intention, while "cavernícola" and "cavernario" usually just describe rough people that might not even know they're being rude.