Loose

Loose
 

Probably one of my greatest fears would be to use a Spanish word and not know that it has a vulgar meaning.

"Flojo" has a a literal meaning of "loose".

Por ejemplo: Los zapatos me quedan demasiados flojos (The shoes are too big for me).

But I was looking at this word in the dictionary and stumbled onto an idiomatic usage that was very vular. Do I need to avoid using this word? Is there a different word that would be better?

This word is used every day, and is not vulgar. In fact, I don't know a vulgar commonly-used Spanish phrase using flojo. If you wish to vary your vocabulary, there are other terms for loose like damasiado grande or holgado. Native Spanish speakers will come up with other terms.

Flojo also means lazy in a more colloquial way.

I think Calcoyote may refer to the use of flojo as fa**** in Cuba. Such a thing of a common word in one country being coarse in another country is very common in Spanish and we don't avoid those terms (we couldn't and we shouldn't, as that only would shrink our lexicon).

Years ago I remember a headline in a Venezuelan newspaper "Maradona blah blah ¿Y FIFA?" and we thinking "Mind your own business!" (fifar <Argentina> = to have intercourse). I've just checked an Argentine site about turf to search for a counterpart and there was a headline "Corre la pin** de todos" that can cause a guffaw in Venezuela and the Caribbean (pin** = mare, she-foal <The Pampas> = male member <Northern S. America, the Caribbean>).

Don't worry and enjoy those funny misunderstandings.

Here is the dictionary link that gave the vulgar definition: http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/flojo


There are 3 dictionaries on this page. Go down to the third one and look under idiom.

I understand "she-foal", but the usual word is "filly".

Did you mean that idiom "me la trae floja"? Well, it's an idiom and it's an euphemism so no problem there with the adjective "flojo". The possible vulgar meaning of "flojo" as a noun is what I told, though it's not worse than "marica", which is a pretty lame term nowadays.

Thank you for that. I'm still looking for a dictionary one can look up departing from ideas, which would be not difficult to implement in these internet times.

It sounds like I can go ahead and use it without fear.

I remember when we moved back to the USA after living in España for 2 years I discovered I could get myself in trouble quick by using the verb "coger". In Spain, (at least in the region that we were in) it did not have a vulgar significado, but it had a VERY different meaning to the Mexicans living here in the USA. Lets just say that I don't use that verb anymore.