Las Palabrotas

At first glance, Concha, my oral expression professor, was essentially terrifying.

We did a dictation the first day of class and I got a scolding because apparently I did not use the page margins appropriately. She has this precise diction and stern eyes that make her seem like she walked out of a Victorian novel. Already feeling like I’d been placed in an overly advanced class, I was more than a little intimidated.

After dictation, the class discussion somehow veers onto the topic of palabrotas. I wasn’t familiar with this word, but with context clues I was decently sure it meant bad words. But just as soon as I was convinced I was right, she starts talking about tacos! And how tacos is the name of the food in Mexico, but here it means the heel of a shoe, which is also called a tacón, but it also refers to palabrotas.

So now I’m back to being thoroughly confused.

Then she asks for examples.

Now I don’t have particularly colorful Spanish, but I know enough swear words that I figured I could confirm my theory based on what other people said.

No such luck.

About four people come up with words I’ve never heard before and then Concha looks directly at me and demands an example. No choice but just to go for it. I gather my courage and squeak, “…Carajo?”

And she whips her head back around and barks, “What did you just say?”

So I’m obviously having a heart attack because I just randomly called my scary new profe a part of the male anatomy in front of the whole class.

But laser vision can only melt you once anyway, so I go ahead and repeat myself.

“Ah, vale.” And, just like that, class continues.

I definitely scared years off my own life in the process, but I learned with crystal clear certainty that palabrotas does indeed mean bad words.