Over the last five centuries hundreds of Spanish words have entered the English language. Here are a selection of the more common ones.

Part One: From adobe to desperado

LIKE most languages, Spanish makes wide use of abbreviations.  In Spanish many abbreviations are the reverse of the English version, eg U.E. instead of E.U., O.N.U. instead of U.N.O. and O.T.A.N. for  N.A.T.O. This is because adjectives follow the noun in Spanish rather than precede it as in English.

As for abbreviations of plurals in Spanish they simply double the letter, eg EE.UU. (Estados Unidos – USA), FF.CC. (Ferrocarriles – Railways), JJ.OO. (Juegos Olímpicos - Olympic Games).

SPANISH is a very imaginative, colourful and at times earthy language. Take the common fruits, for example.

It’s no surprise, for example, to learn that limones, melones and peras are slang words for tits (breasts) and that plátano and ciruelo (plum tree) are vernacular for prick (penis)!
But, enough of this crude talk! Let’s have a closer look at the Spanish words for the common fruits, idiomatic phrases containing them and some alternative meanings.

The Spanish verb echar is a kind of all-purpose verb, in that it seems to mean almost anything you want it to. Not really! However, according to the Collins Spanish Dictionary echar has 26 meanings or uses, not to mention featuring in a number of idiomatic expressions.

IN Spanish “Christmas” is Navidad, “Christmas time” is Navidades and “at Christmas” is por Navidades.

The adjective “Christmas” is navideño, or, more frequently, ... de Navidad, as in the following: Christmas cake – un pastel de Navidad; Christmas card – una tarjeta de Navidad; Christmas dinner – la comida de Navidad; Christmas party – una fiesta de Navidad; Christmas present – un regalo de Navidad; Christmas pudding – un pudín de Navidad; and Christmas tree – un árbol de Navidad.

AS we probably all know a "bull" in Spanish is un toro, a "bullring" is una plaza de toros and a "bullfight" is una corrida de toros.  On a menu rabo de toro is "bull’s tail", a local dish. But what about expressions like "to take the bull by the horns", "like a bull in a china shop", a "bull market" and "bullshit"?