General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA common error I would like to correct
The word you want to use is 'cojones' when you want to claim someone has a couple of brass ones.
The word 'cajones' means drawers. Such as in a chest of drawers where you keep your socks and other stuff not fit for hangers.
That is all.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)drawers to come here and tell us that!
asjr
(10,479 posts)Rex
(65,616 posts)I will file that under 'cajones not cajones'.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)MineralMan
(146,317 posts)one's cojones are exposed. Pain can result. Don't ask me how I know this, please...
bemildred
(90,061 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)It's funny, how easy it is to find with google, no matter what year it is, it's always right there.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Where have I been all these years?
Warpy
(111,267 posts)along with the various spellings for "definitely" and don't get me started on mangled French phrases.
Lydia Leftcoast
(48,217 posts)bemildred
(90,061 posts)babylonsister
(171,066 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)Never did that again.
rrneck
(17,671 posts)it takes a cajones full of cojones to post around here.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)liberal N proud
(60,335 posts)so it is not a far stretch to use cojones to describe someone with a lot of balls.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Still trying to figure out some of this DU vernacular...
Iggo
(47,558 posts)RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)Do you know from where the word 'Testimonial' is derived?
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)From a newspaper account years ago, of a courthouse where the roster of judges included two with the same surname -- one of them principled and independent, the other a lackey of the political machine: A longtime courthouse observer was quoted as saying, "We got two Judge Krams here. One with balls and one without."
He meant that the woman was the one who had the courage to do what was right, even if it upset some powerful people.
Whether there was an advantage to saying "balls" instead of "guts" could, of course, be debated, but his meaning was clear.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)because the slang word isn't literal. It's the idea of having the courage to stand up for something.
davsand
(13,421 posts)That's the first time I heard "huevos" used as a term for certain boy parts.. My boyfriend from Mexico explained.
My high school Spanish did not cover slang at all, it seems.
Laura
progressoid
(49,991 posts)Ernest Hemingway. The first English-language text to contain the word cojones as a metaphor for bravery is Hemingway's 1932 book on bullfighting, Death in the Afternoon. "It takes more cojones," he wrote, "to be a sportsman where death is a closer party to the game." Subsequent examples cataloged in the Oxford English Dictionary use cojones more literally, as in this colorful line from Noel Behn's 1966 novel The Kremlin Letter: " 'Hit that big cow in the crotch! ... in the cojones,' he roared at her, pointing to his own." Naturally, books can only affect a language so much. Widespread familiarity with both senses of cojones is probably the result of contact with Spanish-speaking immigrants and was likely current in cities with large Hispanic populations (such as San Antonio, Los Angeles, and El Paso) before the rest of the country.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/08/a_ballsy_explainer.html
acepciones de una simple palabra, como puede ser la muyconocida y
frecuentemente utilizada, que hace referencia a los atributos
masculinos: cojones.
Si va acompañado de un numeral tiene significados distintos, según el número utilizado. Así:
- Uno significa caro o costoso: Valía un cojón.
- Dos significa valentía: Tiene dos cojones.
- Tres significa desprecio: Me importa tres cojones.
- Un número muy grande y par significa dificultad:Lograrlo me costó mil pares de cojones.
El verbo cambia el significado:
- "Tener" indica valentía: Aquella persona tiene cojones.
- Aunque si es con admiración puede indicar sorpresa: ¡Tiene cojones!
- "Poner" expresa un reto, especialmente si se pone en algunos lugares: ¡Puso los cojones encima de la mesa!
- Se los utiliza para apostar: ¡Me corto los cojones si consigues!
- O para amenazar: ¡Te voy a cortar los cojones!
El tiempo del verbo utilizado cambia el significado dela frase. Así:
- El presente indica molestia o hastío: ¡Me toca loscojones!
- El reflexivo significa vagancia: ¡Ese se toca loscojones!
- El imperativo significa sorpresa: ¡Tócate los cojones¡
Los prefijos y sufijos modulan su significado:
- "A" expresa miedo: Estoy acojonado.
- "Des" significa reírse: Me descojono de la risa.
- "Udo" indica perfección: Soy un tío cojonudo.
- Pero "azo" se refiere a la indolencia o abulia: ¡Esetío es un cojonazos!
Las preposiciones matizan la expresión:
- "De" significa éxito: ¡Me salió de cojones!
- O cantidad: ¡Hacía un frío de cojones!
- "Por" expresa voluntariedad: ¡Esto lo hago yo por cojones!
- "Hasta" expresa el límite de aguante: ¡Estoy hasta los cojones!
- "Con" indica valor: ¡Era un hombre con cojones!
- "Sin" significa cobardía: ¡Era un hombre sin cojones!
- Son importantes el tamaño y la posición: ¡Tenía dos cojones grandes y bien plantados!
- Sin embargo hay un tamaño máximo que no puedesuperarse: ¡Tiene los cojones como el caballo del Cid! (Haciendo referencia a una estatua ecuestre del Cid Campeador en Sevilla).
- Ese gran tamaño puede indicar torpeza o vagancia: ¡Le cuelganlos cojones!, ¡Se los pisa!, o ¡Necesita una carretilla para llevarle los cojones!
- La interjección ¡cojones¡ significa sorpresa y cuando se haya
perplejo los solicita: ¡Manda cojones!
- En ese lugar reside la voluntad y de allí surgen las órdenes:¡Me sale de los cojones!
http://www.rincondechistes.com/espana/cojones.html#
Wikipedia has an article on: Cojones
Etymology
From Spanish cojones, plural of cojón (testicle), from Vulgar Latin *coleonem, accusative of coleo (testicle), from cōleus (sack, scrotum).
Pronunciation IPA: /kəˈhoʊˌneɪs/
Noun
cojones (plural only)
(slang, usually considered vulgar) testicles
(slang, usually considered vulgar) balls, courage, machismo, chutzpah
Translations
[show ▼](slang) testicles
[show ▼](slang) courage
(vulgar, slang) testicles, Plural form of cojón.
(vulgar, slang) balls (courage)
1. usually considered vulgar : testicles plural
2. guts pl, courage
http://www.merriam-webster.com/spanish/cojones?show=0&t=1335039107
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I was referring to the vernacular slang that people use most of the time. I just happened to see a couple of posts using the incorrect word so I thought I'd just post a general correction so no one would be embarrassed.
progressoid
(49,991 posts)Vernacular slang is all I know.
I'm bound to screw it up anyway.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,014 posts)Last edited Sat Apr 21, 2012, 10:41 PM - Edit history (1)
http://www.cajondrumstore.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=4("box"
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Other meanings of caja are:
box, case
cash register, checkout counter
bed (of a truck)
familiar : coffin
caja fuerte or caja de caudales : safe
caja de seguridad : safe-deposit box
caja torácica : rib cage
http://www.merriam-webster.com/spanish/caja
FailureToCommunicate
(14,014 posts)music.
You might like the sound. Check it out. Lots of videos on YouTube and the internets
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I've learned something which I appreciate. But in my OP I'm referring to a specific use of slang here on DU.
FailureToCommunicate
(14,014 posts)and now we have one. (Also from Santa's list: "It's lots easier than a full drum kit to haul around" And "It's also a chair"