The Domino Game in Cuba
- Submitted by: admin
- culture an traditions
- Society
- 07 / 06 / 2009
"Show your hands, I dominoed! (1)" This and other expressions such as I pass, or throw the “fat” away (2), referring to the highest tiles in a domino game are frequently heard in houses, doorways and on any street corner where Cubans gather to play this national pastime.
Among relatives and friends, the players kill the time in front of a domino table, especially at nights and on holidays and weekends. And when a drink comes on stage, then the wittiest and most folkloric expressions begin to flow from their mouths.
The number of terms associated to the jargon of this fascinating game in Cuba’s Spanish is big.
Some are common throughout the Island; some others are typical of certain regions, depending on the idiosyncrasy of its inhabitants.
So, this deep-rooted phenomenon has drawn the attention of Bachelors Eduardo García and Yamilé Pérez, who submitted an investigation on this topic to the Second Conference of Humanistic Studies held at the Central University of Las Villas, Cuba.
In the research, the authors refer to the peculiarity of the language used in a domino match, making a characterization from the sociological point of view and analyze the variable of gender and age among the participants.
García and Pérez reached to the conclusion that the domino jargon is most frequently spoken by men, usually elderly men, though the youth is fond of using some of these phrases in certain moves.
The experts also conducted a research from the linguistic viewpoint, “you’re ducked” (3), “this is the cool one” (4), “shuffle it” (5), are some of the expressions uttered while Cubans are playing the domino.
And although it is said that the domino was invented by a dumb, it is true that language plays a very important role since it is pretty active amid players and spectators. (Photo & Translation Gualveris Rosales Sánchez )
Source: Radio Cadena Agramonte
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Note of the translator:
The original expressions in the Cuban domino jargon are as follow:
(1) Vírense todos, ¡dominé!
(2) bota gorda
(3) estás agachao
(4) te voy a poner la fresca
(5) dale agua
Among relatives and friends, the players kill the time in front of a domino table, especially at nights and on holidays and weekends. And when a drink comes on stage, then the wittiest and most folkloric expressions begin to flow from their mouths.
The number of terms associated to the jargon of this fascinating game in Cuba’s Spanish is big.
Some are common throughout the Island; some others are typical of certain regions, depending on the idiosyncrasy of its inhabitants.
So, this deep-rooted phenomenon has drawn the attention of Bachelors Eduardo García and Yamilé Pérez, who submitted an investigation on this topic to the Second Conference of Humanistic Studies held at the Central University of Las Villas, Cuba.
In the research, the authors refer to the peculiarity of the language used in a domino match, making a characterization from the sociological point of view and analyze the variable of gender and age among the participants.
García and Pérez reached to the conclusion that the domino jargon is most frequently spoken by men, usually elderly men, though the youth is fond of using some of these phrases in certain moves.
The experts also conducted a research from the linguistic viewpoint, “you’re ducked” (3), “this is the cool one” (4), “shuffle it” (5), are some of the expressions uttered while Cubans are playing the domino.
And although it is said that the domino was invented by a dumb, it is true that language plays a very important role since it is pretty active amid players and spectators. (Photo & Translation Gualveris Rosales Sánchez )
Source: Radio Cadena Agramonte
--------
Note of the translator:
The original expressions in the Cuban domino jargon are as follow:
(1) Vírense todos, ¡dominé!
(2) bota gorda
(3) estás agachao
(4) te voy a poner la fresca
(5) dale agua
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