Welcome to 21st Century Telephony

When we lived in the UK I always had an uptodate mobile (cell) phone, on contract, so therefore heavily subsidised, and I always had (and used) lots of inclusive minutes and texts. Whereas Papicito has never been a mobile lover; indeed before we met he had a reclusive handset that rarely left the house.

It came as a shock when we moved to Malaysia in 2008 to discover that whilst phone calls were incredibly cheap, even on PAYG, handsets were not. I struggled to get my 3 handset unlocked, so grudgingly I downgraded to a basic Nokia handset, something to similar to the one on shown here.Mobile phones were still in the early days of internet access so I guess I didn't miss what I'd not been used to.

When we moved to El Salvador in 2010 we were provided with phones from my husband's company, contract phones that allowed free calls to each other, but once again not technicalogically advanced and quite heavy to carry. Hence we named our "new" phone el bricko! A year or so on and we got offered the chance to upgrade, to a more advanced phone, but at extra cost, so we took the sensible decision to keep with whatever phone we got offered for free!

So, despite having all mod cons with our iPad and Nexus, for six years we have been living in a telephony timewarp.

Then, a friend who was in a pre packing frenzy before their move oerseas advertised her 32gb iPhone 4s at a very reasonable price. I looked, I ummed, I arghed, I procrastinated, then Papicito said the nicest words a husband can: "Have it if you want!"

Two months later I can already see how it has changed my life. I no longer carry my cumbersome iPad around with me, or even the sleeker Nexus7. Instead my handbag is barely any heavier with the addition of my iPhone. Now I don't have to look dumb when the dental rceptionist asks if she can WhatsApp my appointment reminder, I can squirm when the mechanic is delighted that he can FaceTime me with the arrival time of my car and I can Skype family back home using a normal phone, instead of having to talk into the back of the iPad.

We were discussing an upcoming shopping trip to the US and Papicito asked me if I wanted a new iPod for Xmas, to replace my elderly 80GB one. Er....no! I have plenty of space on my iPhone for a reasonable amount of music. Well would I like a new compact camera? Er.....noooo! My iPhone is my new compact camera!

I am loving my twenty first century telephony - even if it is at least one model out of date. To me it's perfect!

"Ay orrrrrrr mi chiquititos"

This week I caught myself calling Chiquitito "pet", a north-east English expression that both my Grandmother and mother use, and after laughing at myself it made me stop and think how much my language has changed over the years, and more recently after five years of tropical living.

Papicito and I both originate from the UK, and whilst we can (and do) lapse into our local dialect, we had different childhood  influences and education and I do not think we sound that similar.

So what new words have worked their way into our every day vocabulary over the last five years?

Our first two years of expat living were spent in Malaysia, and whilst we learned a few pleasantries of Bahasa Malay we never picked up much of the language. As an ex British colony there was enough English spoken that we managed to get by.

The main word that we picked up in Malaysia, and still use today, is "ay-orrrr". I always thought this was a Chinese word, but a Malaysian friend has recently told me that it is a Malay word. And its meaning? Any time you need an expletive "ay-orrrr" will do the trick. If  your friend told you they had just had an unexpected windfall "ay-orrrr" is the perfect exclamation. If the car in front of you does something unexpected and you break sharply, why risk Junior learning a profanity when "ay-orrrr", with extra "orrrrrrrr" fits the bill perfectly.

Can I just add that Chiquitito, who is learning to talk in both Spanish and English has also mastered a fantastic "ay-orrrr" this week.

We have lived in El Salvador for approaching three years now, and as a former Spanish colony, where English is not spoken as much as I had hoped for, we have had to make an effort to learn basic Spanish.

Of course, in the house we speak English to each other, but there are some words of Spanish that have become part of our every day vocabulary, and I know that we will continue to use them even when we eventually move on to somewhere new.

"Si" ("yes") is the most common Spanish word that we use, then probably "gracias" ("thank you") and also "con" or "sin" to denote whether we want our cold drink "con hielo" or "sin hielo" - with or without ice.

One of the words that I use on a frequent basis is the Salvadoran word "dundo" or "dunda" depending whether it is a man or woman that I am berating. It is considered very impolite to call someone stupid in El Salvador (estupido/a), but "dundo/a" is an accepted slang form.

(The difference between the a or o at the end of a word is masculine and feminine - o for masculine, a for feminine).

So when I do or say something daft, or someone else does "dunda" is the perfect word, and always guaranteed to make the Salvadoran you're talking to laugh with surprise. Likewise, when someone makes your life difficult, like the shop assistant who over charges you then rolls her eyes when you complain - a 'dunda!" muttered under your breath (or out loud if you strongly about it) makes you feel better!!

I also use "chiquitito" and "chiquitita" a fair amount too, and it is our pet name for our young son. It is a term of endearment, so instead of calling someone "dear" or "darling", or when talking to a close friend, you would use the expression "mi chiquitito/a".

The other word that I will probably take away from El Salvador is "super". But hang on a minute, I know what you're thinking - surely "super" is an English word? Yes it is, but it is a word that gets used here all the time. Is something really good? "Super bien!" Very fast? "Super rapido!" Is someone very clever? "Super inteligente!"

If you want to learn more Salvadoran slang words then check out Jose Herrera's blog.

So, until next time, adios mi chiquititos.

PS - What's your favorite word that you use every day that is not from your native language? Share it with us in the comments box below!