These translation troubles come with a special shout-out to our political reporter Martina — these all came up during her varied assignments over the week. Such is life as a journalist at the Herald.

Cultura del aguante

Following a tough week for amateur football in Argentina, there were calls to end extreme violence while reflecting on our cultura del aguante, which we translated as “fan culture” but it’s not exactly the same thing. 

Aguantar is similar to the verb bancar in meaning and versatility — you may hear it as “hold your horses/calm down” (aguantá), “to bear/put up with” (no lo aguanto más), or “to support” (te hago el aguante — the noun aguante being the act of having your back). But also, if you say “aguante el Herald” you’re saying “go, Herald!” or “The Herald is awesome.” Like I said, versatile.

Now, if you say someone has a lot of aguante it’s almost like describing their athletic ability to cheer something on and put up with adversity. They’re all in, the ones camping outside stadiums, going to all the events, the last to leave. And when it comes to football in Argentina, all bets are off and the mystique is ramped up — what activists were referring to specifically was how often that culture brings out people’s more aggressive side, with the unfortunate reality of racism and homophobia featuring in those shows of loyalty. 

Just to make things more complicated, having aguante can also mean that you are the receiver of that fervent devotion. Again, versatile.

In any case, when we’re talking about an aguante culture, it’s both a descriptor and a mythos. “Fan culture” is usually about the in-group dynamics of fans while cultura del aguante is also about the actual act of supporting something, with all its cultural reverberations. As with many Argentine words, it’s a verb dressed like a noun — no wonder it’s so hard to fully transmit its entire meaning.

You may also be interested in: Argentine football passion up close: what to expect at your first Boca game

Pituquito

This electoral year has been particularly marked by the “Buenos Aires vs. The Provinces” discourse and Córdoba City’s mayoral elections were no different. The race saw local Peronism defeat the national opposition coalition and amid the rounds of victory speeches, the incumbent Martín Llaryora called for an end to “having things explained to us by pituquitos from Recoleta.” 

A pituco is a negative term for a conceited dandy, a posh person — in this case, the stereotypical image of Buenos Aires City snobs who have no idea what’s going on beyond the General Paz highway that encircles it. The Argentine origins of pituco are uncertain but the stories are fun: some sources allege that it comes from “flute” to describe tall, thin, and weak rich youths while others contend that Russian immigrants brought it over with the word петух (“pituj”)  for “rooster.” 

While pituco is used across the region, Llaryora’s use of the diminutive form pituquito isn’t and it became social media’s viral word of the day as a result. Martina decided to politely sidestep the term and move on with the rest of the analysis, writing that “[The] coalition prides itself in being a fully provincial political space, so there were no national politicians in their campaign headquarters to celebrate their victory.”

You may also be interested in: Your guide to Argentina’s coalitions

“No pueden comerse el cuento”

Argentina’s beloved rock star Fito Páez faced backlash this week for criticizing the Cuban government, saying among other things that “You can’t eat the story” — no pueden comerse el cuento. It’s also used in other parts of Latin America and basically means to be credulous, believe tall tales, or accept a line without question. In Argentina specifically, we often warn against eating a “verse,” verso being a verbose lie or con. 

There were several options beyond literally “eating stories” to convey his meaning such as being led on or having the wool pulled over your eyes. In the end, we opted for “You can’t just swallow the official story” — a nod to “swallow the whole,” which we’re apt to do when hungry, besides.

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