My friend in Cuba signs off with "un abrazo, Mortitia"
(his nickname for me, from The Adams Family).

Candice



--- Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> You're (probably unconsciously) reproducing the 
> attitude that makes most Latin Americans deeply 
> suspicious of Spaniards. The Spanish also speak 
> murtated forms of Spanish. The mother tongue, 
> already infused with lots of Arabic, was further 
> infused to varying degrees, depending on where, 
> with West African and Amerindian, but essentially 
> evolved in tandem with peninsular Spanish. Which 
> is to say, nobody speaks the Castilian (which is 
> what most call "official" Spanish, to distinguish 
> it from the other Peninsular dialects) of Ferdinand
> and Isabella.
> 
> Very few Latin American writers or speakers worry 
> about adhering to Peninsular Spanish, which can 
> be pretty disquieting when one jumps from country 
> to country. But USians and Australians don't 
> usually worry too much about Oxonian English,
> either.
> 
> This is pretty essential. Wars have been fought over
> less.
> 
> Un abrazo,
> 
> Mark
> 
> 
> At 02:02 PM 3/13/2007, you wrote:
> >I was assuming
> >
> >Abraços  ~= Abrazos
> >
> >which maybe a difference between Portuguese and
> Spanish? A subtle
> >difference I know, still IIRC, most of Brazil
> speaks a mutated form of
> >Portuguese. The rest of Latin America speaks
> mutated forms of Spanish.
> >Picky and pedantic, computer programming does that
> to you (other forms
> >of the disease include intercapping and drppng
> vwls).
> >
> >Roger
> >
> >On 3/13/07, Halvard Johnson <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >>Are we discussing abrazos here?
> >>
> >>Hal
> >>
> >>"I loathe writing. On the other hand I'm a great
> >>   believer in money.Often when I couldn't pay the
> >>   grocery bill, Providence intervened and I don't
> >>   mean my natal city, Providence, which can be
> >>   counted on for nothing."
> >>                 --S. J. Perelman
> >>
> >>Halvard Johnson
> >>================
> >>[log in to unmask]
> >>[log in to unmask]
> >>http://home.earthlink.net/~halvard
> >>http://entropyandme.blogspot.com
> >>http://imageswithoutwords.blogspot.com
> >>http://www.hamiltonstone.org
> >>
> >>On Mar 13, 2007, at 9:53 AM, Roger Day wrote:
> >>
> >> > I've come across sites saying
> >> >
> >> > Abraços Grátis
> >> > (free hugs)
> >> >
> >> > and caught myself thinking, "why pay for hugs?"
> No, wait ...
> >> >
> >> > are the portuguese and spainish phrases for
> "hugs" the same?
> >> >
> >> > On 3/13/07, Anny Ballardini
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >> >> I think the X stands for the crossing of
> paths, since the X
> >> >> features two
> >> >> lines crossed in their exact center, a perfect
> X stands for two SO's
> >> >> (significant others) as some might like to
> define a couple, or a
> >> >> couple
> >> >> tout-court.
> >> >> *Abraços - *as Mark Weiss will let you know
> better than me, is the
> >> >> Spanish
> >> >> term for Hugs. You will have to add the
> Cedille or cedilla
> >> >> (Spanish) to the
> >> >> "c" to pronounce it properly, with an "s"
> sound.
> >> >>
> >> >> On 3/13/07, Max Richards
> <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > a longlost friend has just emailed me,
> signing off:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Warm abracos
> >> >> >
> >> >> > ?? First time this word has come my way. Is
> it much used?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Wikipedia says
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Abracos means hugs and kisses:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > 'Hugs and Kisses is a term for a sequence of
> the letters X and
> >> >> O, e.g.
> >> >> > XOXO,
> >> >> > typically used to express affection or good
> friendship at the
> >> >> end of a
> >> >> > written
> >> >> > letter or email.
> >> >> > It is debatable which letter represents
> which act. Some
> >> >> interpret X as the
> >> >> > crossed arms of a hug and O as the puckered
> lips of a kiss.
> >> >> However, the
> >> >> > interpretation assumed in the following, in
> which X represents
> >> >> the four
> >> >> > lips of
> >> >> > a kiss and O the four arms of a hug, is more
> common. For example
> >> >> the
> >> >> > Oxford
> >> >> > English Dictionary states that X is "used to
> represent a kiss,
> >> >> esp. in the
> >> >> > subscription to a letter." [1]
> >> >> > But in more conventional modern language,
> the X is most often
> >> >> referred to
> >> >> > as a
> >> >> > Hug denoted by the way it resembles the form
> a hug when viewing the
> >> >> > hugger. One
> >> >> > also notices the similar resemblance of
> puckered lips to the O
> >> >> which
> >> >> > denotes a
> >> >> > kiss.
> >> >> > Additionally, there is a more simple
> interpretation, based on the
> >> >> > pronunciation
> >> >> > of the letters X (sounds like 'kiss') and O
> (sounds like 'hold',
> >> >> as in 'I
> >> >> > hold
> >> >> > you').
> >> >> > The use of XOXO goes back to the use of an X
> or cross, which was
> >> >> > considered as
> >> >> > good as a sworn oath in times before most
> people could write and
> >> >> therefore
> >> >> > used
> >> >> > the X in the same way a signature is used
> today — a mark of
> >> >> one's word.
> >> >> > An X at the end of a letter or document was
> often kissed as a
> >> >> seal of
> >> >> > honesty,
> >> >> > in much the same way one would kiss a Bible
> or kiss the fingers
> >> >> after
> >> >> > making the
> >> >> > sign of the Christian cross, thus the X came
> to represent a kiss
> >> >> in modern
> >> >> > times.
> >> >> > The origins of the O as a hug are not
> generally known, although
> >> >> it is
> >> >> > speculated
> >> >> > that it may represent the arms wrapped
> around someone being hugged.
> >> >> > Another
> >> >> > thought is that it came from Jewish
> immigrants who would sign
> >> >> with an O
> >> >> > instead
> >> >> > of an X because they did not wish to mark
> their word with the
> >> >> Christian
> >> >> > cross
> >> >> > the X represented.'
> 
=== message truncated ===



 
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