Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

feria

English translation:

dough (money)

Added to glossary by Charles Davis
Aug 14, 2014 20:55
9 yrs ago
8 viewers *
Spanish term

Feria

Spanish to English Other Other Salvadoran Gang Terms
Estoy traduciendo unas amenazas que recibió una persona de El Salvador -- son de la pandilla Mara 18.

El término "feria" aparece en una de las amenazas. Sé que es un término coloquial para "dinero", pero me pregunto si podría tener otro sentido también coloquial o callejero -- algo como "cosas" o "contrabando".

La frase:

Vamos a reventar el coco si no los tiran la feria

(Sé que la gramática está mal en la frase "reventar el coco" pero igual los pandilleros no hacen mucho caso a la gramática)

Pensé que se trataba de una extorsión (o sea, que "feria" era "dinero") pero por las circunstancias específicas de la persona, me pregunto si podría haber otro significado del término -- algo como

"We're going to bust your head if you don't give them the stuff"

¿?

¿O tendría que ser

"We're going to bust your head if you don't give them the dough"?

Gracias por cualquier sugerencia que me puedan ofrecer.
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 dough / bread
3 pocket money / change
Change log

Aug 19, 2014 08:36: Charles Davis Created KOG entry

Discussion

Jeff Gotfredson Aug 15, 2014:
Money, dough gets my vote as well...
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1015176
Charles Davis Aug 15, 2014:
For some reason British/Irish English seems to have more general slang terms for money than American. Dosh, for example, sounds very British to me (is it used in the US?). Likewise wonga.

I'd say "dough" is a reasonable option, and none of the alternatives really seems to be so common. "Moola(h)" I like, but isn't a little bit old-fashioned? Maybe "bucks" as an alternative?
Audra deFalco (X) Aug 15, 2014:
Another vote for money here!
David Hollywood Aug 15, 2014:
I agree that we're probably talking money here but maybe we can get a few other options .. I was thinking maybe "stash" (but that gets me thinking Pink Floyd and is probably outdated) ... let's see what else comes up :)
jenhofer (asker) Aug 15, 2014:
I agree it's unlikely -- but had to ask! Hi Charles, Everyone --

I totally agree, Charles, that it's really unlikely it'd mean anything else. What gave me pause was the story the person who received the threats reported (i.e. what that person believed they were being asked). But I think it probably means "dough" and nothing else. I certainly haven't ever heard it used any other way.

Thanks to everyone who weighed in!
Charles Davis Aug 15, 2014:
Sorry I didn't address that point I haven't. Let's see if anyone has. But it seems a bit unlikely, given that the Maras clearly use it (like other people) to mean "money". Surely anyone would take "si no los tiran la feria" to mean handing over the dough. It would lead to confusion if they also used it to mean handing over something else, though I admit it's possible.
jenhofer (asker) Aug 14, 2014:
clarification of my question I'm well aware of the use of "feria" to mean "dough" or "money" (in both Mexico and El Salvador) -- my question (possibly not well-expressed) was whether anyone had ever heard of "feria" being used as slang for anything OTHER than money, specifically in El Salvador. Thanks!
Laura Messer Aug 14, 2014:
dough Some of the other discussions I've found about this term talk about "feria" as "dough" (cash) being more common in Mexico, but the Maras get around so your second sentence seems fine to me, but I'm going to wait to see if there are any other thoughts on this.

Proposed translations

+3
1 hr
Selected

dough / bread

The RAE's ever-helpful Diccionario de americanismos gives us:

"I. 1. f. Mx, Gu, Ho, ES, Ni. juv. Dinero suelto, cambio.
2. Mx, Gu. Dinero, moneda corriente. pop + cult → espon.
II. 1. f. ES. Cárcel."

I think we can discount definition II. Definition I.1, juvenile slang for loose change, seems to be used in Mexico and much of central America. I.2, slang for money, is said to be used in Mexico and Guatemala, but as with "morra" in a previous question, it seems to be used in El Salvador too, or at least (as Laura suggests) it forms part of the Maras' vocabulary.

This is plain from the following which reports verbatim the threatening messages a bus driver/operator received from the Maras extorting money. It's one of several slang terms they use for money. They're clearly into lexical variety:

"La onda es que queremos pisto, $5,000 lucas [...]
si no nos das el “money” te vamos a matar [...]
sabemos donde estudian tus hijos y si no queres que se queden sin tata danos la plata [...]
necesitamos el pisto y si queres vivir tenes que “ayudarnos”. [...]
Te vamos a llamar mañana para que nos digas cuándo nos vas a dar la “feria”."
http://www.lapagina.com.sv/nacionales/81020/2013/04/29/He-pa...$5-mil-mensuales-a-pandilleros-por-la-seguridad-de-mi-familia

Note, by the way, that "feria" is given in inverted commas here, as though it's not standard in El Salvador. But the meaning is surely unmistakable. Not change, but just money.


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Note added at 1 hr (2014-08-14 22:31:07 GMT)
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Here's an alternative link to the dialogue in case the first one doesn't work:
http://tinyurl.com/p2aq2sd


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-08-14 22:37:11 GMT)
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One point to bear in mind is that the idiom of the Maras draws on the vocabulary of gang cultures in other countries. They talk about "money" and "homeboys". I think it's perfectly plausible that they would used Mexicanisms, given the huge criminal power and prestige of the Mexican narcos.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2014-08-14 22:49:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

A couple more examples of feria = money in El Salvador. This is from a blog discussion called "Despendejizando al Pueblo Salvadoreño":

"Hereje salvadoreño. dijo...
Según le oí decir a unos de los asesores -en materia económica- de Funes, que la única vía para poder hacer llegar la feria a las arcas del Estado es, subir los impuestos. [...]
"-okey, tengo que dejarte porque vua atender a unos vatos de china que me han venido a cobrar una feria que les debemos
-esperate varac, a proposito de feria, cres que me podes prestar unas chirilicas, es que fijate que estamos sin plata [...]".
http://cuxcatla.blogspot.com.es/2011/02/despendejizando-al-p...

And another:

"pooota loko lo mismo iva a poner yo bro....la onda chero javialianza..de el salvador y la usa....haya para la mara de ...
el salvador ..4 0 5 dolares es mucha feria..loko..."
http://lacasablanca.activeboard.com/mobile.spark?p=topic&top...
Peer comment(s):

agree David Hollywood : agree that it most likely means "money" but I think "bread" is maybe outdated (only maybe though) and with "dough" it might be the same story but my agree stands nonetheless :)
2 hrs
Thanks, David :) I'm pretty sure dough is still current, but I agree about bread.
agree neilmac : Moolah... :-)
9 hrs
Like it. Thanks, Neil :)
agree Yvonne Gallagher : tend to agree with David that "bread" is outdated now
11 hrs
I think you're probably right. Thanks, Gallagy :)
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "¡muchas gracias!"
44 mins

pocket money / change

Juvenile slang.
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Reference comments

11 hrs
Reference:

Filthy lucre

There are lots of slang words for it... "dosh" is one of my favourites...
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13 hrs
Reference:

slang money terms

just thought some might find this interesting...

we use "spondoolicks", "shekels", moolah" and "dosh" mostly these days in this part of world

http://www.learnenglish.de/slang/moneyslang.html
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