Teresa told me 'hostia' - the word for communion wafer - is a Spanish expression they use to express surprise or excitement. And now I hear it being used everywhere! I think it's strange, and she doesn't know why they use it, so I looked it up & I found this:
"The reason it is considered so bad is that in a deeply religious Catholic society like Spain - or at least like Spain used to be - invoking the host - which Catholics believe to be the body of Christ - is blasphemy. Blasphemy is considered far, far worse in Spain than simple dirty language, which is not thought of as badly in Spanish as in English."
Apparently it used to be a really bad word...now it's just a little bad. I still probably shouldn't use it around my elders but it's ok to use casually, out & about with friends without being offensive, for example:
"Me voy a vivir in Espana."
"HOSTIA!"
"Mi pelicula favorita es Mary Poppins."
"HOSTIA!!"
"Pague $450 para una falda."
"HOSTIA!!!"
Hostia! My blind date is now showing up tonight! He's "sick"...
ReplyDelete"Hostia!" for sure Aurora. Especially with all the big plans the girls had planned for him...maybe it's better he didn't show - jajaja!
ReplyDeleteAnd my friend Aida says "Hostia!" is just like saying, "Christ!" or "Jesus!" Duh! I don't know why I didn't put that together.