‘Cajones’ or ‘Cojones’? Step Up Your Spanish Slang Game, Political Media

Sep 15, 2015
6:39 PM

Maybe Allen West had Hispandering Heritage Month on his mind, but he might want to leave the Spanish slang to the pros. And the political reporters who are in the daily grind of covering elections might need some lessons as well. Earlier today, when The Hill wrote about what West had to say about Bernie Sanders’ speech at Liberty University, it led with this:

thehille

So did the Spanish language experts at The Daily Caller:

DC2

Was West really talking about cajones? You know, these things: drawers.

cajonera-3-cajones

So we went ahead and checked out West’s original blog. The headline said cojones:

west

But then we read West’s post and there is was:

West2

Still, you would think actual political reporters could do just a poquito más research before publishing something. All they had to do was consult Urban Dictionary, which states:

cajones
Spanish for “drawers” (as in, the kind in a dresser or desk). This word is often confused by non-Spanish speakers with cojones (note the different vowel sound), which is Spanish slang for balls, but they are in fact two very different words.

Yes, indeed, “they are in fact two very different words.”

Guess The Hill and The DC need to go back to Spanish III class.