Saturday, March 1, 2008

How do you say "Glue" in Spanish!!

Hi, I just needed a moment to vent about some frustration I'm having.

I'm trying to find out how to say "glue" in Spanish. I always thought that "glue" was "pega" in Spanish because when my daughter went to her Spanish playgroup, the teacher had a container of Elmer's School glue labeled "PEGA." And I heard her say "pega" when referring to the glue.

So, I've been telling my kids that "pega" is the Spanish word for glue.

But when I looked up "glue" in a Spanish dictionary online recently, "pega" didn't show up. I remember watching an episode of "Handy Manny" and finding it interesting that Manny said "goma is the way we say glue in Spanish." I've seen "cola" and "pegamento" and the closest "pegue" as the meanings of "glue" in Spanish, too.

Which word is it?

Thanks

3 comments:

Boca Beth said...

Ahhh....Jessica! The joys of the many dialects within the Spanish language. I recall hearing from a colleague who is deep into the field of bilingual education and early childhood development both that there are more than 60 dialects within the Spanish language. This presents a challenge to those of us trying to 'teach' the right thing.

My response to glue is, in Chile we used the word pegamento, in Mexico we said cola. The verb to glue something together is pegar and when conjugated would give you pega.

So there you have it amiga. From one person who cares to another. And the best thing is we are providing a strong foundation for a lifetime of language learning no matter what word we choose to introduce to the young children in our care.

Happy Educating! ¡Sea feliz educando!

Beth Butler
Founder of the Boca Beth Program
www.bocabeth.com

Jessica said...

Thanks Boca Beth,

I'll use pegamento since that's closer to the word we already use.

Josh said...

That's a funny story! That is one of my struggles with trying to teach my son Spanish too. It seems like there are so many words in Spanish for the same thing and depending on who you ask they will tell you a different word.

I have always used pegamento for glue.