Tuesday 19 November 2013

Tenedor

Today's WOTD is: "tenedor" = fork


In Spanish, “tenedor” is a masculine noun of Latin origin commonly used to refer to a fork* as a table utensil.



The Spanish noun “tenedor” may be used also to refer to the payee or beneficiary of a cheque or bill of exchange.


*NB The noun “tenedor” is not normally used in Spanish to refer to the following:
  • A fork in the road (in Spanish “bifurcación”)
  • A fork in gardening (in Spanish “horca”)
  • A fork lift truck (often referred to in Spanish as “carretilla elevadora”)
  • A tuning fork (in Spanish “diapasón”)

Some expressions with the word “tenedor” are:
  • Comer de tenedor (to have solid food/ to have a substantial/ proper meal);
  • Desayuno de tenedor* (substantial breakfast/ brunch);
  • Tenedor de ensalada** (salad fork);
  • Tenedor de fruta (fruit salad fork);
  • Tenedor de libros (book keeper);
  • Tenedor de mesa (general purpose fork);
  • Tenedor de ostras (oyster fork);
  • Tenedor de pescado (fish fork);
  • Tenedor de postre (dessert fork);
  • Tenedor de trinchar (carving fork);
  • Tenedor libre (fixed price restaurant***);

* NB A breakfast akin to “comer de tenedor
**NB Sometimes called a “tenedor de verduras
***NB Eat 'as much as you want' at a fixed price, often buffet/ self service style


Some examples of the use of the word "tenedor" are:
  • El tenedor de la letra la conservará hasta que la deuda sea saldada (the beneficiary of a bill of exchange will keep it until the debt is cleared);
  • A pesar de no tener mucha hambre preferiría comer de tenedor (although I am not very hungry I would rather have a proper meal);
  • El desayuno de tenedor es una de las especialidades de la casa (a substantial breakfast/ brunch is the house's speciality);
  • Tu padre era tenedor de libros, ¿verdad? (your father was a book keeper, wasn't he?);
  • Ayer comimos en un restaurante con tenedor libre (yesterday we ate in a fixed price restaurant);

Love-Spanish.com loves the word "tenedor" in the YouTube clip: Los tres tenedores

For more on the word "tenedor", visit: Wordreference.com/es/en/ Tenedor

*NB 'Click' on the speaker icon next to the word “tenedor” in the link to hear the word pronounced.

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