Vocabulary Tips

Ricardo Druck Ezequiel Scagnetti

Local residents have a deep sense of belonging towards San Martín de los Andes and this becomes evident in the spoken language.

Being a small town, barely a century old, references to tourist places and other points of interest are usually vernacular, which can sometimes be confusing for visitors.

Names of places usually come from the Mapuche language which, having no written corpus, has been transcribed from the oral tradition in a way that is sometimes very difficult to pronounce, leading people to utter these words in many different ways.

The people of the area don’t normally give directions using cardinal points or distance references, so try not to ask for those parameters when finding your way.

If you speak some Spanish, remember the following “local” terminology when asking someone for directions:

"Al fondo del lago" This does not make reference to how deep the lake is but to a point located at the end of the lake.

"Bajar al pueblo" This means going down to the city center. As a consequence of the outstanding demographic growth, some people are now living in the neighborhoods around San Martín, which are sometimes quite removed from the city centre and up in the hills.

"Captura" this makes reference to the fish being hooked (sport fishing).

"Cárcava" small stream running along a road or path due to water erosion (rill).

"Catango" ox-drawn cart, very much used by the native communities.

"El parque" Lanín National Park.

"La Vega" The region between the police road check and the Taylor hillock (Loma atravesada de Taylor), where the golf course is. It includes Vega Maipú and Villa Vega San Martín. Meadow, low-lying fertile land.

"Mallín" Technically, these are low areas that are easily flooded. They are very common in the valleys that accumulate the water coming from the mountains. Ideal for grazing, the most common tree that grows here is the Ñire (Nothofagus antártica). Marsh.

"Mari mari" Mapuche greeting, it means Good morning or Good afternoon.

"Pesquero" Nice fishing spot.

"Población" Rural community (the people and the houses).

"Poblador" Person living in the rural areas.

"Quincho" Barbecue facilities. This is the place where Argentine people usually get together to share an “asado” (barbecue) with friends and family. They can be privately owned or part of the common facilities in a building or complex.

"Remises" Private taxi. You can call the remises agency and ask them to pick you up. They have set prices for different rides, which may be informed previous to hiring the service.

"Vado" small stream or river crossing a road.

"Veril" lake coastline where the beach ends and there is a steep bottom drop.