Ten English words beautifully bastardised by Spain's Canary Islanders

It is said that the Canary Islands’ relationship with Great Britain began at the time of the distant isles’ exploration by Europeans in the 15th century. 

The volcanic islands and their indigenous inhabitants the Guanches may have ended up under Spanish control, but English explorers were on board some of those first ships and active in the archipelago’s initial exploitation and development as a strategic stopover for voyages to the ‘New World’. 

Even William Shakespeare famously praised the Canary Malvasía wine, mentioning it in his Henry IV play. 

Britain wanted the Canaries to be theirs; Francis Drake led a failed attempt to invade La Palma in 1585 and Admiral Nelson lost an arm when he tried to do the same in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1797. 

Despite this, exports of Canary sugar, wine, cochineal insects for dye, rabbit hides, tomatoes, bananas and more continued, and in return Britain contributed heavily to the modernisation of the archipelago, especially during the Industrial Revolution.

So it’s no wonder that with such close commercial ties over the centuries, Canarios and Britons have needed to find a way to understand each other better. 

This has led to a collection of Canary anglicisms where English words - many of them to do with trade - began to be used by the islanders, pronounced and written as they understood them to be. 

Some of these words also form part of regular speech in Latin American countries where many Canary migrants headed to in search of a better life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

 

Bisne from business 

Rather than using the Spanish word negocio, Canary Islanders still sometimes use the word bisne.

 

Alongar from long 

This Spanglish word combines the Spanish verb alargar (to lengthen) with the English adjective long. 

 

Cambullón from Can Buy On

This is perhaps the most interesting of all Canary anglicisms. Canbuyón, derived from the English words ‘can buy on’, refers to the practice of boarding ships docked at Canary ports to trade, often as a means of evading customs. The person who specialised in buying on board these foreign boats was called a cambuyonero. 

 

Kinegua or Chinegua from King Edward

Potatoes are a staple of Canary cuisine and one of their favourites is the King Edward potato, named after the 16th century British monarch. So a papa kinegua is a King Edward potato. 

Funnily enough, there’s also the papa autodate (pronounced au-to-da-te in the usual phonetic Spanish way), dervied from the English ‘out of date’.

 

Fonil from funnel

Rather than use the Spanish word embudo, Canarios often call a funnel un fonil. 

 

Queque from cake 

This word describes a sponge cake, what most Spaniards call bizcocho, but in the Canaries it’s called a queque from the English word ‘cake’. 

 

Cotufa from corn to fry

Most Spaniards may call popcorn palomitas (de maíz) but in some of the Canary Islands they’re called cotufas, which is meant to come from the English ‘corn to fry’. 

 

Naife from knife

Naife is a type of knife used for centuries by farmers on the islands. It comes from the Spanish sword making capital of Toledo, but the word is an anglicism derived from the English word ‘knife’.

 

Choni from Johnny

Choni is a colloquial word used across Spain to describe someone young who’s vulgar or uncouth, similar to chav in English. It’s believed the word was coined in the Canaries because locals heard the name Johnny a lot on board British ships that docked at the islands’ ports.

 

Guagua from waggon 

The word guagua is omnipresent in the Canaries. It means bus, even though in the rest of Spain people call it autobús. There are several theories about how the word came to be, two of which have something to do with English.

Some believe guagua to be an abbreviation for Washington, Walton, and Company Incorporated, an American transport company which manufactured some of the first passenger carriers towards the mid and late 19th century.

Their long winded company name was reportedly shortened on the side of their vehicles to Wa & Wa Co. Inc., which in turn become “gua-gua” as the “w” is rarely used in non-anglicised Spanish.

The other theory is that it’s derived from the English word ‘waggon’.

READ MORE: Why do people in Spain's Canary Islands call the bus 'la guagua'?