You probably know that in lots of languages, nouns have gender that doesn't necessarily have much to do with how girly or masculine they are. In Spanish, for example, a dress (el vestido) is masculine but a tie (la corbata) is feminine. I learned today that men and women have some friendly arguments over what this all might mean.

• Women will be sure to tell you that all problems (los problemas) are masculine, and all solutions (las soluciones) are feminine.
• Men will mention that love (el amor) is masculine. Women will respond that hate (el odio) is too.
• Women boast that life (la vida) is feminine. Men retort that so is death (la muerte).

Another fascinating fact about the language that I learned this week is that much of the slang in Peru is derived from rearranging the order of the letters of a word. Sometimes they lose a syllable in the process.

• Beach: playa becomes yapla
• Bathroom: bano becomes noba
• Shirt: camisa becomes mica
• Pants: pantalon becomes lompa
• Lady/M'am: senora becomes norsa
• Cop: boton (button) becomes tombo

Doesn't that seem like a game you might play in 5th grade?

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