A expression that doesn´t exist in English language: Buen provecho / English version + Podcast

 

Buen provecho

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Thank you very much for being here participating in this podcast about Spanish, a language that we love and that today summons us. I am Eduardo Satorno, Spanish teacher at SpanishUp2U and manager of Unique Trips, your travel agency.

 

I am Malena Algorta, Spanish teacher at Spanish in Cabo and at SpanishUp2U. If you want to know more about your Spanish practice site click here and you will see all the podcasts, videos and lessons we have for you to master Spanish. We are in 5 minutes of Spanish and this is episode number 120.

 

Welcome! Thank you for being with us week after week, for your comments, for listening and participating in this family that is Spanish in Cabo. Once again we are going to have an audio all in Spanish with the English transcription, just in case you need it. Although, you read the English version less and less, don't you?

 

Of course, you do! Week by week you improve your comprehension by listening carefully! So congratulations and let's get on top of it!  In these five minutes of Spanish, in the middle of the week, we will talk about a very colloquial polite expression.

 

I know, ...the expression is, let me think...: Sorry....

 

No! That's too easy! I'll give you a hint: It's an expression you say when someone is eating. It does not exist in the English language, which resorts to French, in this case. It does exist in German...but I don't know how to pronounce it....

 

If someone is eating and we come in, we say: “buen provecho”. Or when we serve the food, we say it, too. Always with family or friends, i.e., in informal settings. It is a wish for good digestion, isn't it?

 

Yes, it is a colloquial courtesy expression, but very used in certain contexts. It is the equivalent of “buen apetito” or bon appétit in French.

 

For the Spanish, the traditional way of saying “buen provecho”, “buen apetito” or “disfruta tu comida” (enjoy your meal) sounds a bit stilted.

 

I have to confess that for mom it was an incorrect expression because, in reality, to "hacer provecho" is to assimilate the food and therefore to burp and this is rude for our western society.

 

Oops, your mom.... “eructar” (to burp), is common in other cultures, not the Hispanic one, but that is the origin of the word, just that. The spirit of the expression is to wish the best to the one who is eating a delicious dish and that is very good.  I'm already hungry, so much talk about “buen provecho”.

Exactly, the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) defines it as a colloquial expression to express the wish that something is beneficial to the health or welfare of someone, generally related to food or drink...

 

In Mexico we say “buen provecho”, or directly, “provecho”.

 

In Spain too, and I would have to tell mom that it even appears in the most important book of the Spanish language: Don Quixote de la Mancha.

 

Well then, that's all said and done.

 

However, it's not just my mom who finds it inelegant to say "Buen provecho". In the research for these 5 minutes, I found a controversy in a Spanish forum, those written forums we had in 2003 or 2004, do you remember them?  The topic: is the expression "Buen provecho" appropriate or not. One person argued that he preferred not to use it and everyone criticized him a lot, anyway....

 

Like you, you don't use it much... ha, ha, ha

 

I can't with my super me....(super me). But now I'm convinced and I'm going to use it!

 

Ha, ha. Also, in South America it is said that babies after drinking milk have to make “provecho” and their backs are patted until the children burp.

Hacer provechito

 

Apparently the custom was brought to Spanish by the Arabs because for them it was a good sign to burp after eating....

 

Nice topic for the 5 minutes....

 

In this new cooking fashion is a very used phrase, many Chefs end their videos with buen provecho, but others say that saying it, while the other person is eating is forcing him to answer gracias, with his mouth full...

 

Thank you (talking with your mouth full)

 

And talking with your mouth full is very, very wrong....,

 

Well, but if it's used in Don Quixote de la Mancha, it's a good colloquial expression so “¡Buen provecho!”

 

“¡Buen provecho!”, and you? Do you want to learn other Spanish phrases and above all know when to use them? clickhere, be a SpanishUp2U walker and you will have a daily contact with the Spanish language.

 

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See you soon and “buen provecho”.

 

Bye-bye and “buen provecho”.