Two Politicians Play Basketball: Learn Spanish for Tough Choices

Key vocabulary

• alcaldem.

  mayor (of a city)

  “El alcalde de Nueva York publica un vídeo.”— The mayor of New York posts a video.

  Pattern el alcalde de la ciudad the city mayor

  Compare regidor (municipal official)

  Plural: alcaldes; feminine: alcaldesa

  💡 From Arabic al-qadi (judge); Arabic had a profound influence on Spanish

• publicarv.

  to publish, to post

  “Mamdani publica un vídeo en Instagram.”— Mamdani posts a video on Instagram.

  Pattern publicar un vídeo publish a video

  Compare difundir (to spread)

  yo publico, tú publicas, él publica

  💡 The root publ- is related to 'public'; to publish is to make something visible to the public

• lanzarv.

  to throw, to launch

  “Los dos políticos lanzan bolas de papel.”— The two politicians throw paper balls.

  Pattern lanzar una pelota throw a ball

  Compare tirar (to throw)

  yo lanzo, tú lanzas, él lanza

  💡 In basketball, 'shooting' can also be lanzar un tiro; cognate with English launch

• papeleraf.

  trash can, wastebasket

  “Lanzan bolas de papel a una papelera.”— They throw paper balls into a trash can.

  Pattern tirar a la papelera throw into the trash can

  Compare cubo de basura (trash can)

  Plural: papeleras

  💡 From papel (paper); originally meant a place to put paper, later came to mean trash can in general

• tirom.

  shot, throw

  “Ser de izquierdas significa intentar tiros difíciles.”— Being left-wing means attempting difficult shots.

  Pattern tiro difícil difficult shot

  Compare lanzamiento (throw)

  Plural: tiros

  💡 From the verb tirar (to throw); in basketball it specifically refers to a shot

• izquierdaf.

  left (politics), left side

  “Celebran los tiros difíciles de la izquierda.”— They celebrate the difficult shots of the left.

  Pattern ser de izquierdas to be left-wing

  Compare progresista (progressive)

  Plural: izquierdas; adjective: izquierdista

  💡 From Basque ezkerra; similar to the political meaning of English left

• desafíom.

  challenge

  “Significa afrontar grandes desafíos.”— It means facing great challenges.

  Pattern afrontar un desafío face a challenge

  Compare reto (challenge)

  Plural: desafíos

  💡 From des- (negation) + afiar (trust); originally meant 'distrust', evolved into 'challenge'

• metáforaf.

  metaphor

  “Es una metáfora sobre la política.”— It is a metaphor about politics.

  Pattern una metáfora sobre a metaphor about

  Compare analogía (analogy)

  Plural: metáforas

  💡 From Greek metaphora (transfer); transferring meaning from one word to another

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• Ser de izquierdas significa intentar tiros difíciles.

  Being left-wing means attempting difficult shots.

  Ser + adj./n. + significa + infinitiveYou can replace ser de izquierdas with other identity expressions, such as ser valiente (to be brave).

• Los dos hombres llevan traje y corbata.

  The two men are wearing suits and ties.

  llevar + clothing itemYou can replace the clothing nouns, e.g., llevar camiseta y pantalones (to wear a T-shirt and pants).

• Es una metáfora sobre la política.

  It's a metaphor about politics.

  Es una metáfora sobre + nounYou can replace the noun after sobre, e.g., sobre la vida (about life).