History & Present of Lunfardo

Lunfardo originated as a criminal jargon at the end of the 19^th century in Buenos Aires and its arrabales [“outskirts”]. At first, it was spoken by thieves, procurers and fraudsters as a code language used to make communications unintelligible to others, but soon lunfardo spread to tango lyrics and finally to all social classes. That outlaw origin explains the variety of synonyms that lunfardo has for criminal activities and characters (and also the very name given to the jargon: the word “lunfardo” means “thief”).

Lunfardo was the linguistic result of the cultural mixing created by the European immigration, so its terms mostly have its roots in European languages (dialects of Italian, Spanish and French), but also some lunfardo words come from African and South American aboriginal languages (Quechua, Guaraní). It is not a language itself, because lunfardo follows the Spanish grammar and syntax, but its “dictionary” became so extensive that allowed an entire poetry and literature. 

It was banned in 1943 by the military dictatorship, that’s why many tango lyrics underwent ridiculous alterations until lunfardo was again permitted in 1947.

Nowadays lunfardo is part of the colloquial language of Buenos Aires and other cities of Argentina. Through the years, some of its terms have fallen into disuse, but many of them are still used with the same meaning they had more than one hundred years ago.

These are some lunfardo words you can hear in the streets and cafés of Buenos Aires:

Afanar  v.t. to steal

Apoliyar  v.i. to sleep

Bardo n. mess, confusion, muddle. Hacer ~ to make trouble, to provoke

Bife  n. slap, punch

Bondi  n. streetcar; bus

Cana  n. police; prison. Mandar en ~ to denounce, to inform on

Chamuyar  v.t. to convince; to speak loquaciously to achieve something; to deceive; to seduce

Chanta  adj. deceitful, unreliable

Deschavar(se)  v.t. to denounce; to give away

Escabiar  v.i. to drink (alcohol)

Laburar  v.i. to work 

Mina  n. woman

Orto  n. (vulg.) butt. Tener ~ to be lucky

Quilombo  n. originally “brothel”, also “mess”

Rati (vesre –reversing the order of syllables within a word– of Tira)  n. policeman

History of La Casa Rosada

                La Casa Rosada [“The Pink House”], located in front of the historic Plaza de Mayo, is the seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina and one of the most emblematic buildings of Buenos Aires. It underwent many changes before assuming its present form. In fact, three architects took part in the construction during the 19^th century: the Swedish Carl Kihlberg built the Central Post Office, Henrik Åberg (Swedish as well) refurbished the old State House, and the Italian Francesco Tamburini (also the author of the first project for the Colón Theater) in 1884 joined the two neighboring buildings and designed the great central archway on Balcarce Street.  

            The pink colour of the walls has it origin in the 19^th century custom of mixing the whitewash paint with hog’s or bull’s blood because their fixative properties. 

THE OLD STATE HOUSE AND THE CENTRAL POST OFFICE BUILDING 

(TAKEN FROM THE PRESENT CORNER OF RIVADAVIA AND 25 DE MAYO. CIRCA 1880)

THE NEW STATE HOUSE (WITH THE REFURBISHMENT OF HENRIK ÅBERG) 

AND THE CENTRAL POST OFFICE BUILDING BEFORE TAMBURINI’S WORK

TAMBURINI’S ARCHWAY (DETAIL) 

THE PRESENT CASA ROSADA

The origin of the word TANGO

Although the origin of the word “tango” is still a matter of discussion, the most accepted hypothesis indicates that it has its roots in the African languages of the enslaved people of Angola, Congo and Sudan brought to South America between the 16^th and the 18^th century, during the Colonial Period. At first, “tangó” designated the place where the African natives were imprisoned before they were shipped to their destination; later the term came to refer to the places where black people gathered to sing and dance in their exile. By extension, “tangó” would have become the word to designate the popular music played in brothels and taverns, environment where tango, as a specific music and dance genre, would be born at the end of the 19^th century.

            These words with an African origin (“tango”, “milonga”, “canyengue”) remind the legacy of one of the roots that shaped the popular culture of Buenos Aires. 

SOUTH AMERICAN BLACK PEOPLE
DANCING AND SINGING

     

About La Boca

La Boca is a southern neighborhood of Buenos Aires, so called because it sits at the mouth (“boca” in Spanish) of the Riachuelo. For many years its port was the main port of the city, but at the end of the 19^th century it was replaced by Madero Port, specially prepared to receive ships with deep draft. During the great immigration period of the 19^th many Italian immigrants, mostly Genovese, settled down in the neighborhood and gave La Boca its current appearance (in fact, the name that La Boca neighbors and Boca Juniors fans currently give to themselves –“xeneixes”– means “Genovese” in that Italian dialect). The newcomers used to stay in conventillos, big houses with many rooms for rent (a room for each family) and an internal patio: the shared areas of conventillos helped to mix those different immigrant cultures, making possible the exchange and communication between them. Tango, lunfardo and the 20^th century popular culture of Buenos Aires would arise from the combination of that mixing and the previous cultural substratum.

               

 THE OLD BRIDGE OF LA BOCA

PATIO OF A CONVENTILLO

(BEGINNING OF 20th CENTURY)

 TYPICAL CONVENTILLO OF LA BOCA 
(WITH SHEETS OF METAL AS WALLS)

Aníbal Troilo Biography

    Aníbal Carmelo Troilo (1914 - 1975), a.k.a. “el Gordo” and “Pichuco”, was a bandoneon player, composer, tango bandleader and beloved friend.

            When he was ten years old, his mother bought him his first bandoneon which Troilo would use almost his entire career. His uncle and the radio provided him the only music lessons he had and “Pichuco” learned them very fast: since 1929 he was part of many bands and tango orchestras until he formed his own típica with his distinctive sound in which important musicians, later soloists or bandleaders themselves, would participate (for example, the singers Edmundo Rivero and Roberto “Polaco” Goyeneche, the guitarist Roberto Grela and Astor Piazzolla).        

            Troilo formed a creative duo with his best friend, the poet Homero Manzi; they composed together Sur, Che, bandoneón, Barrio de tango, Discepolín, Romance de barrio, songs that tango musicians consider authentic masterpieces of the genre. After Manzi’s death in 1951, Troilo composed Responso (prayer for the dead) in his memory, a heartfelt instrumental piece in which the bandoneon notes sound like the faltering breathing of “Pichuco”.

            Astor Piazzolla, who revolutionized the genre in the 50’s, always expressed his admiration and affection for whom he considered his first maestro in tango. In 1970 they recorded two bandoneon duet pieces: that recording is a truly milestone in tango history, a warm embrace between two different styles and feelings.             

 PICHUCO'S "BREATHING"

ANÍBAL TROILO AND ÁSTOR PIAZZOLLA - VOLVER

The origin of USTED

The personal pronoun we have for formal treatment comes from the polite expression VUESTRA MERCED (“Your Worship”) which changed through the centuries until became USTED.

This phonetic evolution was: 
 

VUESTRA MERCED > VUESA MERCED > VUESARCED > VUESANCED > VOACÉ, VUCÉ, VUSTED > USTED

Quinquela Martín Biography

Benito Chinchella [hispanized Quinquela by himself] Martín (1890 - 1977) is known as el pintor de La Boca, because that neighborhood, its port and its people are the main themes of his work.

            Abandoned as a baby child by his biological family, at the age of seven he was adopted by Justina Molina and Manuel Chinchella, a Genovese immigrant from whom Benito took his last name and his first occupation: loading and unloading coal from the tied up ships in Vuelta de Rocha.       

            He started to paint intuitively in his childhood. Except for some lessons in a cultural institution, Benito hadn’t any formal education; his training was self-taught, and his lifetime inspiration, the port’s life. His technique demonstrates both the heterodoxy of his painting and his art conception: since 1918, almost his entire work was painted with a palette knife.     

            Despite the early success he achieved, Quinquela never left La Boca and made many donations to the neighborhood, among others, the current school-museum “Pedro de Mendoza” next to Caminito.

            Many years before his death, he prepared his own coffin, “because a man who has lived surrounded by colors can’t be buried in a plain box”. He lies in that water-coloured coffin in which top Quinquela had painted a sailing ship. 

 QUINQUELA'S HANDS

 "ACCIDENTE EN EL PUERTO" ("ACCIDENT IN THE PORT"). ETCHING

 "CREPÚSCULO" ("TWILIGHT"). OIL PAINTING