With all of the Hispanic and Latino influence throughout the United States these days it is no wonder that Spanish phrases and words have infiltrated the English language as it is used by everyday normal Americans. Food products from south of the border have of course become as American as apple pie. There are Taco Bells on every corner and Taquerias in every neighborhood. There are even words that sound like nonsense that are now household words such as Nacho Cheese Doritos. No one really knows what type of cheese Nacho cheese really is but scientists are hard at work right now trying to solve this enigma.
Many Spanglish words have crept into both English and Spanish, to the frustration and ire of linguistic purists. Spanglish words are words that began as English words but have been forced into the Spanish language by some very lazy people. In Spanish conversations ignorant people sometimes use horribly made-up words such as la troca which means the truck. Instead of soccer, the mutated word futbol is used, which is of course a bastardization of the word football. A home run is now a honrun and is spelled exactly like that in the sports section of Latin American newspapers believe it or not.
In Nicaragua, manhole covers are pronounced man-hole-less to the amazement and shock of Spanish language lovers everywhere. This is definitely not Spanish but these types of mangled idiom examples are to be found everywhere.
Notwithstanding these aberrations, regular Spanish phrases and words have snuck into the English lexicon. These include the famous line Mi casa, tu casa which translated means My house is your house, a beautiful thought. Another is Mano a mano, or hand to hand, as in fighting. Simple words are sometimes used also such as Comprende which is usually used as a question, as in Comprende? meaning understand?. Nada means nothing and is frequently used, along with Mucho which means lots. Everyone knows muchacho (boy), hombre (man), and macho (male).
City names in Spanish have added to the abundance of Spanish phrases and words that we see everyday, especially in California and the Southwest. San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and all the other cities named after Spanish saints. Theres Los Angeles, which means the angels and so on. The influence of Mexico and Spain is felt every day in our lives and we have much to thank this culture that has given us so much more than Spanish phrases and words.