Lindo: Beautiful Words

Did we mention Felipe Calderón is a politician? In Part 2 of the presidential candidate's promotional video, Calderón discusses his profound love for his family.

Y comparto con ella, pues, no solo el amor que nos tenemos, que es un amor sincero,

And I share with her, well, not only the love that we have for each other, that is a sincere love,

que es un amor profundo, que es un amor bello...

that is a deep love, that is a beautiful love...

sino también el amor que tenemos por nuestros tres magníficos hijos...

but also the love that we have for our three wonderful kids...

Captions 13-15, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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María... es... una niña muy linda...

Maria... is... a very pretty girl...

Luis Felipe... es un niño muy lindo...

Luis Felipe... is a very lovely child...

Juan Pablo... es una lindura...

Juan Pablo, two years old, is so beautiful...

Captions 19-24, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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He describes each one of his three kids -María, Luis Felipe and Juan Pablo- as lindo(a), meaning "pretty" or "beautiful." This synonym for bonito, hermoso or bello is an adjective that is used a lot in the Spanish-speaking world. See a baby on the street and "¡Qué lindo!" (or "¡Qué linda!") is a very common thing to say.

In the sentences quoted above, note that linda agrees with the feminine noun niña ("girl") and lindo agrees with the masculine noun niño ("boy"). Also note that Calderón employs the noun lindura ("a beauty") to describe his youngest son -a noun that's always feminine, despite his son's gender.

Another way the proud dad describes his tres magníficos hijos ("three magnificent children") appears in caption 18:

Bueno la verdad es que son tres chavos sensacionales.

Well the truth is that they are three sensational kids.

Caption 18, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad - Part 2
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We translate this as: "Well the truth is that they are three sensational kids." But instead of repeating the standard word hijos ("kids" or "sons [and daughters]"), Calderón uses chavos, which is a colloquialism heard in Calderón's native Mexico as well as Honduras and Nicaragua, according to the authoritative Real Academia Española. Like hijos or niños, chavos means "kids," but not necessarily in the sense of sons and daughters. Got that, muchachos?