Sueldo (Spanish for “salary”) comes from the Latin solidus for “gold coins” — that which you pay the salary in.

From the same root solidus we also get… soldier. Yes, a soldier is defined by the money he makes: a soldier is just someone who is in an arm for the pay.

The s-l-d root is clearly visible in both!

The Spanish plegar, meaning “to fold” comes from the Latin root plicare, meaning the same.

From plicare, we also get the English applicant. The connection makes sense if we think about both words in the sense of “attach”: when you apply, you want to attach yourself to an organization; and think of fold in the same metaphorical sense, “to bring into the fold.”

We can see the mapping clearly in the p-l-g of plegar and the p-l-c of applicant. The -c- was lost when it was shortened to just apply over time.

From the same root we also get the English ply, as in plywood – but that is a lot less common!

Flamante, Spanish for “great-looking” or “splendid” — perhaps, a more modern version of which would be, “awesome!” — comes from the Latin flamma, meaning, “flame.”

From that same root, we get the English, flame. Completely unsurprisingly.

If you’re wondering how we get from “fire” to “sexy”, then all we need to do is remember one word…. flaming.

The fl-m root is clearly visible in both.

The common Spanish tarde, “late”, is a close cousin of the English retard.

Retard is literally the re- prefix (which just adds emphasis) and the Latin tardare, which means, “slow, stupid.”

From tardare we also get the Spanish tarde. So, the ones that are the stupidest do things slowest — literally!

Of course, we also get the English tardy from the same root as well.

The Spanish for “cow” vaca, comes from the Latin vacca, meaning the same. From that same root, we get the English…. vaccine/em.

Huh? How?

Interestingly, the first, umm, vaccine, was to give the cow-pox virus to people with small-pox! Thus, the word for cow turned into the word for vaccine!

We can see the v-c root clearly in both.