The use of English words in Spain is becoming a fashionable practice, specially in posh circles. Purists are irritated by that practice and my opinion is that, when existing a suitable Spanish word, the use of an equivalent English word is a snobbism.
But the thing I would like to write about is the coining of new technical Spanish words from English ones. Among computer guys, or gals, is not uncommon hearing verbs like �displayar�, �atachar�. �deletear�, �renamear�, or �resetear�.
Those words are not, and surely will not be, officially accepted and lots of people argue strongly against its use but in this case, clearly against the mainstream opinion, I find several reasons that make its use convenient and acceptable.
- They have precise meanings. If I say �displayar� I mean �showing something on a computer screen�. They don�t need a context to explain its meaning.
- They are not impoverishing our language since they are not substituting existing Spanish words. We have the general purpose �exhibir� and use �displayar� only for computer screens.
- I have grew accustomed to using them and cannot help finding reasons to justify its use.
Juan Maria.
