Spanish Words Widely Known by U.S. Americans

It's really frustrating when they make these quizzes with no regard for the rest of non-Mexican dialect of the language. "Beans" is "habichuelas" for me. It took me some time to realize this wasn't "Spanish" quiz, but a Mexican Spanish quiz.

Not necessarily.

Y ademas, no es español, es chilango..

I don't think Hispanic Americans are usually gringos

Check out the Real Academia Española defines the word as such.

I was thinking the same thing. for example, "¿qué?" instead of "qué?" and "¡silencio!" instead of "silencio!"

But no need to ándale arriba; plenty of time.

and gallo

That was my first guess, but it literally translates to "shut up." "Silencio" is a better answer.

I tried several versions of this (cállate, cállese, callarse, callado, etc.) Then the spirit of RuPaul took over and I got it right.

You should check out the RAE's definition, which accounts for colloquialisms.

Many people from south of the US use the term "American" to refer to people who live on either continent, South American or North American. When referring specifically to residents of the US they will use the phrase "US Americans". This is based on the premise that the US does not have exclusive use of the term America; i.e. it's not the whole continent.

Oh right. Hilarious, lol

I feel like people are not getting the premise that this is what Americans know of the language from cultural infusion by the most common Spanish speakers in the country who happen to be... Mexican. Most Mexicans I know use gringo to mean white person, and a lot of Americans recognize that as the meaning.

Non-Spanish-speaking USians tend to be exposed to Mexican Spanish, even if they live in areas with high concentrations of other Spanish speakers. In my entire life—and I speak both English and (Mexican) Spanish—I have never heard anyone refer to a white man as "un hombre blanco". In Mexico that would mean he was literally white. If you mean pale-skinned, that would be "un hombre güero" or simply "un güero", or affectionately, "un güerito". But most non-Spanish-speaking USians would never have heard the word "güero". They only know "gringo", or perhaps if they live in the Southwest they've heard the less-complimentary term "gabacho".

Are you a US American who doesn't speak Spanish?