La palabra del día: Convocar

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Verb. This term has two main meanings somehow related to each other. 1. To call formally one or more people to attend a specific place or event. E.g.: ¿Quiénes son los expertos que convocó la ANEP para repensar el futuro de la educación?: Who are the experts called by ANEP to rethink the future of education? 2. To announce, to make public an act, such as a contest, competitive examinations, a strike, etc., so that whoever is interested can participate. This term is used in expressions such as, convocar elecciones (to call an election), convocar una licitación (to call for tenders), convocar un concurso, etc. E.g.: JCE convoca licitación internacional para comprar papel de seguridad para actas: EC announces international tender to buy security paper for minutes.
In the first case, the noun is la convocación: la convocación de los expertos; and in the second la convocatoria: la convocatoria a licitación (the call for tenders). As you can see, we are always speaking about a call. dc

La palabra del día: Préstamo

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Masculine noun. To give something to someone to use for some time and then return it. E.g.: El granjero obtuvo un préstamo para comprar un tractor nuevo: The farmer took out a loan to buy a new tractor.
The lexcial expression is tomar/pedir un préstamo if you are the borrower or deudor and dar un préstamo or prestar if you are the creditor or acreedor.
Curiously, in Spanish we do not have a verb to express the concept of ‘to borrow’; we say instead pedir/tomar prestado. E.g.: Do not borrow or lend to others: No le preste, o pida prestado a otras personas. dc

La palabra del día: Baja

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Feminine noun. Another term with several meanings. These ones are relevant to us:
1. Decrease in the price, value and estimate of something. E.g.: Esto se demuestra por la tendencia a la baja de los precios de venta de la industria comunitaria en el período considerado: This is demonstrated by the decreasing trend in the Community industry’s sales prices over the period considered. The verb is bajar and the lexical locution is estar a la baja. E.g.; Los precios de las viviendas están a la baja: property prices are down.
2. Act in which the cessation is declared in industries or professions subject to tax and also the tax form to effect such withdrawal. The lexical locution is darse de baja de and dar de baja (de). E.g.: Me di de baja del impuesto a las ganacias: I unsubscribed from income tax.
3. Cessation of a person in a service, professional body, association, etc., and the document that accredits such act. The lexical locutions are also darse de baja de and dar de baja (de). E.g.: ¿Cómo me doy de baja del servicio? How can I unregister from the service?
4. Leave granted to a worker for a period of time in cases of illness, accident, etc. The lexical locutions is estar de baja. E.g.: María estuvo de baja por maternidad de enero a abril de 2021 y volvió a su cargo en mayo de 2021. María was on maternity leave from January to April 2021 and joined again in May 2021. dc.

La palabra del día: PIB (Producto Interno Bruto)

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Masculine noun. Also known as Producto Interior Bruto and Producto Bruto Interno (PBI), it is a macroeconomic quantity that expresses the monetary value of the production of goods and services of final demand of a country or region for a specified period, usually one year or quarterly. E.g.: La baja tasa fiscal real, estimada en 11% del PIB, limita las capacidades de inversión pública: The low real tax rate, estimated at 11 per cent of GDP, limits the possibility of public investment. dc

El concepto del día: Gestión de fondos

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Femenine noun. Fund management. The person is called el/la gestor/a de fondos. The company is called la gestora de fondos. E.g.: Blackrock es una gestora de fondos de inversión.
There are different types of gestión de fondos: 1. fondos monetarios: monetary funds; 2. fondos de renta fija: fixex income funds; 3.fondos mixtos: mixed funds; 4.fondos de renta variable: equity funds; 5. fondos garantizados; guranteed funds.
The verb is gestionar. dc

La palabra del día: Directorio

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Masculine noun. Board of directors of certain associations, parties, etc. The chairman of the board is called el/la presidente del directorio, and the CEO is el/la director/a ejecutivo/a, who is usually also a member of el directorio. E.g.: La designación del director ejecutivo se efectuará por un periodo limitado y renovable: The appointment of the CEO is made for a limited, renewable period. dc

La palabra del día: Costas

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Feminine plural noun. Essential expenses that must be paid during a judicial process. They include: 1. The fees of the lawyer, called honorarios in Spanish. 2.The fee of the expert (perito en Spanish), if necessary, and also called honorarios. 3. The fee of the procurator, when their intervention is required. 3. Court notifications, copies, documents, testimonies, etc. 4. Insertion of advertisements or edicts. 5. Duties such as the notary’s payment. 6. Compensation to witnesses. 7. Other expenses generated directly by the judicial process itself.
E.g.: La Directiva sobre asistencia jurídica que tenemos es tan limitada que no ayuda a cubrir las costas judiciales en estos casos: The Legal Aid Guidelines that we have is so minimal that it will not help with legal costs in these sorts of cases.
The verb with the same root but not used in the same context is costear and the adjective is costoso/a/s. dc

La palabra del día: Subasta

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Feminine noun. Public sale of goods that is made to the highest bidder, and regularly by mandate and with the intervention of a judge or other authority. E.g.: Pujé por un famoso cuadro en la subasta: I bid for a famous painting at the auction. The verb is subastar.
An almost perfect synonym of subasta is remate, masculine noun. For example, Christie’s can be called casa de remates or casa de subastas. Paraphrasing Borges, shall I confess that I -moved by that most sincere of Argentinian passions- snobbery, personally would use remate when it is a private action and subasta when there is the intervention of a judge or an authority. So, casa de remates is my choice; but, nothing prevents you to use them interchangeably. The verb is rematar. dc

Las palabras del día: Sucursal & Filial

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Sucursal. Feminine noun. Establishment located in a different place than the central one on which it depends that performs the same functions as this one. E.g.: Tarjeta Lider Bci lanza nuevo formato de sucursal: Tendrá kiosco de autoatención: Lider Bci card launches new branch format: It will have a self-service kiosk.
Flilial. Adjective, also used as a feminine noun. Company owned or controlled by another company called empresa matriz. E.g.: Así pues, la presión fiscal efectiva de una filial de una empresa matriz en un país depende esencialmente de dónde esté situada dicha filial: Thus, the effective tax burden of a subsidiary of a parent company in one country depends crucially on where that subsidiary is located.
Please note that the term rama (branch), usually followed by the adjective local, can also be used but not in a business context: Una rama local del llamado Estado Islámico se declaró culpable de los ataques: A local branch of the so-called Islamic State pleaded guilty to the attacks. dc

La palabra del día: Foráneo/a

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Adjective. Foreign, strange. From the Latin foraneus (external, from outside), and this one from foras (outside). With the same root we have the terms, fuera (adverb), afuera (adverb), afueras (feminine plural noun), forastero (adjective mainly used as a noun), etc. The latin term forum, from which we have foro, refers to an external public place. Remember that the term ‘foreing currency’ is usually translated into Spanish as divisa extranjera, although I think the adjective extranjera in this case is redundant, as the term divisa refers always to a foreign currency. That’s why we say mercado de divisas: forex market.
In legal and business Spanish, we will see this term in expressions such as ley foránea, juez foráneo, derecho foráneo, inversiones foráneas, etc.: E.g.: Creció inversión foránea 2.6% en primer semester: Foreign investment grew 2.6% in the first semester.
On another note, we have an interesting term with the same root: huraño: bearish, shy; but I cannot find the connection. dc

La palabra del día: Divisa

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Feminine noun. Foreign currency referred to the unit of the country in question. Usually used in plural. E.g.: Dólar hoy: a cuánto abrió la divisa el martes 24 de agosto: Dollar today: how much the currency opened at on Tuesday, August 24.
We have the term mercado de divisas: forex market.
We also have the verb divisar, ’to spot, to perceive’, but it is not relatated to the noun divisa. By the way, the English verb ‘to devise’ is translated into Spanish as inventar, crear, planear. dc