I stayed with ‘the thing’ from last post and realized it’s actually quite an interesting word. “El coso” is every hardware store owner’s worst nightmare. In fact, there’s a well spread sign warning customers not to refer to spare parts they are looking for as “el coso del cosito”:

As we all know, having a placeholder for more obscure, unknown terms is invaluable, so next time you are struggling to explain what you need, what you lost, what is broken, default to:

• el coso que se pone en…
• el coso que se conecta a…
• el coso que va en…
• el coso que viene en…
• el coso que necesitás para…

And all other creative applications of the device.

However, the thing as used in English goes much further than that.

Sometimes, you want to say something like:

• The thing I love about living in Argentina is…

In such cases, you can’t use ‘el coso’. You need ‘lo’.

• Lo que me gusta de Argentina es…

Other times you need to say:

• The thing is…

In these cases you say:

• Lo que pasa es que…

Quite a fluid word, indeed.

See you soon,

Thanks for reading,

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