For example: “La Juana”. I always thought this was very insulting and used only to put people down. Or at least an ignorant thing to do. (Venezuela)
Now I read a book (from Spain) where a character used it to refer to his love interest (La Bernarda in “La Sombra del Viento” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, good read), so I guess it is not universally insulting.
Is it acceptable use in any region?
Most dialects of Arpitan (Franco-Provençal) prefix female names with the feminine definite article. Not male names, however. In that case I expect prefixing a male name would be a little insulting (like calling somebody a girlie-man!)
Can’t speak for Spanish, though.
Or El Guapo.
Its not insulting per se but can be considered familiar or vulgar, for example you wouldnt talk about your boss Joseph as “El José” (at least where he can hear you), but your sister could be informally refered to as “La Vero”, it is somewhat considered to be a lower class thing though.
El Frodo.
At the risk of having been whooshed, El Guapo is a sobriquet or epithet, not a name. Guapo is not a man’s name.
Haven’t seen it done in PR Spanish, but my Mexican friend used to sometimes call me la KarlGrenze… at least until I told him to stop that since I found it weird (the other option, mi KarlGrenze, is still accepted). And at random times other Mexicans have used “la KarlGrenze”.
Good point about gender. I don’t think I have ever heard it for male names. Interesting.
As a completely pointless footnote, Burger King in some Latin American countries is not the home of the Whopper, but “La Casa del Guapo”
In Greek, the definite article goes before everyone’s name, e.g. i Melina, o Yanni. It has no connotation, it’s just the way names are used.
In Italian, women artists and celebrities are sometimes named with the feminine definite article la before their surname. E.g. “La Ciccone” seems to be a popular phrase.
Would you say I have a plethora of pinatas?
German does this too: *Ich habe gerade mit **dem **Hans gesprochen; Hast du **den **Hans gesehen? **Der **Hans ist nach Hause gegangen. *(I just spoke to Hans; did you see Hans; Hans went home.) Of course, der/dem/den could be left out but to put it in here is not insulting.
Dunno about Spanish, but in French, calling someone “La Jeanne” or “Le Jean” is quite a rustic turn of phrase. Not rude at all, but you know… rustic, or lower class. You’ll never hear a city dweller use it - I figure it’s the equivalent of calling someone “our Ron” in English.
In Spain it’s basically a matter of familiarity:
I noticed this in Italy to (specifically in the North East, Veneto, region) it was quite common to say “La Elena” “La Manu” “La Laura” “La Rossella” when talking about female friends but there was no male equivalent. There was nothing pejorative implied and in fact when you become “La + name” you know you’re in with the locals !
Why would someone do this anyway? Is there any English equivalent to this (besides “The Todd” on Scrubs)?
To make it somewhat clear they’re talking about one specific person, would be my guess. And since they’re adding other languages to this comparison, the same thing (adding a definite article before the name) is done in Portuguese, in both sexes (at least in Brazil).
Considering that I have almost always seen it used when talking about servants, it sounds like objectifying the person. You have the vacuum cleaner, the mop and the Maria to clean your house. Clearly this is not the case everywhere going by the responses here.
“The Donald.”
(Spoken by someone whose native language lacks the definite article)
Thanks for posting the link to that Wikipedia article Johanna. From a link it contained, I learned that there is actually a patent on a particular kind of combover
Ignorance has been fought!
In Peru it is the norm in Arequipa and common, when referring to family/friends, in the Andes and jungle.
Both huys and dolls.