More than a year ago I had a conversation with Carlos Alberto Rodriguez when he used an interesting new word for me--FRANELEAR. I had some idea about the meaning of the word by his body language and the context in which he used it--to "franelear" a woman while dancing tango with her. I tried finding the word in my Spanish-English dictionary to no avail.
A few weeks ago I bought a copy of the new Lunfardo-English dictionary for tango (1). The book has only four pages of words related to tango beginning with the letter F. Franelear: to kiss, to caress, to heavy pet. I realized I understood what Carlos Alberto had meant, because I had experienced what he was talking about. That lead me to consult the dictionary of Argentine speech (2) which contains a broader definition of the word in Castellano. Franelear. (vulgar transitive verb). to excite another person with caresses without arriving at the sexual act. This dictionary doesn't indicate the word is Lunfardo, only vulgar. It is in common use among Argentines. Then only a week ago during conversation with a tango dancer from Milan, Roberto Angel Puyol used the word. He said just the opposite of what Carlos Alberto said while talking about dancing tango with a woman. He said he dances with a woman to enjoy the dance, not to franelear the woman. Very interesting. I know that to be true about Roberto Angel's dancing. So why am I talking about a new word? Two milongueros, whom I have invited to take part in the Milonguero Conference, have a difference of opinion about it. I have danced with both of them. I have been the recipient of franeleando while dancing with several milongueros over the years. In fact, my lessons in franeleando began during my first visit to Buenos Aires in 1996 when Victorio initiated me on things a woman could do while dancing with man if she was interested in something more. I am curious what others think about this topic. I have no doubt it will draw interesting comments. Have you tried it with anyone while dancing? Did the other person reciprocate in some way? What were the consequences? Did you enjoy it? Are you trying to remember occasions and with whom you were dancing? (1) Mataburros Lunfardo/English dictionary of tango by Sara Melul and Roberto Cruanas. July 2007 Available at Zivals on Corrientes and Callao for 39 pesos. (2) Diccionario del Habla de Los Argentinos. Academia Argentina de Letras. La Nacion. 2003 Janis Milonguero Conference www.totango.net/milongueros.html _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
