Las rocolas de mi abuela

I went out to lunch with a few co-workers to a new Mexican restaurant.  It's gran apertura (grand opening) was just 2 weeks ago.

Anyway, I noticed they had a brand new jukebox.  It wasn't like the ones I grew up with, it was a modern version that took credit cards.  And then it dawned on me, what the heck do you call a jukebox in Spanish?   Lucky for me the waitress told me.  A jukebox is called a rocola. 

Since we're on the topic of rocolas and music, let's talk about a few more things.

To talk about playing music, whether it be on a rocola or on the radio, you need to use the verb tocar.  Here's a good example:

¿Cómo se llama esa cosa que toca musica?
What do you call that thing that plays music?

That's what I asked the waitress in order find out what you call a jukebox in Spanish.

When you listen to Spanish radio, you'll probably hear:

Tocamos solo éxitos
We only play the hits

You may have noticed our next word, éxitos - hits.  You'll probably also hear things like "los mejores (grandes) éxitos.  The best hits.  Usually the best hits are pegajoso - catchy, which is what makes them éxitos in the first place.

And just to be thorough, a song is called a cancíon, and the lyrics are called letras.  

Now let's take a walk down memory lane.  At least it is for those of us old enough to remember the old-fashioned record, or album, known in Spanish as a disco, which you could buy in a disquería.  Which you had to play on a tocadiscos.    But these days we tocar our music on a reproductor de MP3 (MP3 Player). 

All of this reminds me of another word I learned, traganíquel.   I learned this from a panameña (a woman from Panama).  It's a word they use for jukebox, and if I'm not mistaken, it's used in Nicaragua as well.  Traganíquel can also refer to any machine that takes coins (monedas), like slot machines. 

That leaves us with one last piece of unfinished business.

Las rocolas de mi abuela
My grandmothers jukeboxes

That's actually the name of a short blog entry talking about old-fashioned jukeboxes.  For some of you this will just a be a great opportunity to practice your Spanish, and for the rest of you it wil probably bring back some good memories.  Here's the link:

http://peruinside.com/blog/2008/01/17/las-rocolas-de-mi-abuelo/

That's it for today!

¡Cuídense!