FALSE FRIENDS : LIBIÅNO

LIBIÅNO

In Chamorro, when something is easy to do, we say it is libiåno.

Libiåno ma sodda'.  Easy to find.

Libiåno ma kånta.  Easy to sing.

Although the word is Spanish in origin, we have given it a meaning that has strayed a bit from the original Spanish meaning.

In Spanish, liviano means "light" in weight.  They got it from the same Latin root that gives us the English word levity, or lightness (in weight or spirits).

But even in Spanish, different locales have given it secondary meanings, like "frivolous," "fickle" and even "lewd."

So our Chamorro ancestors also gave the word a new shade of meaning.

Something light in weight is easy to handle.  So libiåno came to mean "easy" in every way.

But it's a false friend in Spanish because you can't go to Spain or Mexico and ask that something be done the libiåno way.  They'll think you mean light in weight, not easy to do,