FÅTTISTA

FÅTTISTA

Absentee, no-show, truant

So now you can use a Chamorro word for the person who is usually a no-show in your life, or in life in general.

I first heard someone use the word fåttista in the early 1990s when she was describing someone who always promised to show up at social events, but most often never did.

The word is Spanish, but isn't used in Spain, according to the Spanish dictionary put out by the most prestigious Spanish language authority, the Royal Spanish Academy (Real Academia Española). The word is used in Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. In those countries, faltista means someone who frequently is absent from school or work.