Since 1992
Print and digital marketing
By Barbara McAllister
Word of the Day: Aficionado
An aficionado is a person who is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about an activity or subject. It’s from the Spanish word for amateur, which comes from the same root as “afiicion,” or affection. The earliest definition of aficionado was an amateur bullfighter. Hemingway uses the term in his novel “The Sun Also Rises” when describing the characters arriving in Spain to watch the running of the bulls and take part in seven days of celebrations and bullfights. They are aficionados, or ardent devotees and fans of the sport. The word has expanded to include knowledgeable, enthusiastic admirers of any subject or pastime.
Bullfighting season begins in Spain every year around Easter. The controversial sport of bullfighting has existed in one form or another since ancient times, when the Romans held spectacles that pitted humans against animals. It spread to Asia, Africa, and Europe, and by the time it reached medieval Spain, the sport was centered on a bull and a single fighter.
Spanish bullfighting is a highly ritualized spectacle with a vocabulary all its own. Matador is the Spanish word for killer. Until the bullfighter kills a bull, he is called a torero or toreador in English. A picador teases the bull from horseback to rile the bull up for the torero. The monosabio is the picador’s helper, the person who helps the picador get back on the horse should he fall off. Monosabio is Spanish for “wise monkey,” It’s an important job, but not a very grand title.
A well-known move, or pass, of the toreador is the Veronica, named for Saint Veronica, fitting for a country that is 68% Catholic. The matador stands with both feet fixed and swings the cape slowly away from the charging bull, supposedly mimicking the way Saint Veronica held her veil after being affected by the sight of Jesus carrying his cross. According to Catholic tradition, when Saint Veronica gave Jesus her veil to wipe his brow, his image miraculously remained on the material.
The bull is enraged enough after being teased and stabbed. The waving cape is an additional annoyance, but the red color is strictly theater. Bulls are colorblind and the perception they are provoked by the color red is just so much bull.
