Daily Vocabulary for Better Conversation

In the southern regions of Chile live a people, the Mapuche, who managed to avoid Spanish conquest and have held on to their culture and language under the independent Chilean government as well. The Mapuche learned military tactics from the Spanish so that they could fend them off; the Spanish learned from the Mapuche to fend off the rain with an ingenious garment they called a poncho.

To make a poncho, the Mapuche take a watertight wool blanket and make a slit in it so it can be worn as a cloak. It was discussed in English as early as 1717: The Spaniards have taken up the Use of the Chony, or Poncho ... to ride in, because the Poncho keeps out the Rain. As that remark indicates, it is through Spanish that poncho came to English.

The Mapuche invention is used by soldiers, campers, and other outdoors people the world around. Now sometimes equipped with a hood, it serves not only as a cloak but also as a pillow and blanket. When it isn't needed for protection against the elements, a wool poncho makes a fine wall decoration.

Mapudungun or Araucano is spoken by 400,000 people in Chile today and 40,000 more in Argentina. It is in a language family by itself. The Mapudungun language has also given us the coypu (1793), an otter-like rodent also known as the nutria (a Spanish word). Valued for its fur, the coypu has been imported into North America along with its name, where it has escaped from fur farms and become a pest.