scribblegal | Writing Life
Description: Reflections from the Free Zone
Reflections from the Free Zone
I saw a post in a local English language newspaper, The Tico Times , recently about slang terms in Costa Rica. The word “vara” caught my eye. Oh, I thought, this should be good.
Vara (in English “Rod”) This word that is used as a means of measure, in Costa Rica also means lie or liar. Its origin dates back to the time when the metric system was not yet established, so the fabrics were sold by yards equivalent to 0.91 cm, and wood was sold by rods equivalent 0.84 cm. And as some merchants sought to take advantage of the difference between both measures, those clients who noticed the deception said: “Stop cutting the rod” from where the expression was reduced to saying the only rod [
scribblegal | Writing Life