Padrino means godfather. Compadre is the godfather of your child in relation to you. (Juan is my son's godfather. Juan and I are compadres.) Of course, compadre is also used to refer to your best friend, buddy, etc.

I was thinking "buddy" or "brother," in the way these terms are used to address people you close to in conversation.

Hmmmmm, living in Florida with hispanic relatives as well as knowing, living around, and working with people from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean I would agree with those who say, "It depends."

It really does depend on the situation, the speaker, their heritage, and many other intangibles.

At its zenith it would imply a familial type obligation as in someone upon whom you could utterly rely to care for your family in a time of need. The nadir would imply a friend; someone familiar to you and probably your family as in, "oh that is my father's friend Para, he's a nice guy."

That's the best this gringo can do.

I think English used to be more particular, as well - especially when slander suits were more common.

I know my grandparents were more careful about using “I couldn’t say” vs “I don’t know.”

Also, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that there are very few people I will publicly call “a friend,” and have started using “acquaintance” far more often.

It’s odd how few words there seem to be to describe social relationships.

“Friend I would bury a body for, trust with the kids, when I’m gone.”
“Friend, whom I trust, due to a religious/military/other strong social bond, but don’t really know”
“Friend, by which I really mean someone with whom I habitually encounter, socially.”
“Acquaintance who’s professional acumen I would trust.”
“Acquaintance whom I think is personally trustworthy.”
“Acquaintances I do not trust.”
“Acquaintances I do not know enough about to comment.”

Many flavors of spanish to consider.

Current and most common use would be a buddy, close friend, someone who hangs around with you.

Pollux got it right in a more formal universe where it describes the relationship between the father and the godfather.

0-0

Droog

quote:

As another example of truncation, you could properly, say "hasta luego" as a salutation to mean "until later" aka "goodbye until we see each other again" however you could quite commonly say, "hasta" as you leave to mean the same thing and it would be understood that way, especially among friends, family or co-workers.

John Connor : No, no, no, no. You gotta listen to the way people talk. You don't say "affirmative," or some shit like that. You say "no problemo." And if someone comes on to you with an attitude you say "eat me." And if you want to shine them on it's "hasta la vista, baby."

The Terminator : Hasta la vista, baby.

John Connor : Yeah but later, dickwad. And if someone gets upset you say, "chill out"! Or you can do combinations.

The Terminator : Chill out, dickwad.

John Connor : Great! See, you're getting it!

The Terminator : No problemo.

As long as we’re discussing Spanish words that have come to be used differently than translated or previously accepted usage: “Simpático(a).” In Spanish it translates as “nice, friendly, congenial...” It is now used frequently to describe someone who thinks much like you, something more akin to “compatible.” Anyone comfortable enough with their Spanish to comment?