Orlando Bonifacio Show: Slang and Cultural Expressions

Expression	Approx. time	Explanation
Dominican Republic	1:32	Caribbean country occupying the east end of the island Hispaniola, which also contains Haiti http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Republic
remarkable circumstance	1:42	extraordinary or amazing situation
specialized surgery	2:25	difficult medical operation
Lansing, MI	2:38	capital city located in south-central part of state
Holy cow!	2:43	Wow!  I’m surprised!
volunteer work	3:10	doing the work without charging money
brand-new	3:41	fresh, very new
legal guardian	3:57	adult with legal responsibility of a parent
bilingual	4:01	speaking two languages
recuperating	4:41	recovering after surgery, regaining health after illness
monolingual	4:43	speaking one language
as a matter of fact	4:54	This may surprise you, but it’s true.
Ann Arbor, MI	5:01	city in southeastern part of state, home to the University of Michigan
prolonged	5:14	extended, took a longer time
down there	5:37	in that southern location (down = south on the map, up = north)
pretty forward request	5:57	direct or strong request; pretty = a little bit, but here it is a polite ways of saying “very”)
Nope!	6:25	informal way of saying “no”
depict it as	6:41	tell or show it this way
dirt floor	6:47	built directly on the ground, without wood, cement, or carpeting
outhouse	6:52	small building away from the house with a pit toilet and no running water
once	7:29	after this has happened
biological parents	8:00	birth parents, original parents, related by blood
Montessori school	8:19	type of school which focuses on independence and a child’s individual development
one-to-one attention	8;22	direct attention (between teacher and student)
work me through	8:38	coach me along the way
family of origin	9:07	birth family, blood family
straddling two cultures	9:12	with one foot in each of two cultures
reverse culture shock	9:48	experiencing difficulty with difference going the other way
re-acclimated to	9:52	used to, accustomed to
That’s the norm.	10:07	That’s the usual.
down to the D.R.	10:15	south to the Dominican Republic
navigate	10:20	steer, find the way to go
double whammy	10:28	two difficult circumstances at the same time
profoundly	10:36	deeply
prevalent	10:47	very commonly found
take a step back	11:06	wait, don’t go forward right away
Where do I fall…?	11:53	On which side do I find myself?  Where am I?
formative years	12:18	years of growing, learning, developing sense of self
F-1 visa	12:25	student visa for studying in the U.S.
H-1B visa	12:30	worker visa for being employed in the U.S.
house with a white picket fence	12:49	American middle class dream: home with a decorative wooden fence around the yard
see what is out there	13:24	see (what is out) in the world
tour them around	13:58	take them to see many things
circle of friends	14:25	friends who surround you
aren’t very pro-immigrant	14:50	polite way of saying they don’t like immigrants
think outside the box	15:10	think beyond what is normal
plateauing	15:42	not growing, staying level or stagnant
hit the nail on the head	16:16	precisely; you are exactly right
surround yourself	17:21	put yourself in a position where they are all around you
stop by someone’s	17:44	make an informal visit (to someone’s house)
go out	17:49	leave your house for an activity at a bar, restaurant, concert, sports event, movie, or other event
Grand Valley State University	18:36	university in Allendale, MI www.gvsu.edu
West Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce	18:45	www.hccwm.org