ACAMPAR To camp.

ADUANA Customs post.

AEROSILLA Chairlift.

AGRESTE Wild or rustic (often used to describe a campsite with very basic facilities).

ALERCE Giant, slow-growing Patagonian cypress, similar to the Californian redwood.

ALMACA?N Small grocery store, which in the past often functioned as a bar too.

ALTIPLANO High Andean plateau.

AA?NIK'ENK The Southern Group of Tehuelche (q.v), the last of whose descendants live in the province of Santa Cruz.

ARAUCARIA Monkey puzzle tree.

AROBA The @ sign on a computer keyboard.

ARROYO Stream or small river.

ASADO Barbecue (either on a parrilla or on the spit); tira de asado is beef ribs.

AUTOPISTA Motorway.

BACHE Pothole.

BAILANTA Dance club, where the predominant sound is cumbia .

BALNEARIO Bathing resort; also a complex of sunshades and small tents on the beach, often with a bar and shower facilities, for which users pay a daily, weekly or monthly rate.

BAA?ADO A type of shallow marshland, often caused by a flooded river, and common in the Chaco region.

BANDA NEGATIVA Airline tariff bracket, where a percentage of seats are sold at heavily discounted rates.

BAQUEANO Mountain or wilderness guide.

BARRIO Neighbourhood.

BOFEDAL Spongey Altiplano wetland.

BOLEADORAS BOLAS Traditional hunting implement, composed of stone balls connected by thick cord, thrown to entangle legs or neck of prey. Traditionally used by gauchos, who inherited it from Argentina's indigenous inhabitants.

BOLETERA?A Ticket office.

BOLETO Travel ticket.

BOMBACHA Wide-legged gaucho trousers.

BOMBILLA Straw-like implement, usually of metal, used for drinking mate from a gourd.

BONDI Colloquial term in Buenos Aires for a bus.

BOTIQUA?N Medicine kit.

C/ The abbreviation of calle (street); only rarely used.

CABILDO Colonial town hall; now replaced by Municipalidad.

CABINA TELEFA?NICA Phone booth.

CACIQUE Generic term for the head of a Latin American indigenous community or people, elected or hereditary.

CAJERO AUTOMA?TICO ATM, cashpoint machine.

CALAFATE Type of thorny Patagonian bush, famous for its blue berries.

CAMIONETA Pick-up truck.

CAMPESINO Country-dweller; sometimes used to refer to someone with indigenous roots.

CAMPO DE HIELO Ice cap or ice-field.

CAA?A COLIHUE Native Patagonian plant of the forest understorey, which strongly resembles bamboo.

CANCHA Football stadium.

CANTINA Traditional restaurant, usually Italian.

CARACTERA?STICA Telephone code.

CARAGUATA? Sisal-like fibre used by the WichA­ for weaving yica bags.

CARPA Tent.

CARRETERA Route or highway.

CARTELERA Agency for buying discounted tickets for cinemas, theatres and concerts.

CASA DE TA? Tearoom.

CASCO Main building of estancia; the homestead.

CATARATAS Waterfalls, usually used to refer specifically to IguazA? Falls.

CAUDILLO Regional military or political leader, usually with authoritarian overtones.

CEBAR MATE To brew mate .

CEIBO Tropical tree with a twisted trunk, whose bright-red or pink blossom is the national flower of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

CERRO Hill, mountain peak.

CHACO HA?MEDO Wet chaco habitat.

CHACO SECO Dry chaco habitat.

CHACRA Small farm.

CHAGUAR See CaraguatA? .

CHAMAMA? Folk music from the littoral region, specifically Corrientes Province.

CHANGO Common term in the northwest for a young boy; often used in the sense of "mate"/"buddy".

CHAQUEA?O Someone from the Chaco.

CHATA Slang term for pick-up truck.

CHE Ubiquitous, classically Argentinian term, tagged onto the end of numerous statements and generally meaning "mate" or "buddy". From the Mapuche for "person".

CHOIQUE Common term, deriving from Mapudungun, for the smaller, southern Darwin's rhea of Patagonia.

CHURRO Strip of fried dough, somewhat similar to a doughnut, often filled with dulce de leche .

COLECTIVO Urban bus.

COMBI Small minibus that runs urban bus routes.

COMPARSA Carnival "school".

CONFITERA?A CafA© and tearoom, often with patisserie attached.

CONVENTILLO Tenement building.

CORDILLERA Mountain range; usually used in Argentina to refer to the Andes.

CORTADERA Pampas grass.

COSTANERA Riverside avenue.

COUNTRY Term for exclusive out-of-town residential compound or sports and social club.

CRIOLLO Historically an Argentinian-born person of Spanish descent. Used today in two ways: as a general term for Argentinian (as in comida criolla, traditional Argentinian food) and used by indigenous people to refer to those of non-indigenous descent.

CUADRA The distance from one street corner to the next, usually 100 metres (see also manzana ).

CUCHILLA Regional term for low hill in Entre RA­os.

CUESTA Slope or small hill.

CUMBIA Popular Argentinian "tropical" rhythm, inspired by Colombian cumbia.

DEPARTAMENTO Administrative district in a province; also an apartment.

DESCAMISADOS Term meaning "the shirtless ones," popularized by Juan and Evita PerA?n to refer to the working-class masses and dispossessed.

DESPENSA Shop (particularly in rural areas).

DA?A DE CAMPO Day spent at an estancia where traditional asado and empanadas are eaten and guests are usually given a display of gaucho skills.

DIQUE Dock; also dam.

E/ The abbreviation of entre (between), used in addresses.

EMPALME Junction of two highways.

ENCOMIENDA Package, parcel; also historical term for form of trusteeship bestowed on Spaniards after conquest, granting them rights over the native population.

ENTRADA Ticket (for football match, theatre etc).

ESTANCIA Argentinian farm, traditionally with huge areas of land.

ESTEPA Steppe.

ESTERO A shallow swampland, commonly found in El Litoral and Chaco areas.

FACA?N Gaucho knife, usually carried in a sheath.

FEDERALIST Nineteenth-century term for one in favour of autonomous power being given to the provinces; opponent of Unitarist.

FERIA ARTESANAL DE ARTESANA?AS Craft fair.

FERRETERA?A Hardware shop (often useful for camping equipment).

FERROCARRIL Railway.

FICHA Token.

FOGA?N Place for a barbecue or campfire; bonfire.

FONDA Simple restaurant.

GALERA?A Small shopping arcade.

GASEOSA Soft drink.

GAUCHO The typical Argentinian "cowboy", or rural estancia worker.

GENDARMERA?A Police station.

GOMERA?A Tyre repair centre.

GOMERO Rubber tree.

GRINGO Any white foreigner, though often specifically those from English-speaking countries; historically European immigrants to Argentina (as opposed to criollos), as in pampa gringa, the part of pampa settled by European immigrants.

GUANACO Wild camelid of the llama family.

GUARANA? Indigenous people and language, found principally in Misiones, Corrientes and Paraguay.

GUARDAEQUIPAJE Left-luggage office.

GUARDAFAUNA Wildlife ranger.

GUARDAGANADO Cattle grid.

GUARDAPARQUE National park ranger.

GA?NA?NA'KA?NA The northern group of the Tehuelche (q.v.), now extinct.

HACER DEDO To hitchhike.

HUMEDAL Any wetland swampy area.

IGM (Instituto GeogrA?fico Militar) The national military's cartographic institution.

IMPENETRABLE Term applied historically to the area of the dry chaco with the most inhospitable conditions for white settlement, due to lack of water; the name of a zone of northwestern Chaco Province.

INTENDENCIA Head office of a national park.

INTENDENTE Administrative chief of a national park.

INTERNO Telephone extension number.

ISLETA DE MONTE Clump of scrubby mixed woodland found in savannah or flat agricultural land, typically in the Chaco and the northeast of the country.

IVA (impuesto de valor agregado) Value-added tax or sales tax.

JACARANDA? Tropical tree with trumpet-shaped mauvish blossom.

JUNTA Military government coalition.

KIOSKO Newspaper stand or small store selling cigarettes, confectionery and some foodstuffs.

KOLLA Andean indigenous group predominant in the northwestern provinces of Salta and Jujuy.

LANCHA Smallish motor boat.

LAPACHO Tropical tree typical of the littoral region and distinguished by bright-pink blossom.

LEA?A Firewood.

LENGA Type of Nothofagus southern beech common in Patagonian forests.

LICUADO Milkshake.

El LITORAL Littoral, shore - used to refer to the provinces of Entre RA­os, Corrientes, Misiones, Santa Fe and sometimes Eastern Chaco and Formosa.

LITORALEA?O Inhabitant of El Litoral.

LOCUTORIO Call centre, where phone calls are made from cabins and the caller charged after the call is made.

LOMO DE BURRO Speed bump.

LONCO Head or cacique of a Mapuche community.

MADREJA?N A swampy ox-bow lake.

MALLA?N Swamp, particularly in upland moors.

MANZANA City block; the square bounded by four cuadras .

MAPUCHE One of Argentina's largest indigenous groups, whose ancestors originally came from Chilean Patagonia and whose biggest communities are found in the provinces of Chubut, RA­o Negro and especially NeuquA©n.

MAPUDUNGUN The language of the Mapuches.

MARCHA Commercial dance music.

MATACO See WichA­.

MATE Strictly the mate gourd or receptacle, but used generally to describe the national "tea" drink.

MENA? DEL DA?A Standard set menu.

MENA? ECECUTIVO Set menu. More expensive than the menA? del dA­a (q.v.), though not always that executive.

MESOPOTAMIA The three provinces of Entre RA­os, Corrientes and Misiones, by analogy with the ancient region lying between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, in modern-day Iraq.

MICRO Long-distance bus.

MICROCENTRO The area of a city comprising the central square and neighbouring streets.

MILONGA Style of folk-guitar music usually associated with the pampa region; also a tango dance and a subgenre of tango, more uptempo than tango proper.

MIRADOR Scenic lookout point or tower.

MONTE Scrubby woodland, often used to describe any uncultivated woodland area. Also used to refer to the desertified ecosystem that lies in the rainshadow of the central Andes around the Cuyo region.

MOZARABIC Spanish architectural style, originally dating from the ninth to thirteenth centuries and characterized by a fusion of Romanesque and Moorish styles.

MUELLE Pier or jetty.

MUNICIPALIDAD Municipality building or town hall.

A?ANDA? A common name, derived from GuaranA­, for the greater rhea, but also used to refer to its smaller cousin, the Darwin's rhea.

A?IRE Type of Nothofagus southern beech tree common in Patagonian forests.

A?OQUI Argentinian spelling of the Italian gnocchi, a small potato dumpling. Used to refer to phoney employees who appear on a company's payroll but don't actually work there; also slang for a punch.

NOTHOFAGUS Genus of Patagonian trees commonly called southern beech (includes lenga and A±ire q.v.).

OMBA? Large shade tree, originally from the Mesopotamic region and now associated with the pampa where it was introduced in the eighteenth century.

PAISANO Meaning "countryman"; sometimes loosely used as equivalent to gaucho and often used by people of indigenous descent to refer to themselves, thus avoiding the sometimes pejorative indio (Indian).

PALMAR Palm grove.

PALO BORRACHO Tree associated especially with the dry-chaco habitat of northern Argentina; its name (literally "drunken stick") is derived from its swollen trunk in which water is stored.

PALOMETA Piranha/piraA±a.

PAMPA The broad flat grasslands of central Argentina.

PARQUA?METRO Parking meter.

PARRILLA Barbecue grill or restaurant.

PARRILLADA The meat cooked on a parrilla .

PASAJE Narrow street.

PASEAPERRO Professional dog walker.

PASTIZAL Grassland, often used for grazing.

PATO The Argentinian national sport; similar to handball on horseback.

PAYADA Traditional improvised musical style, often performed as a kind of dialogue between two singers ( payadores ) who accompany themselves on guitars.

PEAJE Road toll.

PEATONAL Pedestrianized street.

PEHUA?N Mapuche term for monkey puzzle tree.

PEA?A Circle or group (usually of artists or musicians); a peA±a folklA?rica is a folk-music club.

PEA?N Farmhand.

PICADA A roughly-marked path; also a plate of small snacks eaten before a meal, particularly cheese, ham or smoked meats.

PLANTA BAJA Ground floor (first floor, US).

PLAYA Beach.

PLAYA DE ESTACIONAMIENTO Parking lot; garage.

PLAZOLETA/PLAZUELA Small square.

PORTEA?O Someone from Buenos Aires city.

PREFECTURA Naval prefecture for controlling river and marine traffic.

PUESTO Small outpost or hut for shepherds or guardaparques .

PUKARA? Pre-Colombian fortress.

PULPERA?A A type of traditional general-provisions store that doubles up as a bar and rural meeting point.

PUNA High Andean plateau (alternative term for altiplano ).

PUNTANO Someone from San Luis.

QUEBRADA Ravine, gully.

QUERANDA? Original indigenous inhabitants of the pampa region.

QUINTA Suburban or country house with a small plot of land, where fruit and vegetables are often cultivated.

QOM An indigenous group, living principally in the east of Formosa and Chaco provinces. The word means "people" in their language.

RANCHO Simple countryside dwelling, typically constructed of adobe.

RASTRA Gaucho belt, typically ornamented with silver.

RC (Ruta Complementaria) Subsidiary, unsealed road in Tierra del Fuego.

RECARGO Surcharge on credit cards.

RECOVA Arcade around the exterior of a building or courtyard, typical of colonial-era buildings.

REDUCCIA?N Jesuit mission settlement.

REFUGIO Trekking refuge.

REMISE/REMA?S Taxi or chauffeur-driven rental car, booked through a central office.

REMISE COLECTIVO Shared cab that runs fixed interurban routes.

REPRESA Dam; also reservoir.

RA?O River.

RIPIO Gravel; usually used to describe an unsurfaced gravel road.

RN (Ruta Nacional) Major route, usually paved.

RP (Ruta Provincial) Provincial road, sometimes paved.

RUTA Route or road.

SALTO Waterfall.

SAPUCAY Bloodcurdling shriek characteristic of chamamA© .

SELK'NAM Nomadic, indigenous guanaco-hunters from Tierra del Fuego, whose last members died in the 1960s. Also called Ona, the YA?mana (q.v.) name for them.

SENDERO Path or trail.

S/N Used in addresses to indicate that there's no house number ( sin nA?mero ).

SOROCHE Altitude sickness.

SORTIJA Display of gaucho skill in which the galloping rider must spear a small ring hung from a thread.

SUBTE Buenos Aires' underground railway.

TANGUERA?A Tango club.

TASA DE TERMINAL Terminal tax.

TAXA?METRO Taxi meter.

TEHUELCHE Generic term for the different nomadic steppe tribes of Patagonia, who early European explorers named "Patagones".

TELEFA?RICO Gondola or cable car.

TENEDOR LIBRE Eat all you like buffet restaurant.

TERERA? Common drink in the subtropical north of the country and Paraguay, composed of yerba mate served with wild herbs ( yuyos ) and ice-cold water or lemonade.

TERMINAL DE A?MNIBUS Bus terminal.

TERRATENIENTE Landowner.

TIPA Acacia-like tree often found in northern yungas.

TOBA See Qom.

TRUCO Argentina's national card game, in which the ability to outbluff your opponents is of major importance.

UNITARISTS Nineteenth-century centralists, in favour of power being centralized in Buenos Aires; opponent of Federalist.

VILLA Short for villa miseria , a shanty town.

WICHA? Semi-nomadic indigenous group, living predominantly in the dry central and western areas of Chaco and Formosa provinces, and in the far east of Salta. Sometimes referred to pejoratively as Mataco.

YAHGANES See YA?mana.

YA?MANA Nomadic indigenous canoe-going people who inhabited the channels to the south of Tierra del Fuego, and whose culture died out in Argentina in the early twentieth century. Called Yahganes by later nineteenth-century missionaries.

YERBA MATE The leaves of the plant, used to brew mate .

YPF (YACIMIENTOS PETROLEROS FISCALES) The principal Argentinian petroleum company, now privatized. It is usually used to refer to the company's fuel stations.

ZONA FRANCA Duty-free zone.