LA BICICLETA, EL TRICICLO Y EL VIVO

A picture I took of a bicicleta in Zijdijk, Amsterdam

September 2009

Bicicleta: (n/f) bicicleta [be-see-kleh-tah]. Bicycle. It's a 'lady' word. I mean it is a "la" word. Maybe because, like Venezuelan ladies, the rear is (double) butted; which makes me think on triciclo (n/m) [tree-see-kloh] tricycle (a 'male' word) and its three wheels...(?)

e.g.

¡Cuidado y te atropella una bicicleta! [coo-eeh-dah-doh eeh teh ah-troh-peh-ja oo-nah...] Careful! You might get ran over by a bicycle!
This is an idiom mostly used when we refer to someone who wants to play el vivo [vee-boh] "the clever one" (lit. the alive one) and take extra profit on any given situation.

¡Se jodió la bicicleta! [seh ho-dee-ohh...] The bicycle got screwed.
That's what we say when we come across a situation that's gone out of control. Mostly referred to political affairs.

So, a regular conversation nowadays in Venezuela would go like this:
(beware that I won't literally translate in this post)

- Epa chamo, ¿cómo está la vaina? / hey man, how you doin'?
- Bueno aquí vale, tratando de comprar unos dolaritos a 5lín en el mercado negro. / Here man, trying to buy some dollars at 5 bolívares in the black market.
- ¡Cuidado y te atropella una bicicleta!
- ¿Por qué lo dices mi hermanazo? / Why do you say that my brother?
- Porque desde que se nos jodió la bicicleta por la devaluación, conseguir dólares a 5 bolívares está más difícil que envolver un triciclo / since we are all screwed by the devaluation, finding dollars at 5 bolívares is harder than wrapping a tricycle.
- Bueno, tu sabes que aquí hay que ser vivo; uno nunca sabe... / Well, you know here we have to be clever; you never know...

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Tía Chiqui