Güeras have more fun. So do catires

My ATA Chronicle arrived this weekend, along with my copy of Entertainment Weekly.

Instead of a cover featuring a larger-than-life Tom Cruise and his inescapable smile, the Chronicle had a cover I can't remember. Probably something pretty and tasteful.

But the appeal of the Chronicle is not the cover, but rather, the contents. There was a dictionary review by a Puerto Rican translator. How often does anybody discuss the slang terms for "blond" such as catire and güero? And more importantly, proper usage.

The author mentions how the former is unknown in Puerto Rico. I concur; when I was living there, I never heard that term. The first time, I was in El Salvador and a colleague commented how catire my daughter is. I stood there with a blank face until my colleague kindly explained she was talking about my daughter's blond hair.