Equis
Wed, Jan 27, 2016
Una fiesta equis = a lame, boring party. Un tipo equis = someone without interesting, redeeming features.
As you know, equis is the name of the letter x. However, as an adjective it conveys the idea of disappointingly ordinary or unimpressive. It's perfect for dismissing something — or someone — as unworthy of your attention.
- Un partido equis. This could refer to one of those small, inconsequential political parties that receives state funding but has no chance of being influential, much less of winning.
- Es equis. He's plain, ordinary, conventional, without redeeming qualities. Basically, someone who doesn't meet your standards.
- Una fiesta equis. A disappointing party with lame music, uninteresting people, no alcohol. To emphasize that the party was boring or tedious, you could say it was pesada or — more crudely — de hueva.
- You can modify equis with intensifiers: muy equis, bastante equis, súper equis
- Equis can modify a verb: Canta equis. He's not a great singer.
- The form is invariable: su fiesta equis, sus fiestas equis
- It comes in handy as a one-word response:
— ¿Qué tal tu día?
— Equis. - In formal situations, choose a standard alternative: un partido equis → un partido sin importancia, un partido cualquiera
Un tache
The kind of x used for crossing something out would not be una equis but rather un tache, from the verb tachar, cross out. On a form, you can indicate your selection by writing un tache ✗ instead of una palomita ✓.
Una tacha
The feminine counterpart, una tacha, refers to a hit of the recreational drug ectasy, nicknamed X in English.