What does “igualito a” mean in Rioplatense Spanish?
Cómo descubrí que soy doble de Ricky Martin
B1 Spanish listening practice · Rioplatense Spanish · Picked for people who know some
Rioplatense Spanish (Argentina, Uruguay) leans on the diminutive -ito / -ita not to make things smaller but to make them exactly so. Igual means “the same”; igualito a means “exactly like, the spitting image of.” A dad calls a baby igualito al abuelo; a fan looks igualita a Shakira. The diminutive signals warmth and precision at the same time.
In this clip, an Argentine man explains how he became Ricky Martin’s official Argentine lookalike: he saw himself in profile one morning, told a relative “voy a hacer el Ricky Martin Argentina”, posted a viral video mowing his lawn, and earned the nickname jardinero. The whole story rides on igualito a Ricky Martin.
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Harder words in this video
These words are harder than B1. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Rioplatense morning shows like *Almorzando con Mirtha Legrand, A la Barbarossa and Mañanísima*
- ▸In Argentine humour coverage on Página/12, Clarín Espectáculos and La Nación
- ▸In Uruguayan press by El País and El Observador on Spanish-language tribute acts
- ▸In doppelgänger features on Telefe and Canal 13 Argentina entertainment news