She Wowed Him With Her Whistle. No Translation Needed. - The New York Times - Translation

Carolina Pejo impressed Jonathan Walters by cheering dancers at a tango performance in Uruguay. He impressed her with “the best kiss I ever received.”

Ana Carolina Pejo Henderson and her parents were sure Jonathan Milam Walters would run the other way after spending a couple days in August 2022 wrangling, shearing and vaccinating a few hundred baby lambs on their farm in Artigas, Uruguay, bordering Brazil.

To everyone’s surprise, and delight, he got the job done, and stayed.

“I wear silk scarves — cravats — and cashmere sweaters,” said Mr. Walters, 37, who grew up in Richmond, Va., and moved to Montevideo, Uruguay in December 2021.

“There was something about Latin America that enchanted me,” he said, and expected to use Uruguay as his base, while he explored the region.

A month later, he missed hearing English so much, his ears perked up when he heard Dr. Pejo, 38, who goes by Carolina, speaking it with a friend at the Montevideo Beer Company in Punta Carretas.

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Rizz is Oxford's word of the year for 2023. What does it mean? - NPR - Dictionary

Have you got "rizz"? Oxford University Press has selected this shortened form of "charisma" as its word of the year.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Let me ask you a question. Are you an alluring flirt? Are you a seductive charmer? If yes, then you've definitely got rizz.

CASPER GRATHWOHL: When I was a young person, people would say game. Oh, that person's got game. You know, it's the same concept. Young people find new words to describe these experiences that are universal.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary has declared rizz the word of the year. Apparently it comes from charisma. Casper Grathwohl, who heads the dictionary division, explains how rizz rose to the top.

GRATHWOHL: Rizz - it's clearly a youth culture word that's come out of their social media activity, and so much of social media has amplified the voice of youth culture in the mainstream.

INSKEEP: Grathwohl says picking the word of the year is a mix of art and science. Until recently, editors at Oxford University Press would make the call based on spikes in usage and other factors. Last year, they got the public involved and put the finalists up for a vote.

MARTIN: And people chose goblin mode, the unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly or greedy habits so many of us struggled with as we tried to return to our pre-pandemic lives. For Grathwohl, going from goblin mode to rizz is a sign of hopefulness.

GRATHWOHL: Something like rizz, where it's about your energy and your ability to sort of attract and to strut, says something about human interaction again and how we're kind of ready again to take part and really connect.

INSKEEP: If you could only be here in this studio with me, people. Michel Martin is here. She's got rizz.

MARTIN: So does Steve.

INSKEEP: She's got rizz.

MARTIN: So much rizz, so much rizz right here.

INSKEEP: Thank you. And look, man, in the - everybody here...

MARTIN: Everybody here.

INSKEEP: ...In the studio...

MARTIN: Everybody.

INSKEEP: ...Has rizz, has rizz. Rizz is NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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Oxford Dictionary Word of the Year: Rizz Meaning Explained - The Mary Sue - Dictionary

Well, Oxford has released its word of the year, and it’s rizz. If you’re not worried about turning an English essay in on time, you may be wondering what rizz means, and, well, the answer still probably won’t satisfy you.

I never realized that there was an “Oxford’s-word-of-the-year-doesn’t-apply-in-any-context-to-your-life” point of aging, and yet, here we are. Rizz. The word of the year is rizz. Can you imagine 30 years from now 2023’s word of the year showing up in a spelling bee and the contestant buys themselves time by asking for the etymology? Use in a sentence? How would you even begin with that jumping-off point?!

According to CNN, a notoriously hip publication,”rizz” first rose to prominence because of Tom Holland (of all people) in this Buzzfeed video:

Frankly, this video just reminds me why my (millennial) Spider-Man will always be Tobey Maguire, because what in the hell is he saying there? Also, am I so old that I didn’t know Tom Holland was a cultural trendsetter? I think of him as the latest in a long line of Spider-Mans. I had no idea he had the kind of social cache that could influence the dictionary. Next, you’ll be telling me the proverbial kids still don’t jam out to Crazy Town’s “Butterfly“!

Until now, I was only vaguely familiar with this word because one of my friend’s kindergarteners was described as having “rizz” by a teenager and I had to stop and get a definition because this word (like basically all English words, really) is utter nonsense. Rizz is short for charisma. It’s defined by the Oxford as: “style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.”

Look, as a geriatric millennial, I’m a forever renter, but if I had a lawn, I’d be yelling at everyone to get off it right now. I feel old, and this is simply too much information in one setting. I now have to readjust my entire worldview: Tom Holland has enough social power to influence the word of the year, which is rizz. A word I know in my heart that I, a woman in her (very) late thirties, would be absolutely ridiculous to use in any setting other than to utter the sentence: “I can’t get over the fact the word of the year is ‘rizz.'”

You may be wondering what the other finalists for Word of the Year were. They included Swiftie (a fan of Taylor Swift, obviously. I walk that walk every day) and situationship (a relationship that isn’t clearly defined). For what it’s worth, I think the shortlisted word “parasocial” should have won. As defined by the Oxford University Press, parasocial means:

Designating a relationship characterized by the one-sided, unreciprocated sense of intimacy felt by a viewer, fan, or follower for a well-known or prominent figure (typically a media celebrity), in which the follower or fan comes to feel (falsely) that they know the celebrity as a friend.

Maybe that’s because parasocial seems like a word that has staying power, but I also know, deep in my soul, it’s also because it’s a word I wouldn’t look ridiculous and out-of-touch using since I understand its proper context. Do I, who saw Titanic multiple times in the theater in 1997, have any idea how to use the word “rizz” in a sentence that wouldn’t elicit laughter from people who actually do? No. Absolutely not.

The nice thing about my age is that at least I probably wouldn’t care if they laughed. I’m used to being laughed at—I am an elder millennial forged in the fires of pencil-thin overplucked eyebrows, unblended self-tanner, bleached-out highlights, and a fancy synthetic fabric “going out top”—my generation is battle-hardened. Or it could just be the obscene amount of hair products we used to get our hair spiky back in the day that make us feel hard, I don’t know. I doubt we were ever able to get all those chemicals off us, to be honest.

Regardless, rizz is, in the very least, here to stay for a little while. Use it how you will. I won’t mock you. I may ask you what it means in whatever context you’re using because I still don’t quite get it, but then again, I have strong opinions about what “on a break” meant in the context of Ross and Rachel. My time as the confounding youth of the world is over. I shall graciously pass the baton, and hold on to my own, deeply outdated millennial slang. If you don’t like it, well, talk to the hand.

(Featured Image: NBC Universal)

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When research study materials don't speak their participants' language, data can get lost in translation - The Conversation Indonesia - Translation

Imagine your mother has cancer. You just heard about a promising new experimental treatment and want to enroll her in the study. However, your mother immigrated to the U.S. as an adult and speaks limited English. When you reach out to the research team, they tell you she is ineligible because they are recruiting only English speakers.

Unfortunately, this is an all too likely outcome of a scenario like this, because non-English speakers are frequently excluded from clinical trials and research studies in the U.S.

Despite efforts to increase research participation, racial and ethnic minorities remain underrepresented in results. A review of 5,008 papers in three pediatric journals from 2012 to 2021 revealed that only 9% of these studies included non-English speaking volunteers.

Language is a key barrier to participation, as even those with some English proficiency are less likely to participate in studies when recruitment materials aren’t in their native language. Language barriers also hinder a person’s ability to provide informed consent to participate.

This problem is not likely to fade away. The number of people with limited English proficiency in the U.S. grew by 80% between 1990 and 2013, going from nearly 14 million to 25.1 million people. As of 2022, this number rose to 26.5 million people. Excluding people with limited English proficiency is not only unethical, as these groups deserve the same access to experimental and evolving therapies as the English-speaking population, but also limits how applicable research findings are to the general population.

One way to eliminate language barriers is by translating research documents. As a translation scholar, I strive to discover ways to improve translation quality to benefit the research community and broader society. Translation in research, however, is not straightforward. Not only must the translated materials be accurate, they also have to serve their intended purpose.

The most commonly used method to evaluate translation quality in health research is backtranslation – translating the translated text into the original language and assessing how well it matches the original text. And yet, this method relies on outdated scholarship from the 1970s, perpetuating serious misconceptions about how translation works.

Understanding translation

Translation involves much more than just transferring written words from one language to another. For many health researchers, the goal of translation is to transfer meaning so it remains intact in a new language. Along these lines, the translator is meant to be a conduit of perfect linguistic equivalence. Yet, current work in the field of translation studies indicates this perfect match or meaning transfer is only an illusion.

A translator is not a conduit of meaning, but both a reader of the original text and a writer of the translation. As such, translators have their own positioning in the world that comes with a set of conscious or unconscious values and knowledge that bias how they read and write. Translation is a process of interpretation regardless of how objective a translator aims to be.

Furthermore, languages do not match structurally or culturally. For instance, the English sentence “I arrived late” structurally corresponds to the Spanish “Yo llegué tarde” because the grammar lines up. But because Spanish expresses subject information through verb endings (“lleg-ué”), the “Yo” is normally interpreted as contrastive, meaning that “I” was the one who arrived late as opposed to someone else.

A perfect match in backtranslation often reflects a translation that is too similar to the original, such that it often contradicts the norms of the translated language. For instance, a health status questionnaire translated “My thinking is clear” into Portuguese as “O meu pensamento é claro.” Despite good backtranslation results, patients in Brazil stated it was unclear. Changing it to “Consigo pensar claramente” (“I am able to think clearly”) communicated more effectively and naturally with the target population.

Patients with limited English proficiency are less likely to participate in research studies if the materials aren’t in their primary language. SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

Translation scholars suggest that a more realistic, descriptive and explanatory approach to translation is one governed by what the commissioner wants to achieve with the translation. Under this view, the translator makes decisions according to the type of text being translated and to the purpose of the translation.

How translators approach texts and what strategies they use to translate them varies with each document. Some texts require closer adherence to the words of the original than others. For instance, legal or regulatory considerations require translating the chemical ingredients list of a medication more closely to the structure of the source than a recruitment flyer that aims to convince readers to participate in a study. Translators of research documents need to determine the needs of the specific text in collaboration with both the researchers and representatives of the population they’re studying.

Translation affects research results

Recent studies show that translation can affect data validity and reliability. An inadequate approach may result in translated materials that don’t work as intended. For instance, a survey may produce incomplete or incorrect data if participants misunderstand or are unclear about the questions.

My team and I investigated how different translation approaches affected how readers responded to translated materials. We had bilingual participants review two versions of a survey measuring perceptions of stress. Each version was translated into Spanish in a different way.

One of the two translations was produced with a literal approach that aimed to be as equivalent as possible to the original, while the other followed a functionalist approach that focused on achieving the purpose specified for the translation. In this case, the goal was to obtain data on how a Spanish-speaking population perceives daily stress.

We asked participants to review the two translated versions of the survey, then indicate any unclear sections and which version they preferred. We found that participants preferred the functionalist translation and identified a higher number of problems in the translation focused on equivalence. Participants commented that the “equivalent” translation was more difficult to understand, too direct and seemed obviously translated.

A literal translation may not best serve the aims of its commissioner. parema/E+ via Getty Images

Other studies have shown that translated materials are less accessible overall compared with the original documents. Researchers have also found that some translation approaches increase reading complexity. One study found that a survey used to measure the health progress of patients translated with a functionalist approach had better readability than published counterparts that used a more literal approach.

The translation process is complicated. Lack of awareness of its complexities can affect not only equitable participation in research but also the validity and reliability of its methodology and findings. But with the right approach, translation can increase a study’s reach, diversify its data and lead to new findings and ideas. Reaching out to a translation scholar before starting a project can help scholars prevent their data and research from getting lost in translation.

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Lost in translation: Disability advocates urge Maryland agencies to improve language access - Baltimore Sun - Translation

For nearly six years, Mirian Librado González has been trying to reverse a decision that, at the time, she didn’t understand she was making.

After her son, Jaser, finished kindergarten in Baltimore County Public Schools, Librado González met with his teachers to talk about a plan for his education. She knew that Jaser would require accommodations. He had been diagnosed with autism and struggled to communicate verbally.

But Librado González, who is from Mexico and doesn’t speak English, had a hard time hearing the interpreter, who called into the otherwise in-person meeting. Several times, she recalled, the line went dead.

School staff members encouraged her to enroll Jaser in a special education program called Functional Academic Learning Support. She signed the documents but didn’t understand until later that Jaser would earn a certificate, not a diploma, with the program, which is designed to support students with significant learning delays from ages 3 to 21.

That’s not what she wanted for her son.

“All the papers I received were in English, and I didn’t know what it was that I was signing,” Librado González said in Spanish, translated for The Baltimore Sun by Lisa Lorraine, a program manager at the Jubilee Association of Maryland, an organization that supports adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Montgomery County.

Spanish speakers in Maryland, among other non-native English speakers, have long struggled to access disability services for themselves and their children, Lorraine said. A recent analysis of state data showed that while 14% of Maryland public school students who are diagnosed with autism are Hispanic, that’s only true of 4% of Marylanders participating in the state’s autism waiver program, which provides home and community-based support for kids with the disability.

The analysis was conducted by Enriqueciendo Vidas, a coalition of Maryland disability advocacy groups that are seeking equitable access to services for Hispanic and other underserved state residents. Enriqueciendo Vidas is Spanish for “enriching lives.”

The coalition’s analysis also found that while the state’s population is 12% Hispanic — up from about 8% in 2010, Hispanics make up:

• 3% of people participating in services with Maryland’s Developmental Disabilities Administration;
• 4% of those participating in the vocational rehabilitation program with the Maryland State Department of Education’s Division of Rehabilitation Services;
• 1.6% of Marylanders housed through a federally funded program that increases rental housing opportunities for people with disabilities living on low income.

In October, Enriqueciendo Vidas wrote a letter to Gov. Wes Moore and other state leaders, urging them to address the disparities. In the letter, organizations in the coalition asked leaders to require state agencies that serve people with disabilities to create language access plans — and couple that mandate with funding to ensure the plans are implemented.

In the letter, Enriqueciendo Vidas said the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Department of Disabilities both report not having a language access plan — a policy that includes instructions for translating documents, providing interpretation and training staff on how to effectively use interpreters. Language access plans also inform families how to access language services, request translated documents or interpretation and make complaints when language services aren’t provided.

Under Title 6 of the Civil Rights Act, organizations that get money from the federal government are required to take reasonable steps to provide people with limited English proficiency with meaningful access to their programs and services. The federal Individual with Disabilities Education Act and the Code of Maryland Regulations additionally require that some special education documents be translated to a person’s native language.

Despite these regulations, some state agencies need to improve the way they deliver accessible services, Lorraine said. For example, when someone applies to receive services from the Developmental Disabilities Administration — which is run by the state health department — they receive a letter that explains whether they’re eligible. The letter lists a phone number people can call for assistance in their native language, but when they call the number, the message is in English, Lorraine said.

“It does not give an option for language access assistance,” said Lorraine, the manager of Jubilee’s Breaking Barriers program, which supports Hispanic and Asian people with disabilities in Montgomery County. “I have called this number — I’ve asked clients to call this number — but we don’t really get anywhere.”

Since Enriqueciendo Vidas’s Oct. 23 letter, the coalition has set up meetings with the Maryland Department of Disabilities and the Department of Health. Even though the health department has a language access plan, advocates said families still sometimes face interpretation and translation obstacles when applying for agency programs.

In an email, Kimberly McKay — assistant secretary of programs at the Department of Disabilities — confirmed that the agency does not have an official language access plan, but said creating one is a priority.

Dr. Laura Herrera Scott, the state’s health secretary, responded to the coalition’s letter within a week. Although the issues described by the coalition won’t be solved overnight, she wrote, she plans to start working toward addressing their root causes with Carol Beatty, the state secretary of disabilities. Scott said she will direct her team to review the department’s protocols and outreach programs to identify gaps in the system and understand possible disparities.

“I appreciate your offer for partnership,” her letter said, “and I am looking forward to working closely with you and the associated organizations to bring about the necessary change to provide a more equitable system of support for all individuals with disabilities in Maryland.”

As of Tuesday, the Maryland State Department of Education — which runs the Division of Rehabilitation Services — hadn’t responded to the coalition’s letter, Lorraine said, although two representatives from the department attended an event hosted by the coalition Sunday.

In a statement, Raven Hill, a spokeswoman for the state education department, said it “takes reasonable steps” to provide equal access to services for people with limited English proficiency. The rehabilitation services division, for instance, has brochures available in eight languages, and provides language interpreters for in-person and virtual meetings.

Local school systems conduct Individual Education Plan meetings — not the state education department, Hill said — so problems with language interpretation in those meetings should be addressed by local school boards.

In a statement, Baltimore County Public Schools — where Jaser is a student — said it is committed to supporting families in meaningfully participating in their children’s education. In-person interpretation services are available and can be requested by the school for pre-scheduled meetings or conferences, and the school system is working to develop a robust inventory of translated documents and forms. Schools can request the translation of documents only available in English, the statement said.

“BCPS has explored the use of interpretation and translation tools to include interpreter headsets and handheld translation devices, and we are preparing to launch a new communication app to allow for enhanced text updates and communications with parents in their preferred language,” the statement read.

The Parents’ Place of Maryland — which supports and advocates for children with disabilities and their families — recently updated its language access plan. It was a considerable undertaking for the small nonprofit, but creating the plan was an important step for the organization to assess the demographics of the families it serves and figure out how best to use its resources, said Rosa Rivera-Lily, the organization’s director of equity and engagement.

Updating the organization’s language access plan was important for financial reasons, too, said executive director Rene Averitt-Sanzone.

“At the end of the day, as a grant-funded organization, we are using taxpayer dollars,” she said. “And so we really want to be very intentional and strategic with how we are using our resources in a way to try to get us the biggest bang for our buck in supporting our most underserved and marginalized communities.”

The Parents’ Place holds workshops and training sessions in Spanish and is slowly but surely translating its educational materials into Spanish, Averitt-Sanzone said. But she and Rivera-Lily know that more is needed to achieve equity.

Families that are new to the United States are used to different educational systems, Rivera-Lily explained. Many aren’t aware their children may be eligible to receive services that would help them transition from high school to the workplace. So, she said, it isn’t enough to have an interpreter translating every word in an IEP team meeting for a parent who is an immigrant.

“They’re asking families, ‘Do you want transition help?’ They don’t know what transition is. They don’t have transition in their country,” Rivera-Lily said. “That translates to ‘moving from left to right.’ Most parents are like, ‘No, I don’t need transition help.’ And they keep moving. Nobody really stops to explain what that means. And I’ve witnessed that time and time again.”

Jimara Kocik, a board member for the Howard County Autism Society who has a 10-year-old son with autism, also has seen the consequences of information being lost in translation. As an immigrant from Central America, Kocik speaks Spanish and is learning English. She often helps parents who only speak Spanish navigate application processes to get resources for their children.

Recently, she and her husband moved their son to a private school in Baltimore that specializes in educating children with disabilities after they were dissatisfied by his progress in Howard County Public Schools. She’d bring her English-speaking husband to IEP meetings so he could translate anything she didn’t understand. She didn’t trust the school’s interpreter. In her mind, the school already had let her son down.

“I won’t accomplish anything by myself,” Kocik said. “Me, as a Latina, as a mom, with my language? No. My accent? No way.”

• Jimara Kocik, left, plays with her son Christopher, 10, who is autistic, at Blandair Regional Park in Columbia. Christopher recently moved from the Howard County Public School System to a private school in Baltimore.

• Christopher Kocik, 10, is autistic.

• Jimara Kocik, right, plays with her 10-year-old son Christopher, who is autistic. Jimara, an immigrant from Central America, said language barriers often make it harder for immigrants to get the services they need.

• Christopher Kocik, 10, who is autistic, plays at Blandair Regional Park in Columbia under the watch of his father Richard.

A spokesperson for Howard County Public Schools directed a reporter to a webpage about multilingual family services on the school system’s website when asked about Kocik’s experience. According to the webpage, Howard County Public Schools provides phone referral services in Spanish and Korean for families with questions and concerns related to school matters. The school system, it says, also has a “cadre” of certified interpreters who assist with communication at school meetings, parent-teacher conferences and at other school functions.

There is a real lack of trust between families and state agencies that serve people with disabilities, Averitt-Sanzone said. Often, it’s up to nonprofits like the Parents’ Place to dispel misinformation and help guide families through complicated application processes. But many organizations don’t have consistent funding sources.

The Parents’ Place, for instance, relies mostly on state and federal grants to keep the lights on. While some grants last for multiple years, others must be renewed annually. It’s a rare moment when Averitt-Sanzone isn’t midway through a grant application or preparing to start another one. She’s currently figuring out how to keep the bilingual staff members she hired during the pandemic with coronavirus-specific federal grant dollars.

Enriqueciendo Vidas’s letter also asks state leaders to provide multi-year, consistent funding to nonprofits that provide education, training and guidance to underserved families that care for people with disabilities.

“What we’re asking for is the systemic solution,” Lorraine said. “That the state put in the investment, continuous investment, to be able to support this type of work at organizations that have a proven track record of doing it.”

Workshops led in Spanish by the Parents’ Place and other nonprofits have helped Librado González become more informed about her rights as a parent and her son’s rights as a student.

She still wants Jaser, who is now in 6th grade, to be able to graduate with a diploma, but she isn’t optimistic. It’s been so many years since he was enrolled in the certificate program.

“They trick you, saying ‘Jaser is doing well,’” Librado González said. “‘He’s happy, he’s smiling.’ The teachers are laughing when they are talking about it. But they’re not explaining that he’s not progressing.”

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TLC's 'Love & Translation' Daters Overcome Language Barriers (Exclusive) - PEOPLE - Translation

Fifteen singles from across the globe are coming together in a seaside villa to find their soul mates in Love & Translation. The catch? Twelve of them speak almost no English. 

PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the First Look at TLC’s newest dating show a handful of hopefuls try their luck at finding “the one” despite not having a clue what the other person is saying. 

“Without a shared language or the use of a translator, this series explores how singles looking for love come together in the attempt to find a connection," according to a press release from the network. "In spending time together and focusing on getting to know one another, Love & Translation will showcase raw, genuine moments in a unique dating environment.” 

'Love & Translation' cast.

TLC

The eligible bachelors from the U.S. including Dylan, 21, from Florida; Kahlil, 24, from Texas, and Tripp, 30, from California.

The 12 women include: Jhenyfer, 24, from Brazil; Tulay, 25, from Germany; Sara, 20, from Italy; Imane, 21, from Morocco; Airi, 20, from Japan; Leidi, 28, from Colombia; Yam, 29, from Mexico; Gisele, 29, from Brazil; Joceline, 28, from France; Assia, 21, from France; Jin, 32, from South Korea, and Jhuliana, 23, from Bolivia.

In the trailer, the singles are quick to leapfrog over their language barriers to get into hookups and drama.

“I was born to be loved, and I was born to love another person,” Airi explains in a confessional interview. 

And Jhuliana describes her first impressions of American men: “I think that American men are gentlemen. They treat women very well.”

'Love & Translation' cast.

TLC

But more attention isn't always a good thing — especially when Dylan is accused of “playing with many girls.”

The release teases, “With challenges that include utilizing the five senses such as uninterrupted eye gazing and pheromone attraction tests, as well as adrenaline-pumping group date activities, these singles will try to learn about each other without the gift of language. And if the singles aren’t feeling that loving feeling with anyone, they can pack up their bags and look for love elsewhere. Love & Translation aims to find out what it takes to make a love connection when language is too foreign.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Love & Translation premieres Jan. 21 at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.

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A term for popular a reggaeton dance is added to Spanish-language dictionary - NPR - Dictionary

The Spanish Royal Academy has added "perreo" to its dictionary, but the term's been around for decades. The move puts a spotlight on the dance and its significance in reggaetón music.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

This is the time of year when dictionaries tell us which new words they have accepted as legitimate. And it's also the time of the year when we hear from the Royal Spanish Academy, which oversees the Spanish language. Among the new words added this year is one that's been around for decades. Anamaria Sayre from NPR's Alt.Latino explains.

ANAMARIA SAYRE, BYLINE: Anything from your Bad Bunnies.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YO PERREO SOLA")

BAD BUNNY: (Singing in Spanish).

SAYRE: You Karol G's.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WATATI")

KAROL G: (Singing in Spanish).

SAYRE: If you've ever heard them on the radio or listen to them at a party, you likely have danced something close to what is a perreo.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Academy defined perreo as a dance that is generally performed to the rhythm of reggaeton, with erotic movements of the hips. Got that? And when danced by couples, I am told, one dancer is usually found behind the other with their bodies very close together, so basically twerking.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DADDY YANKEE: When I see the twerking, I said, yeah, that's perreo.

UNIDENTIFIED DJ: Right?

DADDY YANKEE: Yeah. Of course.

INSKEEP: That's reggaeton star Daddy Yankee talking years ago with LA's Power 106 radio station about perreo and twerking.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DADDY YANKEE: That's the American way of perreo.

MARTIN: The style of dance gained popularity in Puerto Rico and then quickly caught on around the world. Sayre says the acceptance of the word perreo solidifies the dance's place in reggaeton music.

SAYRE: It's kind of like a living, breathing history lesson in both revolution and subversion. It's something that was not traditionally seen as approved or as high class even. It was - kind of emerged from the underground.

INSKEEP: Some artists use the dance as a way to reclaim power.

SAYRE: "Yo Quiero Bailar" comes to mind by Ivy Queen.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YO QUIERO BAILAR")

IVY QUEEN: (Singing in Spanish).

SAYRE: She's a supreme feminist in the genre, and it really kind of was, like, the ultimate indicator that the woman is in charge and that this is a female-dominated dance, which I think forever changed both the genre and the dance itself.

MARTIN: But for Sayre, the acceptance of perreo is bittersweet, as it highlights the complicated history of the dance.

SAYRE: It's, like, this really beautiful exemplar of all of the difficult parts of colonization and how to turn something beautiful out of something that people in power don't want to see become beautiful. And so it's a really incredible thing to watch a journey like this from the '90s till now.

INSKEEP: Again, the word is perreo, P-E-R-R-E-O.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YO PERREO SOLA")

NESI: (Singing in Spanish).

Copyright © 2023 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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