Un rato is not the buck-toothed, naked-tailed rodent gnawing at your profit margins (that’s la rata) but a somewhat ambivalent Spanish unit of time. En un rato means in a little while. A really short while is un ratito although, if you’re waiting impatiently, a ratito can pass like a bunch of ratos strung together. (Never think a ratón is the opposite of a ratito. Ratón, which would seem to mean big rato since the suffix ón is typically a majoritive, curiously means mouse, or little rata. Go figure.)

Everybody knows pronto, or thinks they do. Pronto actually means ready but can be employed roughly the way English uses prompt as in “Hizo muy pronto el trabajo,” he did the work very quickly. In Spanish pronto has the flavor of sudden or impulsive. That suits some English-speaking bosses who think that rápido isn’t rapid enough.

Prisa means to hurry or urgency. A toda prisa means at full speed. These words may come as a surprise to some folks who have been indoctrinated in the idea that Spanish speakers utterly lack urgency and wish to put all tasks off until mañana and only gringos can make things run on time. In reality Spanish has lots of terms for immediacy. Ahora means now as in right now. When you wish to communicate “right now” with frustration in your voice you can always say ahora mismo, which literally means “the same right now” but comes off as “this instant!” For right nows that have some wiggle room, listen for ahorita – the little right now.

Cultures do view time differently, which is one of the challenges of managing a farm in one language and selling its products to customers in another language. Just try to make sure you are actually communicating to your employees clearly about your expectations. This can be a bit tricky since many Spanish words for time are elastic in their definition. Mañana really can mean tomorrow just as it means morning. On our farm I’ve observed I’m usually the person most guilty of procrastination. I’ve also noted we often do our best work in the mañana. Tarde means afternoon. It also means late, as in the English word tardy. Sometimes putting something off until mañana can mean doing the task tarde. That’s the clarity of language for you.

Time itself, or tiempo, can also mean weather. I like this ambiguity since it lends temperature and texture to an otherwise abstract concept. ¿Qué es el tiempo? could mean (awkwardly) What is the time? but could (less awkwardly) mean What is the weather? “Como está el tiempo?” would be correct for What’s the weather? Here along California’s central coast the tiempo is, ahora mismo, cool and foggy. Mas tarde, en la tarde we are likely to have bright clear conditions. That’s our Santa Cruz version of fall, or otoño. Seasons in Spanish are temporadas. Temporada is a cognate with temporary and serves to remind us that weather conditions don’t last. Foggy mornings and bright cool afternoons will eventually be interrupted with rain sometime along about November. Before there’s a cambio en el tiempo I’ve got to turn under our tomato, pepper, and eggplant crops to plant a cover crop. There is some urgency to these tasks but I’m tired. I’m thinking of putting the job off hasta mañana.

Farming tools could be an important set of vocabulary for you Growing for Market readers, so here are some words that you aren’t likely to find in a Spanish class at your local community college.

El azadón-hoe
el disco/la rastra-disk
el cuchillo-knife
el tractor-tractor
el agua-water
las pipas-pipes
el diablo-handtruck
la paleta-trowel
la pala-shovel
el rastrillo-rake
las tijeras-clippers
el lápiz-pencil
los fierros-tools
la tierra compuesta-compost
la paila pallet el plástico-tarp