Comment: gomelo appears in the Dictionary of Americanisms, as a word used in Colombia and Ecuador, to refer to a ‘person who in his clothing, manners and language manifests tastes typical of a high social class’.
The word gomelo, ventures the Urgent Spanish Foundation, Fundéu, it comes from hair gel, the hair gel that boys used in the 60s, or from chewing gum, that is, ‘gum’, also characteristic of the gomelo, which is always with something in its mouth. A current character who revives the classic gomelo is Juampis González, the unpleasant upstart created by Alejandro Riaño. The frog is classified as gomela, because it lives in colorful and showy gardens, where the coooquíííí sings that gives it its name. What is not clear to us is why the scientists from the Javeriana University and the Regional Autonomous Corporation of Valle del Cauca call it “the Antillean coquí”, with a feminine article (la) and a masculine adjective (Antillano), if it is that easy. Respect the gender agreement by saying “the Antillean coquí”.
“You will cry and cry / with no one to comfort you; / thus you will realize / that if they deceive you, it hurts” (You will cry, Óscar de León). It is better to change the second and third lines to “so you will realize / that deception hurts”, because the preposition de goes after the verb you will realize (“you will realize”) and not in the middle of the two terms That composes. The proposed change respects the metric, since the verses are still eight syllables. The resultant of which is correct. Removing it, as is usually done, constitutes the error called by the Academy queísmo, and by some grammarians, dequefobia. It should not go after the transitive verb, “he thinks it is green” (not “he thinks it is green”), but after the intransitive verb, “I realized that it was green” (not “I realized that was green”).
“Coronell tries to wash the face of Laura and Petro (Semana). Better: “… wash them”, because the indirect object is plural (“a Laura and Petro”).
“We know that (the Denisovans) lived 217,000 years ago” (World Challenge). Better: “… lived 217,000 years ago.”
“The world’s number one shampoo brand” (TV). Best: “The world’s number one shampoo brand.”
“He disagrees with the leadership of Germán Bahamón at Fedecafé.” Better “… in the FNC”, because while the newspapers vacillate between Fedecafé and Federacafé, in the official pages of the National Federation of Coffee Growers neither of these two acronyms appears, but rather the acronym FNC.
“The Exalted Commissioner for Peace”. Better: “the former High Commissioner for Peace.”
