Not In My Backyard

It has been years when we first heard said that 'Latinamerica is 'the backyard of America'. It's an expression that the media of communication popularised. Popularise? In the streets, people go around saying the backyard of this, that or the other, of So & So and of such & such? Probably better not so. Just as well the invention of this expression is mainly used within the media; the metaphor creaks.

In the Spanish dictionary of documented modern day phraseology - a delicious read of references - the authors show 2 locutions for the word 'patio' (yard): 'patio de Monipodio' (den of thieves) or simply a yard. The term 'backyard' does not exist. In Spanish there's no other variation in meaning for such term. It's a yard, usually within a house or building, part of a garden or ground close to the living or utility quarter. So the English term backyard translated into Spanish would most likely be the lumber-(room), a place for disused or castoff articles. How would that fit 'Latinamerica? Insulting!

It's the literal meaning in English too, in the Webster's dictionary, but in the Oxford Dictionary it lists another definition: 'the area near where one lives, or the territory or ground adjacent to a particular country, which it considers it's property'. That's what the media has adopted to refer to the connection between America and it's close neighbours. It should really have been much clearer to say that America considers those parts their property, extensions of their land, etc. The rich essence of metaphor, basically, should be understood instantly, not given to ambiguous conjectures.

From such concept, the Americans have coined the initials NIMBY (not in my backyard), whose Spanish version is SPAN (Is, pero aquí no - Yes, but not here), known more critically as the culture of saying No. It serves as much for a junk yard, or a prison. That seems to be more apt. How can people round here go about saying "Not in my backyard" when the majority of them live in apartments without as much as a corridor?

Tags:backyard,junkyard

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