Learning new Spanish Words... Milk - Leche

• Translation: "Leche" means "milk"
• Origins: From Latin term "lac, lactis"

"Leche" is a feminine word, so, all adjectives or articles related to this word must be used in feminine.

For example:

- La leche es blanca. (Milk is white)

In this case, I have used the article "la" (the), feminine. and the adjective "blanca" (white), in feminine.

(Note that in Spanish we use the article (la) when talking about "milk" in general.)

The R.A.E. (Real Academia de la Lengua Española or Royal Academy of the Spanish Language), apart from the meaning we all know, "milk", lists other meanings and expressions:

Well, its literal translation is "To have bad milk"... Does it makes any sense in English?

But in Spanish, this expression is the equivalent to the English "to be bad-tempered".

Here is how the R.A.E. explains it:

• A toda velocidad At top speed, and
• A todo volumen: On full volume

A "diente de leche", where "diente" is "tooth", is the tooth children at their 5-7 years old loose. that is: "baby tooth".

The R.A.E. defines it as:

"En el hombre y en los animales que, como el mono, el caballo, etc., mudan con la edad toda la dentadura o parte de ella, el de la primera dentición"