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Órale, today we’re going to talk about the expression “aguas.” In Spanish, it means simply water. In Caló, it means brace yourself for you’re about to get…

Órale, today we’re going to talk about the expression “ojo.” In Spanish, it means eye or water spring. In Caló, it means to pay attention or focus on something. It's also an incantation or spell that’s delivered through a malevolent stare, as in he gave the ojo to his neighbor. Either way, it’s usually said with your eyes pointing at whatever it is you’re telling somebody to be ojo about.

The word of the day is madrear. It’s a verb meaning to mother. In Caló it means to give oneself great latitude in behavior and/or responsibility, as a…

The drying of the Rio Grande in Big Bend last spring was stark evidence of its dire condition — and restoring it requires knowing something of its original state.

The rock shelters of the Pecos Canyonlands are an archeological treasure trove, preserving a remarkable record of prehistoric life. Some of those treasures are literally waste: coprolites, fossilized human feces, from the caves have yielded vivid insights into the diets and ritual lives of ancient people.

Órale, today’s featured word is chundo. It means a dodgy, untrustworthy, undesirable person in Caló. There’s no word close to it in either Spanish or English. This word comes from the Romani word, chungo, which stands for anything or any situation, as well as a person, that’s sketchy or nasty. Well-known modern-day chundos are the trolls who delight in being rude and unsocial in public forums.

In West Texas, the discovery of the 'Texas Mystery Spider' two decades ago launched an international scientific journey. And now researches are gaining surprising, if grisly, insights into this tiny desert creature.

Órale, today’s featured word is muino. It means to be fidgety or restless. The general idea that’s communicated when it’s said that somebody is muino is that of a teething inconsolable child with itchy, achy gums. The word comes from Iberian Romani’s word for mouth, muí. Of course, muino can also refer to unsettled adults and adolescent children, not just babies who are teething. An agitated adult can be as muino as a child whose teeth are coming in.

The West Texas mountains host a wonderous diversity of birds — from colorful full-time residents to migrating hummingbirds. But this winter has been something special. From Alpine to the Guadalupe Mountains, birds rarely seen in Texas have made their winter abodes here.

Today’s featured Caló word is cruda. It means hangover. A common Indo-European word, it’s the feminine term for crude — unrefined, and raw. The biggest influence on how this word is used in Caló today is likely the Kaló spoken in Spain, Portugal and Latin America among the Romani. Their lexicon includes a very similar-sounding and related word, curda, which means drunkeness. In Caló, cruda is simply the next state one enters after being drunk. It’s also used as an adjective, as in, she’s quite cruda after drinking bad wine last night.