almendrón

What it means

1. 1.

   One of the pre-1960 American cars that work as fixed-route shared taxis. You flag it down, say where you are going, and pay a flat fare to share the back seat with strangers.

2. 2.

   Loosely, any large old American car, whether or not it carries passengers.

Literally: Big almond.

Examples with translations

• Coge un almendrón por Línea, te sale más rápido que la guagua.

  Take a shared taxi along Línea, it'll be quicker than the bus.

• Ese almendrón tiene motor de Lada por dentro.

  That old Chevy has a Lada engine in it.

  Note: Standard: the bodies are American, the mechanics are Soviet or Korean.

Where it comes from

From almendra, 'almond', with the augmentative -ón, for the rounded fifties bodywork. The commoner in-Havana word for the same vehicle in service is simply máquina; almendrón is slightly more affectionate and is what Cubans use when explaining the thing to outsiders.

First attested: 1990s

Other forms

Similar terms:

máquina, bótero