La hora latina: the elastic hour

The rule in one sentence

what

The time on a social invitation is not the time of arrival: it is the time from which one may arrive. Arrive at eight sharp and you may find your host in slippers.

when

At a family meal the margin is wide; at a dinner in a restaurant it is much narrower. A reasonable margin runs from twenty minutes to an hour.

where

Across the Spanish-speaking world, with differences by country and city. The piece makes its joke work from Madrid to Managua.

who

Hosts and guests who know the system. It is perfectly clear to those who use it, and only confusing from outside.

why

Closeness — confianza — sets the margin. The two clocks, social and professional, coexist in the same person without difficulty.

• The time of an invitation is not the time of arrival but the time from which one may arrive.
• The reasonable margin runs from twenty minutes to an hour, depending on the country, the city and how close you are; wide at a family meal, much narrower at a restaurant dinner.
• The system is clear to those who use it and only confusing from outside.

La hora de una invitación no es la hora de llegada: es la hora a partir de la cual se puede llegar.

The time of an invitation is not the time of arrival: it is the time from which one may arrive.

El margen razonable va de veinte minutos a una hora, según el país, la ciudad y la confianza.

The reasonable margin runs from twenty minutes to an hour, depending on the country, the city and how close you are.

En una comida familiar el margen es amplio; en una cena en un restaurante, mucho menor.

At a family meal the margin is wide; at a dinner in a restaurant, much narrower.

When the clock is literal

None of this applies at work, where the nine o'clock meeting starts at nine. Nor to the doctor, the plane, or anything with the word cita — appointment — in it.

When somebody wants to say a time is literal, they say so: a las ocho, hora inglesa, 'at eight, English time'. That the expression exists proves the other kind of time exists too, and that everybody knows it. In Chile, a la chilena means the opposite; in Mexico you are warned with ahorita voy, where ahorita can mean in five minutes or in an hour, and both speakers know it.

The only serious mistake, the piece says, is the foreigner who arrives on time and takes offence — in that order. Arriving early is forgiven; being annoyed about it is not.

• The margin does not apply at work, where the nine o'clock meeting starts at nine, nor to the doctor, the plane or anything called a cita.
• To say a time is literal, people say hora inglesa, 'English time'.
• In Chile a la chilena means the opposite, and in Mexico ahorita voy can mean in five minutes or in an hour.

Nada de esto se aplica al trabajo, donde la reunión de las nueve empieza a las nueve.

None of this applies at work, where the nine o'clock meeting starts at nine.

Cuando alguien quiere decir que la hora es literal, lo dice: a las ocho, hora inglesa.

When somebody wants to say that the time is literal, they say so: at eight, English time.

En Chile se dice a la chilena para lo contrario, y en México se avisa con un ahorita voy.

In Chile they say Chilean-style for the opposite, and in Mexico you are warned with an ahorita voy.

El único error grave es el del extranjero que llega puntual y se ofende, en ese orden.

The only serious mistake is that of the foreigner who arrives on time and takes offence, in that order.

Words for being on time, or not

puntual

punctual, on time

la cita

the appointment; a date

el anfitrión

the host

ahorita

right now — or in a while (Mexico)

a partir de

from … onwards

Tampoco se aplica al médico, al avión, ni a nada que tenga la palabra cita.

Nor does it apply to the doctor, the plane, or anything with the word appointment in it.

Ahorita, en México, es una de las palabras más flexibles del idioma, y nadie la explica igual.

Ahorita, in Mexico, is one of the most flexible words in the language, and nobody explains it the same way.