I can’t think of a better time to send you this Spanish Beyond The Textbook tip.

American Independence Day falls on a Thursday this week, which makes it a good day to hacer puente.

Can you guess the meaning of hacer puente?

We don’t have an exact translation in English.

Words or expressions like this without a single translation are a lot of fun. My favorite is consuegro.

My dad and my wife’s dad are consuegros.

In English we need a whole phrase to express that idea. In Spanish you just say “mi consuegro” in English “my son’s father-in-law”.

Regresando al tema. (Back to the topic)

Hacer puente.

When I was teaching in the factories in Tijuana and a holiday fell on a Thursday I’d hear hacer puente constantly.

“Vamos a hacer puente.” (“We are going to make a bridge.”)

If you haven’t guessed the meaning yet, the bridge is an extra day off. Friday is the bridge to the weekend and that becomes a day off, too.

A holiday Thursday off becomes a 4-day weekend.

If the holiday falls on a Tuesday, then Monday becomes el puente and yupi (yippee) it’s a 4-day weekend.