Apurado: a bull worn out and empty of force through being badly fought.
Arena: the sand which covers the ring.
Arenero: a bull ring servant who flattens out the sand after each bull has been killed and drawn out.
Armarse: when the matador furls the muleta, and sights along the sword, which should form a continuous line with his face and arm preparatory to killing.
Arrancada: another name for the bull’s charge.
Arrastre: the dragging out by a trio of mules or horses of the dead horses and the body of the bull after each bull has been killed. The horses are taken out first. If the bull has been exceptionally brave the crowd applauds him very much. He is sometimes given a tour of the ring as he is dragged out.
Arreglar los pies: to make the bull put his front feet together before going in to kill. If one foot is in front of the other one shoulder blade will be farther forward than the other, closing the opening between the shoulder blades into which the sword must go or greatly reducing its opening.
Arrimar: to work close to the bull. If the matadors arriman al toro it will be a good bullfight. The boredom comes when they see how far away they can work from the bull’s horns.
Asiento: seat.
Astas: bayonets — another synonym for the horn.
Astifino: a bull with thin sharp horns.
Astillado: a bull with the ends of one or both of his horns splintered, usually from battering against his cage or charging in the corral when unloaded. Such horns make the worst wounds.
Atrás: to the rear; backwards.
Atravesada: crosswise — a sword thrust that goes in on the bias so that the point of the sword comes out through the skin of the bull’s flank. Such a thrust, unless the bull obviously deviated in his charge, shows that the man did not go in straight at the moment of killing.
Atronar: a stroke with the point of the puntilla or dagger between the cervical vertebrae given from behind when the bull is on the ground mortally wounded which severs the spinal marrow and kills the animal instantly. This coup de grace is given by the puntillero, one of the banderilleros, who pulls an oilcloth sleeve over his right arm to save his clothes from blood before he approaches the bull. When the bull is on his feet and this same thrust is given from in front by the matador, either armed with a special sword with a straight, stiff point, or with the puntilla, it is called a descabello.
Avíos de matar: the tools for killing, i.e., sword and muleta.
Aviso: a warning given by a bugle at the signal of the president to a matador whose bull is still alive ten minutes after the man has gone out to kill with sword and muleta. The second aviso comes three minutes after the first and the third and final aviso is given two minutes later. At the third aviso the matador is compelled to retire to the barrera and the steers, which are held in readiness after the first warning, come into the ring and take the bull out alive. There is a large clock displayed in all of the more important rings in order that the spectators may keep track of the time the matador takes for his work.
Ayudada: pass in which the point of the sword is pricked into the cloth of the muleta to spread the serge; the muleta thus being referred to as being aided by the sword.
Ayuntamiento: the city hall or municipal government in Spanish towns. A box is reserved for the ayuntamiento in Spanish bull rings.
B
Bajo: low. A low pic is one which is placed on the side of the neck near the shoulder blades. A sword thrust into the right side anywhere below the top of the shoulder blades and forward on the neck is also called bajo.
Bajonazo: is usually a deliberate sword thrust into the neck or lower part of the shoulder by a matador who seeks to kill the bull without exposing himself. In a bajonazo the matador seeks to cut arteries or veins in the neck or to reach the lungs with the sword. By such a thrust he assassinates the bull without having gone in and passed the horn with his body.
Banderilla: a rounded dowel, seventy centimetres long, wrapped in colored paper, with a harpoon shaped steel point, placed in pairs in the withers of the bull in the second act of the bullfight; the prong of the harpoon catching under the skin. They should be placed high on the very top of the withers and close together.
Banderillas cortas: short banderillas only twenty-five centimeters long. Seldom used now.
Banderillas de fuego: banderillas with firecrackers along their shafts which are placed in bulls which have not charged the picadors in order that the explosion of the powder may make the bull jump, toss his head, and tire his neck muscles; the object sought in the encounter with the picador which the bull has refused.
Banderillas de lujas: heavily ornamented banderillas used in benefit performances. Hard to place because of their weight and awkwardness.
Banderillero: bullfighter under the orders of the matador and paid by him, who helps run the bull with the cape and places banderillas. Each matador employs four banderilleros who are sometimes called peones. They were once called chulos, but that term is no longer used. Banderilleros make from 150 to 250 pesetas a fight. They take turns placing the banderillas, two of them placing them on one bull and the other two on the next. When travelling their expenses, except wine, coffee and tobacco, are paid by the matador, who, in turn, collects them from the promoter.
Barbas — El Barbas: fighters’ slang term for the big mature bulls, which at four and a half years old will dress out three hundred and twenty kilos of meat with horns, head, hoofs and hide gone, know how to use their horns when alive and make the bullfighters earn their money.
Barrenar: pushing on the sword by the matador after he has gone in to kill and is coming along the flank after having passed the bull’s horn. Once he is past the horn he may push on the sword without danger.
Barrera: the red painted wooden fence around the sanded ring in which the bull is fought. The first row of seats are also called barreras.
Basto: heavy on the feet, lacking in grace, art and agility.
Batacazo: a heavy fall by a picador.
Becerrada: benefit performance by amateurs or apprentice bullfighters in which bulls too young to be dangerous are used.
Becerro: a calf.
Bicho: bug or insect. A slang name for the bull.
Billetes: tickets to the bullfight. NO HAY BILLETES — a sign at the ticket window meaning all tickets sold; the promoter’s dream. But the waiter at the café can nearly always get you one if you will pay scalper’s prices.
Bisco: a bull with one horn lower than the other.
Blando: a bull which cannot stand punishment.
Blandos: meat without bone. An estocada is said to be in the blandos when the sword went in easily in the proper place without hitting bone.
Bota: individual wine skin, called gourd by the English. These are thrown into the ring by their exalted owners in the north of Spain as an ovation to a bullfighter who is making a tour of the ring. The triumphant fighter is supposed to take a drink and throw the wine skin back. The bullfighters dislike this practice very much as the wine is liable, if any spills, to spot their expensive frilled shirt fronts.
Botella: a bottle; these are thrown into the ring by savages, drunks and exalted spectators to express their disapproval.
Botellazo: a stroke on the head with a bottle; avoided by not arguing with drunks.
Boyante: an easy bull to work with and one which follows the cloth well and charges bravely and frankly.
Bravo — Toros Bravos: brave and savage bulls.
Bravucón: a bull who bluffs and is not really brave.
Brazuelo: the upper part of the foreleg. The bull can be lamed and ruined for the fight by the picadors wounding him in the tendons of the brazuelo.
Brega: the routine work that must be accomplished with each bull fought up to and including the killing.
Brindis: the formal salute or dedication of the bull to the president or to any individual made by the matador before going out to kill. The salute to the president is obligatory in the first bull each matador kills in an afternoon. After saluting the president he may dedicate the bull to any high governmental authority present at the corrida, any distinguished spectator, or a friend. When the matador dedicates or toasts a bull to an individual he throws up his hat at the conclusion of the toast and the person honored keeps the hat until the bull has been killed. After the bull is dead the matador comes back for the hat which is thrown down with the card of the man who has held it or some gift in it if the man has come prepared to be dedicated to. The gift is obligatory by etiquette unless the dedication is between friends in the same profession.
Brio: brilliance and vivacity.
Bronca:
