“Mint” (menta o hierbabena) you may know, and perhaps you put organic (ecológico) mint in your salads. Or perhaps you make a “mint sauce” (salsa de menta) to accompany your organic steak. Mortals (mortales) also make mint tea (té de menta).
“Mint” has other uses too. Examine these:
• Joe has a 1978 Ferrari in “mint condition” (= en estado perfecto) or you could say it is “like new”.
• In Great Britain there is an organisation that produces coins and notes and it is known as the “Royal Mint” (in Spain =Real Casa de Moneda).
“Mint” has a connection with money, as in the example above. How did mortals have a word for a herb which is then used to refer to money? Many moons ago (hace muchas lunas) there was a goddess (diosa), Juno Moneta. She was a goddess of money and protector of funds (fondos), and her name was later used to refer to coins (moneda) and the factory where the coins were produced. So we have a “mint”, a factory that produces coins, and if you have a lot of money, you are “minting” it.
So, some more examples:
• Mr. Sanchez is “minting it” – he is making a lot of money. He “makes a mint” (gana mucho dinero)
• He is earning a mint (ganando mucho dinero).
So are you minting it?
