Caracol – Diccionario de La Real Academia Español (RAE)

De or. inc.

1. m. Cada uno de los moluscos testáceos de la clase de los gasterópodos. De sus muchas especies, algunas de las cuales son comestibles, unas viven en el mar, otras en las aguas dulces y otras son terrestres.

3. m. Pieza del reloj, cónica, con un surco en el cual se enrosca la cuerda.

4. m. Rizo de pelo.

5. m. Cada una de las vueltas que hace un camino.

6. m. Anat. Una de las cavidades que constituyen el laberinto del oído de los vertebrados, que en los mamíferos es un conducto arrollado en espiral.

7. m. Equit. Cada una de las vueltas y tornos que el jinete hace dar al caballo.

8. m. pl. Palo flamenco caracterizado por la repetición de la palabra caracoles a modo de estribillo.

I found a quarter inch mollusk shell in my back-lane garden while digging a hole for Rosa ‘Ferdinand Pichard’.

What you see is a scan (not bad, eh!) with my Epson Perfection V700 Photo scanner. From the image I went to my online RAE dictionary which I believe is one of the best in the world.

In Spanish we call a winding staircase an “escalera de caracol”.  In the very concise and awfully scientific definitions I was intrigued by the last two. Number 7 defines a caracol as the winding tricks that a horseman does a horse in a competition.

The 8^th definition is the killer. In a Spanish deck of cards there are some cards that feature what looks like a wooden mace. Perhaps from that “palo” it is now come to also mean a suit of card such as in diamonds or hearts.

So a caracol is a Flamenco song in “estribillo” style. In my RAE it is fairly complicated definition:

estribillo

Del dim. de estribo.

1. m. Expresión o cláusula en verso, que se repite después de cada estrofa en algunas composiciones líricas, que a veces también empiezan con ella.

2. m. Voz o frase que por hábito vicioso se dice con frecuencia.

What it really means that this style is a repetitive one!

To almost finish this serpentine essay (un ensayo en caracol)  caracoles is a Flamenco song in which the word caracoles is often repeated. This style is used to lure those who think they do not like Flamenco. I found this incredibly nice (what a voice and diction this man has!) YouTube explanation and example of a caracol.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxTeX5O8uz4

And finally since we are now in the theme of  Flamenco I must point out that nobody has ever made better films about Flamenco (and Argentine Tango, and Argentine Folklore) than Carlos Saura. In his Amor Brujo I fell hard for this couple, Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos. Here is an excerpt worth watching in which the pair dance to almost no music and you can hear the wind making noise with the clothes lines.

I think that Antonio Gades is the best Flamenco dancer (and actor) I have ever seen. Perhaps it is because he received ballet training.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxTeX5O8uz4