There is nothing special about the tragamonedas (aka casinos) that are scattered throughout Peru. There’s probably one in each town, just like anywhere else.
The literal meaning of “tragamonedas” is intriguing though, and it didn’t dawn on me until this weekend in Mollendo. (Being a resort town, they have maybe three casinos lining the main street.)
I initially mistook the word to be traigamonedas, which translates to “bring money”.
On second look, the word is actually tragamonedas, using the verb tragar. So some possible literal (and baffling) translations are:
- To swallow money
- To inhale money
- To choke back money
- To swallow up money
- To fall for money
- To gobble up money
- To drain off money
- To believe money
p.s. I did read that “maquinas tragamonedas” means slot machines, which makes more sense with these translations.
