User:LucieEv/Pura vida (phrase)

Pura vida is a phrase used in Costa Rica on various occasions, especially as a response to the greeting "How are you?" ("¿Cómo estás?" -"Pura vida"). It is equivalent to "doing well" ("muy bien"), although it is worth noting that Costa Rican people afford a deep and wide-ranging meaning to the phrase. The simple meaning of "pura vida" is "pure life" or "simple life". This relates to the culture and attitude of local ticos (Costa Ricans). Costa Rican towns and people tend to be more carefree and relaxed than other peoples and countries. They simply don't worry as much as others do, which some attribute to their location in a beautiful, paradise-like country. It is probably the most common set phrase that visitors to the country hear. "Pura vida" is at once a greeting and a goodbye, a response to the question, "¿Cómo estás?" and an exclamation, sometimes shouted aloud during happy occasions. “Pura vida” symbolizes to Costa Ricans the simplicity of the good life, commitment to humility, abundance, exuberance, well-being, joy, peace, satisfaction, conformity, happiness, and optimism associated with the art of appreciating the attractiveness of what is simple and natural, the art of living well.

Popular Usage
In Costa Rica, the use of the phrase "pura vida" is very extensive. It can be used as a question or a recognition of a person's presence or it can be used as a greeting or goodbye. Tour guides tend to say: "Una respuesta recomendable para '¿Cómo estás?' sería 'Pura Vida'" ("A recommended response to the question, 'How are you?' would be 'Pura Vida'"). Usage of this phrase is usually the first thing advised of artists and other public figures who visit the country, in order to connect with the Costa Rican people.<ref name="Apesteg Esta frase está íntimamente vinculada a la espontánea y enorme biodiversidad del país, como expresan en la otra frase: “si te quedas parado, te pueden nacer plantas en la cabeza”. Y tiene tal arraigo que programas internacionales de primer orden apoyados oficialmente se suelen denominar como el caso del evento de tecnología y diseño “ TEDx Pura Vida”. |TEDx Pura Vida 2012 At the Central American Sports Games in San Jose in 2013, the opening event was called "Pura Vida," as a portrait of Costa Rica, its nature, people, and future, as explained by Delia Piccirilli, artistic director of the high-tech, international production.

The phrase is often used in publicity by national companies to show pride in their origin, as is the case with beer or mattresses which seek to compete with foreign brands in the context of globalization, and also for transnational brands hoping to break into the Costa Rican market.

Etymology
Fernando Diez Losada, in his “Tribuna del Idioma” ("Language Tribune") reveals that the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española 1992, in the article VIDA, definition 19, says: “Fig. Cualquier cosa que origina suma complacencia” ("Fig. Anything that generates full gratification"). He concludes: “La pura vida sería, pues, el pleno bienestar, la máxima satisfacción, la pura complacencia…” ("Pure life would be, then, plain well-being, the maximum satisfaction, pure gratification...").

One should not forget the old Spanish refrain (castellano castizo): “Mientras dura, vida y dulzura,” ("While it lasts, life and sweetness"), essentially equivalent to the Costa Rican “pura vida.”

Origin and Position
Some investigators like Victor Manuel Sanchez Corrales, from the University of Costa Rica (Universidad de Costa Rica), suggest that it was in the late 1940s that the phrase became popular in some parts of Costa Rica, and that it later would go on to become one of the main introductory phrases for ticos: ¡Pura vida! Today, it is a well-known Costa Rican catchphrase.

The origin of the phrase is attributed to the 1955 Mexican film,¡Pura Vida!, directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares with Antonio Espino y Mora as the protagonist, known as "Clavillazo," and Ramón Valdés. Melquiades Ledezma, a character of bad fortune interpreted by Clavillazo, repeats the phrase "pura vida" thirteen times throughout the movie. The actor had already used it in previous films. The movie debuted in Costa Rica in 1956, and for this reason, there are doubts about the veracity of this theory of origin.

Around 1990, el Instituto Costarricense de Turismo, ICT (the Costa Rican Institute of Tourism), launched a large national and international ecotourism campaign in which, with the use of videos, posters, and other postings accompanied by images of the beautiful landscapes and aspects of life in Costa Rica, all under the slogan "pura vida," and thus using the popular phrase as an official symbol of the national brand.

The expression today is so intrinsically intertwined with Costa Rican language and culture, that it constitutes a community marker which transcends borders and highlights the particularities of the Costa Rican worldview.

An example of the global standing of the expression has been expressed by the technical director of Real Madrid, Zinedine Zidane, upon winning his third consecutive Champions League cup. In a globally transmitted press conference, he said: “We have no words… we are here to live this and this, is pure life, pure life, as the players say, and we must bask in the moment." ("Estamos aquí para vivir esto, y esto es pura vida, pura vida, como dicen los jugadores y hay que aprovechar el momento”.) This was interpreted by many as a clear reference to the phrase "pura vida" in honor of his Costa Rican goal-keeper, Keylor Navas.