Vocabulary lesson from eBay

[Alberto Candel]

(11-30-2015 11:14 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  

(11-30-2015 10:40 PM)Alberto Candel Wrote:  Is this the same as patina? (English or Spanish)

Conceptually, yes, though I believe patina applies to any aged "gunk" on the surface of some item, which could be composed of many materials, whereas verdigris applies strictly to corrosion on copper, brass and bronze.

When my Dad visited Egypt during WWII (on the way to India, flying "The Hump") he said locals on the street would sell little trinkets ('ancient' pieces of metal, etc.) that looked genuinely ancient, due to the greenish patina on them. Turned out the got that way by being passed through local geese (or whatever the local annoying birds are). Seems the natural, ah... patina, added a false look of realism.

Thank you! For whatever is worth, I now remember that the Spanish word for verdigris is cardenillo. (Verdigris is not in the RAE dictionary.)