What does «espúreo» mean in Spanish?
- Barbarism for spurious. It is not correct to use the word "espúreo", the correct form is "espurio", according to the Real Academia Española. It is very common to find in the news media, even among educated people, the use of the word "spurious" as a synonym for false or illegitimate, but its use is incorrect. For example, in a newspaper one can read "nine million dollars were found, in cash, undeclared and of spurious origin" (in this case used as a synonym for illegitimate). It should have been written: "nine million dollars, in cash, undeclared and of spurious origin".
Examples of use in Spanish: "es dinero espúreo" (incorrecto), debería ser "es dinero espurio".
"en este país cada cosa tiene un negociado espúreo" (incorrecto), debería ser "en este país cada cosa tiene un negociado espurio".
"negocio espúreo y corrupto" (incorrecto), debería ser "negocio espurio y corrupto".