We explain what a spoiler is and why it is necessary to warn of its presence. Also, its synonym in Spanish.
What is a spoiler?
The term spoiler is a loan from English in the Spanish language, which since the beginning of the 21st century refers to a text, article, comment or information that advances in an unnecessary way the fictional events contained in the plot from a TV series, movie or book.
In other words, a spoiler (and its derived verb, spoil) consists of telling the ending or the climatic events of a fictional story to someone who does not know it, thus ruining the surprise of discovering them for themselves and living the experience to the full .
This term comes from the English verb to spoil, which translates to "ruin" or "damage", in the sense that someone else is being ruined the opportunity to discover the plot on their own. Its origin dates back to the early years of Internet and to the cinephile communities that emerged online, among which it is often considered in bad taste.
The protocol therefore obliges to warn readers who have not yet seen the film or read the book, that if they continue reading they could find out unknown information and accidentally incur a spoiler. Thus was born the label "Spoiler Alert" or "warning of spoilers" so that the reader, if he wishes, can interrupt the reading in time.
Given that the word spoiler is an Anglicism, that is, an unnecessary loan from English, the Royal Spanish Academy does not recommend its use, proposing instead the use of gut, in the sense that whoever commits a spoiler is gutting him (removing the guts , that is, revealing what should be saved) the plot to others.
However, the use of neologisms spoiler and spoil seems to prevail between the different communities Hispanics online.