www.CostaRicaTicas.com

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/26/ameri ... ean-slang/

Some of those phrases are classic. I think I've only heard gordo/gorda in CR. Any of them look familiar to those fluent Spanish speakers among us?

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I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelled of elderberries. Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!

Several:

A calzón quitado, chupar, anda a lavarte el hoyo, Hilo dental, and Gordo or Gorda (as term of endearment), are all familiar to me.

However, a couple left me either scratching my head or busting a gut in laughter. I especially liked "Mas doblado que Chino con visitas" and "Lumami" - might even have to incorporate these into the lexicon.

The author seems to think there are different "Spanish-es". For example, he says" "It's amazing how much Spanish differs from country to country. Always be aware of that," he warned."

Not really true -- it's amazing how much slang differs from country to country. The same word can be used for completely different purposes from one country to another -- for example "bicho" mentioned by the author or "coger", which is slang for "focking" in Mexico but really means "take" as in "I am going to take the bus". Or "bollo" which literally means "cake" or "bun" (pastry, not butt), yet is used as a slang term for a woman's vagina in Cuba.

I can communicate perfectly well using standard Spanish in any Spanish-speaking country in the world. However when people start using local slang words or phrases however, it's another story. I lack the cultural context to understand or decipher most of the slang unless someone takes pity on me and explains. It's the same thing that happens when an American goes to London's East End and is confronted by cockney-speak.

mh

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mh

The extra link inside isnt bad either: http://www.speakinglatino.com/



Cujo

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"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

Hey guys....

The one I hated about the dialect in CR was wanting to have some 'tostones' with my casado. They (Ariel) kept telling me they didn't know what I was talking about. It wasn't until about four months later when I saw the 'Platanos' (green plantains) laying on a kitchen table in the SL that I learned they called the 'patacones'.

Now I always get at least four large ones without even asking for them. That's another reason why the SL is special.

MH:
Your reference to 'bicho' is spot on. In Cuba it means 'insect', in PR it means 'c*ck'. In CR they call it 'pincha', and in Cuba it's 'pinga'. Bollo in PR is also 'loaf' as in a loaf of bread (un bollo de pan).

Two words I found to be pretty much universal were 'tetas' (breasts) and 'culo'(ass).

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Respectfully,

Muff

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If I'm not mistaken, Patacon is Colombian in origin. Every Colombian restaurant in Miami has patacones on the menu, there's even a restaurant called Patacon Pisao...

Unlike other countries, Tico Spanish almost qualifies as a true dialect! I've heard words there I've never heard anywhere else in Latin America.

For example, the ubiquitous mae ('dude'); brete for 'job' or guila for 'girl'; vara, chante, soda, tuanis.... the list seems endless.

I've been out with la fav when she's run into some of her friends and they started talking in pachuco street slang; I can make out maybe half of what they're saying.

mh

mh

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mh

MH

I agree 110%... I did forget that I did hear about Patacones in MDE and CTG. But since I went to CR before Colombia and that's were I heard it first, my memory was triggered by CR.

And you are soooo right... when I hear the Ticas start talking pachuco, I try my best not to listen.
I've given up in any attempts to understand it.

Spanish dialects are really entertaining.

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Respectfully,

Muff

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