www.CostaRicaTicas.com

i have heard the word "tica" described as a female and "tico" described as male or also people.
the word "chica" is mentioned a lot also here in the discussion forum, is there a diffrence?.
the word senorita is a word for young female, that must not be a native costa rica word because i have never heard it used when i was visiting san jose.
if i can get come clarification on this matter from those who know the details on this, it would be greatly appreciated

thanks,
goldenboy

Tica would refer to a Costa rican Girl
Tico would refer to a Costa rican Guy

Chica would refer to any woman in general in CR....Nica, Colombiana, Panamanian, Dominicana, etc.

I am sure some of the more experts will chime in here, but that is the basics

That pretty much sums it up.

Goldenboy,
Welcome to the board. Check out the Newbie, FAQ, and Common Abbreviations Sections. You'll have to spend a little time reading, but many (if not MOST) of your basic questions will be answered there. Once you've read those sections, scroll down through the different sections, and you'll get much more information. WTTBAHF! (Welcome To The Board And Have Fun).

Mucho Gusto

_________________
You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

And just like Tica/Tico, Chica has it's masculine equilivent which is Chicho which translates to Boy.
LVSteve

_________________
Just an old horney, fat gambler.

To add to the already good info, senorita is formal and a direct adress. Say you see a young woman out at the theater (yes, we all do spend a great deal of time seeing plays while in San Jose ), and you see a lovely young women whose aquantance you would like to meet. You may very well say to her, Buenas noches Senorita...Good evening miss.. Hola chica does does not wor in such instances. It is more of a third person way of adressing a young woman...

_________________
I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed

Goldenboy,
I suggest you look into some basic Spanish. The answers to elementary questions such as these will suddenly become much clearer.

Tica/Tico = females/males of Costa Rica.
chica/chico = girl/boy in Spanish.
señora/señorita/señor = proper ways to address an older or married woman/young lady/man in Spanish. (Mrs. or Ma'am/Miss/Mr.)

See how simple it is?

Wit

Another term that is used is "caballero" which translates into gentleman. The context I have seen it used the most is in a shop when a clerk approaches they will often say caballero indicating how can I help you?

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Muchacha or Muchacho = young girl, guy is cooler and less formal

Mami or Papi is a way of addressing with extreme gusto. When I want a bartenders attention, I yell... Mami.

Mamasita or Papacito is a way of addressing with undescribeable gusto. This is strictly girlfriend conversation.

Warning... don't ever address a Tico as a papi or papacito. He will think you are gay and hitting on him.

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Remember why the natives of Costa Rica are called Ticos. It is because they add tico or ico to the end of their words more than the other Latinos do.

Example just a moment it Mexico is generally un momento for a Tico it comes out as momentico etc.

Just look at all the different dialects of Spanish that are spoken in Spain alone where all this started. Languages become very regional very quickly. Just look how different English is around the world. If you spend much time around these differences it is easy to pickup where the people grew up.

Many times they use joven as well without reference to gender as we would say youngen (some what slang).

Mamasita or Papacito I heard this more years ago than I do now it seems? Most of what we pickup comes from our friends or people we associate with so be careful only hanging out in the gulch it has a way of changing your speech center in the deeper part of the brain!

_________________
"Run silent, run deep"
Spunk glazed Chicas are the building blocks of the universe!

That is absolutely true and not just when it comes to mongering in the Gulch but mongering in any country. I often hear guys recommend the virtues of taking advantage of their dalliances with the young chicas to also learn the local language. But if you step out into the larger society it will often become evident from the colloquialisms and pronounciation you use without even realizing it where you learned your language and it will not reflect well on you.

Signed,
Prolijito

The mami thing clears something up...once I walked out of my hotel room in the DR the same time a chica came out of another room after a TLN. She yelled to the cleaning cleaning lady, "hey mami donde esta el ascensor?" (hey momi, where's the elevator?). I have a 55 yr old Puerto Rican amiga who still calls her mother mami. I've only heard papi used en la cama (in bed).

I've stayed with families during my times at spanish school in CR, and mi mama' was once telling me stories of how the students would butcher the spanish, and then she'd laugh her ass off. For example, there was the guy who thought mama and mamacitia were the same thing.

I've heard "papi" used for little boys. I guess it would mean "little man".

I also knew a girl in the Dominican Republic who used to call her dark, 4 yr old daughter "negra". Can you imagine that in the USA?

Never heard it used for little boys. It was a term I heard in Miami used by hispanics. They used it as a sign of respect to older men, not necessarily family members, as it means Papa or Daddy.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

I have heard Papi used with boys in the Puerto Rican and Domincan communities in the North East; also can be used for boyfriends, i.e. Demelo papi!!!

_________________
I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed

mami - term of endearment for females; kind of like sweetie or honey

papi - when a chica call you it, it's meant as a sexy way of saying "daddy". same meaning of the "who's your daddy? It's a good sign if she uses "papi" on you.