10 Phrases You Won’t Learn in Spanish Class
I studied Spanish for years and taught it for several as well. The problem with formal education of a foreign language is you never get to learn the good stuff. Now that I am no longer on any education-related payroll, I can finally impart my knowledge of malas palabras en Castellano, Castellano being the type of Spanish spoken in Argentina. Remember, these are just for Argentina, many of these won’t have the same or any meaning in other Spanish speaking countries. Here are my top 10, use them carefully and have fun!
-
Andáte a la mierda
Literal translation: ”Walk yourself to the shit”.
Practical use: Use it the same way you would use “Go to hell.” This is a handy phrase in the streets and the clubs when creepsters attempt to converse with you. -
Sos un forro
Arm yourself with angry words for crazy cab drivers.
Literal translation: ”You are a condom”.
Practical use: Use it like you would use “You’re an asshole/jerk/idiot”. Excellent for cab drivers who almost run you over. -
La puta madre
Literal translation: ”The mother slut”.
Practical use: Something to say when you are frustrated or angry. For example, if you are arguing with someone and get really exasperated you can say “¡La puta madre!” to show your frustration. -
Maldito
Literal translation: ”Cursed”
Practical use: You can throw “maldito/a” in front of nouns, such as “malditas llaves“, which means “the damned keys”. You can also say “maldita sea” to simply say “Damn it”. -
Pelotudo
Practical use: Dickhead, asshole, jerk
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Gil
Practical use: Idiot, moron
-
La concha de tu madre
Literal translation: “The shell of your mother”
Practical use: “The cunt of your mother”. This is pretty strong. You can throw this one out there if someone has truly pissed you off. All you have to do is yell the phrase and your anger will be heard, loud and clear. -
Mandar fruta
Literal translation: ”To send fruit”
Practical use: Use in the same way you would use “bullshit”. For example, “No me mandes fruta” means “Don’t bullshit me” -
_____de mierda
Literal translation: ”_____ of shit”
Practical use: Use this to call anything a piece of shit or shitty, such as “auto de mierda” (piece of shit car) or “día de mierda” (Shitty day). -
La puta que te parió
Photo by Jorge Farah
Literal translation: ”The slut/bitch that birthed you”
Practical use: This is one of my all time favorites. This is an excellent thing to yell at jerks on the street, cabs that clearly see you but pass you up anyway, and basically anyone who you has pissed you off.
Rease Kirchner a staff writer/Travel Adviser for Travelated. She is a US citizen currently living the ex-pat life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is bilingual and an experienced traveler. She loves gaining and sharing knowledge of local cultures, customs and adventure. Her blog Mi Vida en Buenos Aires documents her life as a foreigner.
160 Comments
Hahaha… As a user of nearly all of these phrases on a regular basis, I think that it should be said that there are also positives to these terms. La Concha de tu “hermana” can also mean “that was the shit.” And buddies regularly call each other pelotudo… almost like a term of endearment… well, at least my friends do. haha
This comment is for the author of the original post:
This will only work in Argentina? How ’bout in SPAIN! You know, Spanish expert, where SPANISH is FROM?
just a thought, from someone who has never formally been educated in spanish.
signed
someone who has never been formally educated in spanish.
Just a reminder – different regions of the world that speak the same language can have significantly different vocabularies. I don’t call my friends “mates”, or an elevator a “lift”, my apartment a “flat”, or a flashlight a “torch”, because I’m not British or Australian, yet I still speak the same language as those countries. And when I get really angry at someone I call them a fucking asshole, not a “bloody toff” or an “arsehole”. Sometimes it pays to think things through first before being a sarcastic dumbass.
well said
Gracias!
Each country has its own regional dialect and curses. I spent a year abroad in Argentina and these are spot on, but they probably would not work in Spain. I’m sure Spain has its own curses, but the author clearly states that you use these in Argentina. Your statement is sort of offensive considering the colonization implication there, too.
haha, in spain they use a lot the word “coño” its like damn, of fuck!!
and you would be surprised of the other words people use in south america and the caribean, like in dominican republic (were i live) we use a lot “mama guevo” hahaha, it is like dick sucker… also in Colombia (were I’m from) we use: hijueputa, it is like mother fucker….
well, the exact definition of “coño” is not like “damn” or “fuck”, is literally CUNT.That’s why “el coño de tu madre” is pretty offensive, “the cunt of your mother” it would be.
Venezuela!
funny how cono is very strong considering where you’re from… from where i come from, cono is just used as a name for pretentious stuck-up bitches/dickheads
Not just Argentina… Uruguay too!
Very true, but I think Uruguayans are nicer and not as quick to use these!
Good point Brendan, though I think “boludo” is much more widely used in a friendly sense than “pelotudo”. The younger boys tend to say “chavon” as well.
I might do a positive top 10 next, fun phrases that are for less angry situations!
Es castellano, no castellaño.
Es verdad! Gracias, no me di cuenta que escribi mal.
y también Castellano es el nombre viejo de Español, y significa especialmente el Español de España, en el región de Castilla y León. La gente en Argentina habla su priopo versión de Español que incluye el -vos-, que no existe en España. Ellos usan -vosotros-, pero no -vos-.
And as well, “Castellano” is the old name for Spanish, and especially means the Spanish of Spain, particularly the “Castilla y León” region. Argentina speaks their own dialect of Spanish which includes the “vos”, which isn’t used in Spain. They use “vosotros”, but not “vos”. (Vosotros essentially is “ya’ll”, with vos being made a singular version, but tú already is the informal 2nd person conjugation – Argentinians have two versions of 2nd person informal, but do not use a plural 2nd.)
Yeah well, is also the modern day spanish (castellano); as you say, is the name of the spanish that’s spoken on Castilla la mancha, Castilla y Leon, Madrid; but, is not true either, that is specifically spoken in Argentina, neither that is old. Actually Castellano is spoken widely from California, to the patagonia; it is called Castellano to difference it from other languages spoken in the very same Spain, such as: Català and Euskadi (basco). Wich differ a lot from Castellano and, is not posible, or very difficult to understand; mean while, a person from Spain, Mexico, or Colombia, is able to understand perfectly to an argentinian; except, maybe for some specific words, wich is comprehendible, I may self, don’t understand all words used even in my own city; this is called “jerga”.
Well everyone said most of what I wanted to say. Castellano is not something unique to Argentina not by a stretch. It is correct that Argentine’s use “vos” but that’s because they speak an ancient form of Spanish, that’s how the conquistadores spoke when they conquered that land. That’s also the reasoning behind other countries in Central America like Honduras and Nicaragua that will also use “vos.” But Spain is the only one that uses “vosotros” And there are many dialects and languages within Spain (Galego, Catala, Euskera, Castellano being the main languages) All are latin languages except Euskera. There also different jargon/jerga within Spanish (Castellano) that is widely spoken in Latin America (Caribbean, South America) and even Spanish speaking countries in Africa (Equatorial Guinea). Languages are always changing, because people are always changing.
No problem with the rest of the post. I was just kind of annoyed that “Castellano” was spoken in Argentina. As if they are the only ones who speak it, when they clearly are NOT.
Excuse me, but the word for the basque language is Euskera or Euskara.
Also, in Asturias is spoken a language called “bable”, very typical of them, but yet quite approachable for castillian speakers.
Have a nice day.
This is great
I would just like everyone to know that Jacob is, in fact, one of my ex-students. I’m so glad he can now just call me “Rease” and could officially hold his own in Argentina haha. So proud, Jacob, so proud.
While these are all for Spanish, they are so similar to some Italian insults you can throw out. Definitely good to remember if I am in Argentina getting mad as redheads do.
Sigh, why don’t they teach you useful things like these in language classes?
The people in charge won’t let us! I would gladly teach my kids real world stuff if I was allowed!
you have to learn to talk to locals in the same way they talk to each other, or they will never respect you. i believe that anyway. thanks for this!
You’re completely right. I might do another post on just local slang, it really helps. People take me seriously and don’t always know I am foreign because my Spanish is so Argentine.
I still think there is a difference between learning vulgar language and colloquialisms. Most won’t teach you how to curse because you are within an institution and it is not seen as “classy” or whatever the reason. But it is important to learn colloquial speech, which some professors focus on, while others do not. You can know how to communicate colloquially, without knowing how to insult someone. But I’m pretty sure you could figure it out easy, just as the original poster has! Just like in English, we didn’t learn the curse words from our professors, but from everyday life.
Just saying. I don’t think its the professors job to to teach you vulgarity.
Awesome post. Driving here in Honduras I am looking for new curses to shout at the terrible drivers. This list should help (or maybe get me into more trouble
Cheers!
Haha yeah, use them wisely! I am not responsible for the consequences!
Very funny! I have a Mexican friend as well as Peruan friend and I’ve heard them use some of these. However, I would be careful when using some of them in some cases (like La Puta Madre…):)
Rease, it’s true, in schools (probably mostly everywhere – in Romania as well), you’re not supposed to teach slang which is stupid. And while for latin languages, some of the slang phrases are close enough to our language to have a feeling about what they really mean, for English language, some of the phrases can be a total mistery for latin people.
I can see why schools don’t want me teaching things like these, seeing as they don’t want the kids saying these things in English. However, I think colleges really need to start teaching slang, both bad words and just commonly used phrases. I know a lot of text books have little side notes with one or two helpful phrases every so often but I think you could easily create a whole class on this. If you are studying in college, it means you really want to speak the language well, so slang is a really important aspect!
I love how phrases can mean different things in different countries… in Spain, for example, #3 is a way of saying “It was f***ing awesome!” i.e. La fiesta fue la puta madre!
The same is true of many other languages. In english, “That party was the shit!”.
It would be “la fiesta fue de puta madre” or even better “la fiesta estuvo de puta madre”. Anyway, please consider that all of the expressions above make sense in a restricted area. I mean, being a Spanish speaker from Spain I am able to guess their meaning but you could not use them in a country different as Argengina (as far as I know and please correct me if I am wrong).
You’re right, MC, which is why I gave a warning in the intro of the article! A lot of these would not work outside of Argentina at all.
Amanda, that can work here sometimes too, it’s all about tone. Same with “pelotudo”, some guys say it to each other casually, though “boludo” is a softer substitute and more common.
Good choice of words, but these are mostly taken from Spanish (as in Spain) slang, I think Mexico has a pretty interesting thesaurus of curse words.
Chingar: Basically Mexican Spanish’s version of Fuck, it is used for everything.
Chingada Madre: Fuck!
Chinga tu madre: Fuck your mother
Vete a la chingada: Fuck off
Ya te chingaste: You’re fucked
etc…
Yeah chingar is kind of Mexico’s everything word. Maybe my next post will be about Mexican Spanish!
Rease how will I be able to read your next post on Mexican Spanish?
Regards,
Ashit
Love it! Very useful I reckon.
Thanks Charlie! I hope you get to use them someday!
The great majority
Good list, use all of them almost every day
Always very useful haha. You just do not use the article LA when you say puta madre …
or vete a la mierda and not andate a la mierda 
And in Spain, for example, you use cabron instead of pelotudo
Here they use the “la” before puta madre. Of course, you don’t have to be “grammatically correct” when cussing!
Yes “andate” is totally an Argentine thing due to the use of the Vos commands instead of the Tu
I always heard “vete (a) la mierda”. My mom (Chilena) usually dropped the “a”; Also “puta la hueva” was commonly heard. That one is pretty uniquely Chilean from what I understand. But most of these are applicable to Chilean slang as well.
Sorry, but this is totally wrong. The use of ‘vos’ and words such as ‘andate’ are very common in some areas of Colombia and most Central American countries. They are not exclusive from Argentina. Also, many of these expressions could be easily understood in all the Spanish speaking countries with the same effect. In fact, all the Spanish speaking countries speak the same ‘castellano’, and the differences are only related to the slang. It is true that some countries have very specific words that only people from there have, but any other Spanish speaking person would understand them easily in any context.
I never meant to make it sound as is these phrases would be impossible to understand in other countries, I was simply noting that these phrases are what are most commonly used in Argentina. I cannot say that the “vos” form was created in Argentina, but I can say no other Spanish speaking country I have visited has used it as widely. I was no way implying that Spanish speakers from other countries would have no chance of understanding these, I was only noting that they may not be the go-to phrase of choice in their dialect.
As Argentinian myself I find insults here to be stronger than in other latin-speaking countries of America, as the great master, Fontanarosa, cartoonist and philosopher, said, there’s nothing as strong as yelling “La reconcha de tu putisima madre” with Argentinian accent, there’s not easy translation of that, but people will be really pissed if you using it on them with a good reason, remember with a great know of slang comes a great responsibility.
Haha, well said, Tuqui. I hope no one gets into too much trouble with these! All cuss words have to be used carefully!
yeah you are so right, but as an Argentine I would say you could add boludo to the list, which is used as a friendly word in general (within buddies) and la puta madre can be a really bad thing but at the same time a good thing, it is used as a form of expressing astonishment or ‘good envy’ or to congratulate someone
Yeah I mentioned Boludo in the comments. I figured I already had “gil” and “pelotudo” and I didn’t want it to be a top 11 list haha.
That’s true about puta madre as well, I was only focusing on negative phrases for this article. Thank you for pointing that out though!
Castellano no es la variedad de español que se habla en Argentina. Castellano es el nombre que se le da al español derivado de su origen en la región de Castilla, en España, término que aun utiliza en ese país para distinguirlo de los otros idiomas que se hablan en España, como el catalán, el gallego, el aragonés, etc.
El término “español” es más generalizado, mientas que “castellano” es más particular; sería similar a hablar en un momento dado de la existencia de un idioma “británico” (que se hablan en todo el Reino Unido)en contraposición al “inglés” (idioma originalmente hablado en Inglaterra, más no originario de las otras regiones del Reino Unido).
Bueno el idioma oficial de Argentina es Español pero, te prometo, lo que se habla acá se llama Castellano. De hecho, la gente se ofende cuando se refiere al idioma como “Español” en vez de “Castellano”
Could we call it complex? To explain the differences between “español” y “castellano” (if any) we can go and see what the RAE dictionary says about it. And here it is the answer: “español. Para designar la lengua común de España y de muchas naciones de América, y que también se habla como propia en otras partes del mundo, son válidos los términos castellano y español. La polémica sobre cuál de estas denominaciones resulta más apropiada está hoy superada. El término español resulta más recomendable por carecer de ambigüedad, ya que se refiere de modo unívoco a la lengua que hablan hoy cerca de cuatrocientos millones de personas. Asimismo, es la denominación que se utiliza internacionalmente (Spanish, espagnol, Spanisch, spagnolo, etc.). Aun siendo también sinónimo de español, resulta preferible reservar el término castellano para referirse al dialecto románico nacido en el Reino de Castilla durante la Edad Media, o al dialecto del español que se habla actualmente en esta región. En España, se usa asimismo el nombre castellano cuando se alude a la lengua común del Estado en relación con las otras lenguas cooficiales en sus respectivos territorios autónomos, como el catalán, el gallego o el vasco.”
So sorry to say that it is more adequate to call “español” what they speak in Argentina.
Like I said, it’s definitely more technically correct to call what they speak “Español”, but tell that to the average Argentine and they will disagree!
Totalmente de acuerdo con Gerardo y MC. Comunmente ahora se le llama “español” al idioma hablado en todos los paises de habla hispana, la diferencia radica en que algunos paises piensan que su español es mejor o más puro, y quieren diferenciarlo llamándolo “castellano”. Lo siento amigos argentinos, todos nosotros hablamos español o castellano
No quiero empezar un gran discusion pero quier aclarar que nunca dijé que castello es el idioma oficial. Noy soy argentina pero vivo acá y los argentinos dicen que hablan castellano. No es oficial, pero este es un artículo de jerga, no gramática.
While it might be true that the language we all speak is Español, ignoring the very important regional differences is not a good idea. Nonsense, I shall call it!
Now seriously, we speak Español Castizo or Castellano for short, and Rioplatense dialect. It’s not that we thik of it as a “pure” or better form (at least I don’t) but it’s definitely a separate variant from what you hear in, let’s say, Mexico, Spain, Chile, Honduras or any other of the many spanish-speaking countries.
Thanks for the support, Hernan! You heard it here, guys, from an Argentine!
I wouldn’t object to it being called “Castizo”, but Castellano is just incorrect on a few levels – mainly because it’s not what they speak in Castilla y Leon. Plus you guys invented a redundant verb tense
Every Spanish speaking country is different. Even regions are different. But that doesn’t mean that Argentine’s speak “castellano” and others do not. That doesn’t make it more specific. But every Spanish is different. Dominican Spanish is different from Mexican, Cuban, Ecuadorian, Colombian, ETC ETC it’s all spanish pero claro todos tienen sus propios acentos y habla coloquial!!!!!! People who are ignorant to the Spanish speaking world might think that it’s all the same, but one who has studied it or grew up in it (native speaker) ought to know better. There’s not even a reason to discuss it! It’s sooo insane.
Of course you have your own dialects, and accents etc…it’s not rocket science….
I don´t think any of you have any knowlegde of argentina at all, castellano is what it is called in argentina. thats what they call it there. Kind of like an earlier commented in english about elevators being called lifts in england. besides, castellano when spoken has the ca(english h sound)te(english zh sound) ano … the word uses the argentnian ll pronunciation and the argentinan constant pronunciation. It makes it so if someone from argentina says castellano to another argentinian they can recognize that the other person is argentian. calling it castellano gives it its own name that is different from the rest of american spanish, because argentinian spanish is very unique.
Now, that’s the kind of language all of us wished we’d learned in school. There’s nothing like a good swear to make you feel like a local.
Exactly! Even if you speak great textbook Spanish, people will single you out as a foreigner, and it’s so hard to show your personality without slang like this. Unless, of course, you NEVER say anything bad in English either!
Love these posts, I’ve been doing them for the other countries in South America but I haven’t made it to Argentina yet. I find interesting that in Latin America they change from country to country but puta seems to be universal.
Thanks Ayngelina! It’s so hard to keep up with the slang in ALL the countries.
I will not learn other languages. my english is very bad. hehehehe…
I love learning slang from other places. I’m half Brazilian so the first thing people ask me when they find out I speak Portuguese is how to curse. :p
Here’s a few Portuguese curses
A puta que te pariu- same as the Spanish version
Vai tomar no cu- literally means “go take it in the ass” but it’s used like “Fuck you” is used in English.
Porra- The word itself is a slang term for sperm but it’s more commonly used as an expletive like damnit and fuck. You can also use it to say things like “What the fuck is this?” which would be “Que porra e essa?”
Caralho-another common expletive
Cool, thanks Phil!
Hi to all!
)
This phrases are from Southamerican slang. In Spain we use other likes:
“¡¡Coño!!!” – Means “Pussy”, but it used like “Fuck!”
“Tu puta madre” – “You bitch mother”
“Hijo de Puta”- “Son of a bitch”
If we use together ( my favorite)
“Me cago en tu puta madre” – I shit on your bitch mother
“Gilipollas”, “Imbécil” – “Asshole” or “Dickhead”
“Vete a la mierda” – “Go to the shit”
“Polla” – ” Dick” or “Cock”
“Que te jodan” – “Fuck you” (by bad meaning
“Fóllame” – “Fuck me” (by good/sexual meaning)
“Chúpame la polla” – “Suck my dick”
“Pringado” many times ( “Pringao”) – “Loser” “Sucker”
I think you can survive in every traffic jam.
Thanks to reading.
Wow Thanks Fer!
Recuerdo una amiga de Irlanda que estaba en Madrid y ella pidío a una bocadilla de polla y entendaba porque fue tan chistoso.
y -no- entendaba. joder.
Y’know, I knew some of this stuff from growing up in S. California so I found it funny from that perspective. The thing that doesn’t strike me as funny, however, is how misogynistic so many of these things are.
Great post! My boss and I just had a big laugh reading it, being we’re both argentinians. I guess it’s the sense of weirdness that arises from reading your own slang get dissected that makes it all the more funnier
I remember when I was a kid, taking english lessons, the time we “le rompimos las pelotas” enough to our teacher that she finally agreed on giving us an improvised lecture on foul talking.
Keep up the good work, Rease!
Thank you Hernan, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Jajajaja, soy Argentina y me partí de risa con tu top 10, aunque yo no hubiese puesto “maldito a” y falta el “hijo de puta” jajajaja (:
Gracias! Si es verdad no puse todos, pero esos son mis favoritos!
hay mucho mas putiadas que han puesto unos de mis favoritos es “la re-putisima madre que te re-contra pario” thats for the advanced hahaaa, as a born American both my folks are from Argentina, and the 2 years i spent living abroad there and traveling south america…to me nothing beats the way u can cus some one out in castellano, i love it, let me know if i can help you on your new list, i know a lot of lunfardos argentinos, saludos capo
Thanks Andrew. There was no way I could get them all in. If I started with the “re” stuff I’d never finish. Right now I’m working on some other countries but if come back to Argentina I’ll let you know!
Hi Andrew,
I’m from India learning Spanish..I’m interested to know wht u’ve mentioned in your post.
falta el español mexicano:
vete a la verga,
mama chosto
tu puta madre
chinga tu madre,
___de la verga
___del navo.
chingadera(s)
mamadas
pendejadas
y se me olvidan varias, pero son muchas, si me acuerdo las pongo.
Gracias filpops, estoy trabajando en uno de Mexico, ahora tengo mas opciones!
la reputa madre que te pario! andate a la concha de tu hermana, pelotudo de mierda!
creo que ahi puse varias
jaja, casi todos!
La reputa madre = la puta madre ?
qual es la diferencia?
La reputa madre es mas fuerte, pero significa lo mismo. En Argentina se usa “re” para emfasis, como “Yo tengo re ganas” o “es re genial”
I’d like to hear more slang languages from you. This would be useful to know because there are a lot of spanish people here in our place and I dont know if they are already insulting me or what
Well I’d have to know what country you are looking for. Of course, if you have questions, feel free to hit me up. I’m working on a few more countries for posts like this! Stay tuned!
http://www.jergasdehablahispana.org/ Fun site to look through slang of different spanish speaking countries.
I just had my friend from barcelona write my a list like this on a post it. I keep it in my wallet.
if you want to know what english sounds like to foreigners:
http://www.paradoxfox.com/blog/2011/2/16/what-english-sounds-like-to-foreigners
Funny stuff here.. I want to put some of these on a shirt.
It´s argentina´s xpression, not spanish
ahh it kills me how argentines call it “castellano” and think that is the name of their special version. they can be so ignorant about stuff like that !
im argentine and i say español rioplatense.. you should generalize
should not* lol im running a fever, sorry
Haha! Great list! I love the colorful way Spanish-speakers talk. My Cuban friend always says “Me cago en la pinga” whenever he’s mad about something. (It literally means, “I shit on my dick” though. Really classy, huh?)
I got in trouble once in Bs. As. when I asked for a bottle of Concha y Toro wine.
I think I can give you one more.
SHO PUTA!
Practical use: when you are angry or pissed you can say “sho puta” wich is like you’re saying “shut up” or “shut up bitch”
They are Argentina’s phrases, not Spanish in general!!
Yes, I noted that in the intro.
Hello!
I am from Uruguay (a very little country placed between Argentina and Brazil, in the south), and these phrases are also used in my country!
A big hug from Montevideo
Tam
Thanks Tamara! I’ve been to montevideo and Colonia. Uruguayans are so friendly!
You should explain what kind of Spanish is it because is a mix of Spanish of Spain, Argentinian, and somewhere else. For who wants to use it on Mexico, doesn´t mean anything but you better be quiet with a taxi driver if you love yourself. If you dont believe me, just try if you think you can handle it…
Hi John,
I noted that this is made up of Argentine phrases in the intro. Of course, that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be understood/used in other countries, but these are all guaranteed to work in Argentina. The Mexican version is coming out this week!
Also very widely used:
HIJO DE PUTA (often pronounced as: “Hijueputa”).
Literally: Son of a whore
Practical use: Analogous to “Son of a bitch”, both as an insult and as an exclamatory curse of frustration. Ex1: “Ese hijo de puta se puso a maldecirle a mi mujer!
Ex2: “Hijo de puta, se me perdio la billetera!”
Another:
Echar los Perros
Literally: Cast the dogs
Practical use: To hit on (as in a man hits on a girl he just met)
Ex: “Esa hembra esta buena, le voy a echar los perros!”
I love this… I’ve never heard # 8 but # 2 is my fave <3
well, im from Colombia, but I live in the caribbean, an island called Dominican Republic. here, we have a lot of diferents “bad words” like:
mamaguevo, it is literaly dick sucker.
also: tu maldita madre, that’s like mother fucker
maricon, witch is like a gay guy, or a pussy
vete pa’ la mierda: that’s like fuck you….
etc etc etc….
Mal parido
Cabrón
Coño’e madre
Come mierda
Huele nucas
chupa condones
huele peo
pargo
relambegüebo
cagón
La gracia de todas estas weas es hablarlas bien rápido. El erro más clásico que comenten los gringos y otros extranjeros, es que nos imitan con un acento mexicano. Si quieren aprender las weas más pulentas y la raja, vayan a los barrios más choros, y digo choros de flaites, no de entretenidos. Sí o sí, tienen que ir a un partido de fútbol de Colo-Colo, a galería claramente, ahí está reunido todo el folkore del país. Un saludo a todos los pollos.
hi guys! i have always had the idea of making an argentinian-slang dictionary, one that was really loyal to everyday words in my country. I can tell you this kind of stuff listed above will also come in handy (and will be understood for sure) in nearly every other latinamerican country. here comes another bunch of words:
*GARCA (means not trustable, selfish individual. often referred to politicians)
*NABO (means ‘silly’. it has a funny connotation, since nabo means a root that grows wild in the argentinian pampas). other synonyms: GIL, BOBO, SALAME All they are not rude at all, just ALWAYS remember that everything is a matter of HOW do you say it. I believe being natural plays a big role with slangs.
On a more rude degree we find BOLUDO (stressed on the U) and PELOTUDO (way more rude). Both mean ‘big-balled guy’.
If you are interested in more add me on Facebook: Facundo Agrelo (:
saludos chicos!
Thanks Facundo! I worked with two teenage brothers who said “gil” to each other about every 5 minutes.
Funny!! In Mexico, “un forro” refers to a gorgeous person.
Just another example of how dangerous mixing dialects can be! I know in Mexico “coger un bus” is “to catch a bus” while in most other countries it is “To fuck a bus”. Huge difference!
Coger also means “fuck” in Mexico. You must be in a different part than the one my friends are from. “Coger” means “fuck” in most Latin American countries.
Actually, in mexico “coger” can be used to say “catch a bus” (coger un bus). Very tricky. However, in pretty much every other Latin American country it does mean “fuck”. In Argentina it still means “fuck” but so does “joder” and joder is much more commonly used.
My Mexican friends would have never said “coger un bus”… What part are you from? They said “agarrar” or “tomar”
this is funny..In respect to: : sos un forro is utilized to depict how disposable someone is…I can use you and throw you away..like a condom.
Besa mi culo
Means: Kiss my ass
I’m learning Spanish this year so I loved this post, and the comments thread.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I hope you are having fun learning Spanish!
Well this is just beyond useful. I’m a 17 year old girl studying abroad in Argentina next year, and I was so concerned about how I could properly convey my anger and frustration towards the language barrier. This helps. Lots
Haha, this is brilliant. I’m learning Spanish right now too – in Colombia. Hilarious stuff in the other comments too
pelotudo.
Loved this post! It’s a bit weird to see those phrases spelled out like that but it’s fun nonetheless. It cracks me up when my British husband uses them in his everyday speech!
Yeah direct translations are always awkward. I remember my Irish friend always said “I made a tit of myself” or “we got drunk off our tits” To Americans, that sounds ridiculous, but honestly, we would say the same thing but replace “tit” with “ass”. It’s the same idea, it’s just whatever you are used to!
1,2,4,5,7,8 expressions are only used in latin american countries, not in Spain(europe)
Yes, I noted in the beginning that these phrases are specific to Argentina, though they would be understood many other places, these are all guaranteed to be understood and used in Argentina.
I disagree. Maldito/ Maldita sea is somewhat common in Spain.
I didn´t mean to imply that these would not be understood or used in other countries, simply that I could guarantee they all worked in Argentina.
Sorry, I was responding to Antonio, who had said, perhaps accidentally, that “maldito/maldita sea” is not used in Spain.
you here those phrases every day living here in Los Angeles LOL!
haha that is fantastic!
“Andáte” is spelled incorrectly. It should be “andate”.
Without the “te”, yes, it is “andá” (vos form of the imperative for andar)… Since “andate” ends in a vowel, the second “a” does not need to have a tilde– it is redundant. The rules of accentuation indicate that it is pronounced “anDAte”
In Spain Spanish– although they would typically say “vete”– it would be “ándate”. Or a typical expression in Mexican Spanish is “ándale”.
You are correct, the accent mark is redundant but because I was using a lesser known verb form and this is written, I put it there for those who are not familiar with the pronunciation rules as saying ándate instead of andate would give you away as a foreigner right away in Argentina.
As for the Spain Spanish comments, you are also correct but that is why I noted that these phrases are for Argentina.
Hehe, I imagined you knew that, since you are living in Buenos Aires. Hopefully know one writes “andáte” on a colloquial Spanish test in Argentina because of your post
…
I was just providing the Spain Spanish as a juxtaposition (ándate vs andate), not trying to imply that you were unaware of that.
I dont know if someone say it, but castellano is a language that comes originally from Castilla (Spain), in fact all people that talk spanish are talking castellano! So, castellano isn’t from argentina, the modism that are described here, yes they are.
I am aware of the historical links, but you will not find an Argentine that does not claim to speak Castellano.
I curse in French and Spanish (Romance languages are the most expressive, I find) here in Central Asia because I am fairly sure no one will understand what I say. That said, it has happened, to embarrassing results.
It’s fun to see our everyday expressions broken down like that… thanks!
Though can I point out that “maldito” is not really a common word down here? We hear it all the time but mostly from mexicans and people from other countries in south america, especially since 99% of formal translations for movies and shows are done using mexican or neutral spanish…
By the way, I totally agree with the comment that stated that each and every one of those phrases could have 10 different meanings since, for us, it’s all about the tone, facial expression and stuff like that…
You don´t hear maldito much? I hear it quite often, usually just mumbled when someone makes a mistake, though I admit “la puta madre” is much more common haha. And you are very right, a lot of these can change in severity or meaning by tone, but that is true in most languages.
An anecdote: During the’50s my father (argentinean) was in the merchant navy and sailed the world. Being in South Africa,I believe in Cape Town, he went to a bank to cash a check given to him in Europe by a client of his, and he found that he had been cheated. He left the bank in a rage, and outside he yelled “LA PUTA MADRE QUE LO PARIÓ!!!!”. A young woman approached him, with a huge smile of relief painted in her face, and said in Spanish: “Thanks God, Sir, you’re argentinean!!! Could you please help me?” The lady was lost and spoke no English!
To the list it should be added
- La concha de la lora (the cunt of the female parrot)
- La concha de la vaca puta (the cunt of the cow which is a whore)
The can both be used in combination with “andate a la …” (go to the …) VERY strong ones!
LOVE this story and the additions!
The best part of the story is that my late father was an extremely calm and polite man, who hardly uttered coarse words …
Hi all, very nice collection of pretty useful phrases. I wanted to add some data to the discussion, as I was taught at school:
Castellano was the language that the Spanish conquerors brought to the American continent, because by those times, that was the “official” or most spoken language. Columbus discovered the american continent supported by the Kings of Spain: Isabel de Castilla who married Fernando de Aragon and they jointly settled the basis for the Spanish Kingdom by uniting their kingdoms and winning Granada back from the muslims and incorporating Navarra. So, the way to say we speak castellano is an old way to refer to the fact that we all – in the American continent as well as in Spain- speak Spanish – which is a more updated way to call the language we all speak.
cheers from a portenia
Thank you for the the explanation!
Just on correction, Castellano or Castilian is another way of saying Spanish, from Argentina and every Spanish-speaking country in the world. Español/Castellano Rioplatense or River Plate Spanish/Castillian is the correct dialect of all these phrases. Good collection!
buen compilado
Ah, these are great – swear words are often the most fun & easy to retain for some reason
argentine insults … not every curse in spanish is or means this
These are actually Argentinean phrases. They are not used in Mexico, Spain, Central America or basically most of the Spanish speaking world. An american using these phrases outside Argentina would sound ridiculous. Thumbs down in stumbleupon.
Nice! I’ll have to show my girlfriend this page, she speaks spanish but probably not well enough to know these extra phrases
Thanks!
OMG! I love this! I’m about to start learning Spanish in Madrid on Monday. I won’t DARE use some of these on the 1st day
Thanks Ian! Yes, save these for outside the classroom. Actually, a lot of these won´t be used in Spain. In spain saying “es la puta madre” actually means something closer to “it´s the best/it´s fucking awesome”
All I want to know is how to speak Dominican spanish. My girl texed me tequieromicorazon, como esta? I’m like WTF why she gotta text like they talk, and why do they need to blend 3-5 words in one!!!
Ha, sorry but I have never been to the Dominican Republic so I cannot say much about their Spanish. However, Puerto Rican Spanish is similar in the way that they blend words.
Ha ha ha, if you call someone a condom, he/she will surely gonna kill you. But Sos un forro sounds really good, people who don’t know Spanish will not able to understand it…now whenever I will get frustrated, I will keep on saying “Sos un forro”. lolzzzz
Perfect! Insulting people in an hilarious way without them ever knowing.
Sólo un fallo, Castellano es lo que se habla en España, llamada antiguamente Castilla de hay viene el nombre. En argentina se habla Argentino xD
Maaaas biiiiien