Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

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Tico Talk

Those of you who have read this column before are bound to have noticed that at the end of each article there is a definition of a Costa Rican expression or tiquismo. The purpose of including these words is to familiarize readers with these frequently used expressions. You won’t find their meanings in most Spanish dictionaries.

birra - beer
brete - work
chapa - any coin or a dumb person
estar de chicha - to be angry
chingo - nude
chunche - any ‘thing’
chulo - a person who lives off others
harina - money
jupa - head
macho - a person with blonde hair
maje - dumb or a young man (slang)
matar la culebra - waste time
paja - b.s.
pinche - a tight-fisted person
paño - towel
clavar el pico - to fall asleep
agarrar de maje - to deceive someone
ponerse hasta la mecha - get drunk
torta - a big mistake or error
¡Pura vida! - Fantastic! Great!

Costa Rican expression of the week: cachos is a slang word for shoes.

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