Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the many uses of the verb echar. Pasar probably has more uses than echar. Some of the uses are exactly the same as in English while others are not.

Pasar a mejor vida - Pass away, to die

A José no se le pasa nada – You can’t get anything by José
¡cómo pasa el tiempo! – How time goes by!
De allí no paso. – That’s where I draw the line.
El médico pasará a visitarnos – The doctor will come by and visit us.
El río pasa por la ciudad. – The river flows through the city
Hacerse pasar por alguien - To pass yourself off as some or something.
Se hace pasar por médico. – To pass yourself off as doctor.
Ha pasado la crisis - The crisis is over.
Han pasado cuatro años. – Four years have passed.
Juan pasa por francés - John can pass for a French person.
La carne está pasada - The meat is bad (went bad or spoiled)
Me has pasado tu tos. – You have given me your cough.
¿Me pasa la sal, por favor? – Would you please pass the salt?
Me pasa las tuyas - The same thing happens to me as you
Lo pasamos bien - We had a good time
No hay paso. – The road is closed or blocked
No se puede pasar - You can’t enter
No se le pasa nada - Nothing escapes him.
Nos hiceron pasar. – They showed us in.
Nos pasaron a otra habitación. – They moves us to another room.
Nos pasaron a ver al presidente. – They took us to see the presidente.
Pasamos nuestras vacaciones en México. – We spent out vacation in Mexico.
Pasar a más - To get worse
Pasar al lado del enemigo - To go over to the other side
Pasar adelante - To go on or proceed
Pasar dinero falso - To pass counterfeit money.
Pasar el café por el colador - Strain the coffee.
Pasar el cepillo por el pelo - To brush one’s hair
Pasar el rato - to kill time
Pasar de – To go beyond.
Ella pasa de ser bonita. She is beyond beautiful Etc.
Pasar frío - To be cold
Pasar hambre - To go hungry
Pasar la bola - To pass a ball
Pasar la lista - To call roll
Pasar la mano por algo - To run your hand over something
Pasar por - To experience
Ya pasé por eso . – I already went through that.
Pasar por alto - To overlook or skip
Pasar revista a - To review the troops
Pasar un carro - To pass a car. Adelantar is also. Rayar is used Costa Rica.
Pasar una cosa - To pass something like  street or a floor when you are in an elevator.
Pasar por agua - to boil an egg
Pasar por su casa - To visit your house or drop in
Pasar por una crisis - To go through a crisis
Pasar una ley - To pass a law
Pasarse - Used when food goes bad
Pasarse de la raya - To go too far
Pasarse de listo - To be a smart ass or think one is smart.  Jugar de vivo is used in Costa Rica. A vivazo is a smartass.
Pasarse de moda – to be out of style
Pasarse de bueno - To be good
Pase lo que pase - Come what may.
¡pase Usted! - After you! (when entering)
Se me pasó el trago – I am drunk
Se me pasó el turno - I missed my turn.
Se me pasó la mano - I got carried away. Se me fue la mano is also used.
Se me pasó la oportunidad - I missed my chance
Se te pasa - You’ll get over it (problem or sickness).
¿Qué pasa? - What’s the matter?

There are a lot more…

Tiquismos of the week:

• Pasar a mejor vida - To die
• Pasar la brocha - To stroke someone
• Pasar la pelota - To pass the buck (figuratively)
• Pasar por muchos aros - To go through a lot of hoops (figuratively) or have a lot of experience
  

A la gringa  the American way
Agringarse  to be very Americanized in terms of habits or customs
Aticarse – to become very Costa Rican in terms of your habits or customs
Aticado/a  same as the last one
Caripálida  paleface
Costarricense  a Costa Rican
Gringada  all of the gringos collectively or a typical thing a gringo does.
Gringo de nacimiento, tico de corazón – Gringo by birth, tico at heart
Gringolandia  the United States
Gringorricense  a gringo/tico
Gringuera  a Latin woman who likes to go after gringo men
Gringuerío  a group of gringos
Güero  a gringo or  blond person in Mexican Spanish
Más gringo que pastel de manzana  more gringo than apple pie
Norteño  a gringo
Tiquicia  Costa Rica
Más tico que la maña de pedir fiado to be typically  Costa Rican
Más tico que el gallo pinto to be typically  Costa Rican
Más tico que el agua dulce to be typically  Costa Rican
No se le quita lo gringo ni banándose  always be  gringo no matter what you do
Tingo –  a Tico/Gringo. In the 1980s there was a popular bar in San Pedro by the same name.
Tiquismo or costarriqueñismo – an expression from Costa Rica

Tiquismo of the week: Actually this is riddle (adivinanza) I heard on the street. I will not translate it so you can test your language skills. ¿En qué se parece un gringo tratando de aprender español a una sartén recubierta de teflón? ¿Se da por vencido? Respuesta: En que no se le pega nada. Je, Je, Je

Abismo – abyss
Agrietarse – to crack
Albergue – shelter
Búsqueda y rescate – search and rescue
Aislado – cut off or isolated
Comportamiento – the behavior of a volcano, ocean etc.
Cráter – crater
Damnificados – homeless as a result of a disaster
Dañar – to damage
Daños estructurales – structural damage
Daño total or quedar inservible – totaled
Derrumbe – landslide
Deslavar – to wash out (road)
Deslave – washed out road
Deslizamiento – landslide
Devastar – to devastate
Donativo or donación – donation
Epicentro – epicenter
En pie – still standing (structure). La casa todavía está en pie
Esterrar vivo – bury alive
Escala Richter – Richter scale
Escombros – rubble
Grietas – cracks
Hacer erupción – to erupt
Ileso – unscathed or unhurt
Incomunicado –cut off
Intensidad – intensity
Inundación – flood
La Cruz Roja – Red Cross
Lava – lava
Magnitud – magnitude
Maremoto – a tidal wave
Mecerse – to sing back and forth, sway or rock. Roquear means to rock like rock nd roll
Ondas de expansión – shock waves
Ponerse a salvo – to reach safety
Primeros auxilios – first aid
Registrarse – to record (intensity of quake)
Réplica –aftershock
Rescatar – rescue or salvage
Rescatista –rescuer
Restos – remains of a body
Río de lava – lava flow
Sacudir – to shake
Saldo de muertos – death toll
¡Sálvese el que pueda! – every man for himself
Sisimógrafo – Seismograph used to measure earthquakes
Sismólogo – seismologist
Sobrevivientes – survivors
Soccorista – rescuer
Temblor secundario – aftershock
Terremoto – earthquake
Tienda de campaña – tent
Umbral o marco de la puerta – door frame
Volcán – volcano
Vulcanólogo – a volcanologist (person who studies volcanoes)

Tiquismo of the week : Mira lo que tiró el volcán means look what the tide brought in. Said when a friend shows up unexpectedly.

Esto sería mas divertido si no lo echaras como una niña.

Echar: To throw something but almost always has to do with a forcible  casting out or expulsion or pouring. I could write pages and pages about the many uses of this verb. Here are some of the most common expressions using echar.

Echar a alguien – to throw someone out of someplace or expel them.
Echar a cara o cruz – to flip a coin. Echar un volado means the same thing.
Echar a correr – to start to run
Echar a perder –to ruin or spoil something
Echar a pique – to sink or send to the bottom
Echar abajo – to demolish
Echar algo en cara – to reproach or to rub something in one’s face (figuratively speaking)
Echar chispas – to be very mad
Echar de cabeza – to let something out of the bag
Echar de menos – to miss a person or something
Echar el caballo – to make a pass at someone in Costa Rica
Echar el cuento – the same as the last one
Echar el guante a alguien – to catch someone
Echar el ojo – to have your eye on something
Echar flores – to praise
Echar en saco roto – to forget about something
Echar ganas – to show enthusiasm
Echar indirectas – to drop hints or insinuate
Echar la casa por la ventana – to spend lavishly or go all out on a party
Echar la culpa a alguien – to blame someone
Echar las cartas – to tell someone’s fortune
Echar leña al fuego – to add fuel to the fire (figuratively speaking)
Echar mal de ojo – to give the evil eye
Echar para aldelante – to keep going when things are rough
Echar patas – used when something get stolen in Costa Rica. It grew feet and walked away.
Echar raíces – to settle down
Echar suertes – to draw lots
Echar tierra a – to keep something quiet or hush up something
Echar un polvo – to have sex (vulgar)
Echar un sermón a alguien – to give someone a lecture or scold.
Echar una carta – to mail a letter
Echar una mano – to give someone a hand (help)
Echar una meadita – to urinate (vulgar)
Echar una pestaña – to sleep
Echarse – to lie down
Echarse a la calle – to become a prostitute
Echarse para atrás  - to back out of a commitment
Echarse un solito – to play a musical solo.
Echarse un trago – to have a drink like a beer
Echarse una cana al aire – to have a fling
Echarse una siesta – to take a nap
¿Cuántos años le echa? – How old do you think he is?

Tiquismo of the week : Echar al agua means to tell or squeal on someone in Costa Rica