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Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

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Archive for May, 2009
Bizco – cross eyed

Bizco – cross eyed

Boca de culo de gallina – a small mouth (vulgar)
Bola de billar – bald
Bola de manteca – a ball of fat (heavy person)
Cabeza de huevo – egghead
Caer en oidos sordos – to fall on deaf ears
Cabeza de pollo – dumb
Casperín – like Casper the ghost (a very white person)
Cejas de perico – thick eyebrows
Cejijunto –having eyebrows that meet
Colmilludo – big eye teeth like Dracula
Como dios lo trajo al mundo – naked or in birthday suit
Cuatro culos – to have a big butt (offensive)
Cuatro ojos – foreyes (glasses)
Cuellilargo – having a long neck. The term is also used for a type of bottle
Cuerpazo – a good body Buena carrocería or chasis are also used
Cuerpo de almohada vieja – to have a bad body
Cuerpo de gallina – to have no hips
Dientes de ardilla – big front teeth
Dientes de maíz – to have undersized teeth
Dientón – to have big teeth
Dumbo – big ears
Enano – a short person or a child
Fósforo – a skinny person
Frentón – to have a big forehead
Las paredes tienen oídos or las paredes oyen – the walls have ears
Meter las narices en lo que no te importa – to get into someone’s else’s business
Nacer por el culo – to be ugly (very vulgar and offensive)
Nadadora – flat as a board (insulting)
Narizón – a big nose
No tener pelos en la lengua – to speak one’s mind
No tener un pelo de tonto – to not be dumb
Oídos tísicos – to have big ears
Ojo por ojo, diente por diente – an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
Ojos saltones – pop eyes
Ojos soñolientos – sleepy eyes
Orejón – big ears
Panza cervecera – a beer belly
Patas de mono – to have flat feet like a monkey
Patas de yuca – a person with very white skin on their feet.
Pecho de zapo – a big chest
Pelo de elote – unattractive hair
Plumero –someone with wild unruly hair. Actually a plumero is a duster.
Por la boca muere el pes – be careful what you say
Por un pelo no es mono – to be very hairy
Por una baba no es mono – same as the last one
Quemar las pestañas – to burn the midnight oil or cram for a test
Quien tiene boca se equivoca – if you have a mouth you are bound to make a mistake
Ser todo oídos – to be all ears
Sindi (sin dientes) – to have no teeth
Sin cejas – without eyebrows (some women). Snakes have no eyebrows.
Tener más entradas que el ICE or Tener más entradas que el aeropuerto Juan Santamaría – to have receding hair
Todo entra por la vista – everything is seen through the eyes
Trompudo – big lips
Versele el pensamiento – to be so bald you read a person’s thoughts

Related Tiquismos:

  • A culo pelado – naked
  • Anillo – anus
  • Arrugar la jacha – to frown
  • Cuerpo de tentación cara de arrepentimiento – a good body but ugly face
  • Elena – a small person. Slang for enano
  • Enjachar – to make a face at someone
  • Feto – an ugly person (fetus)
  • Jacha – face
  • Jupa – head
  • Jupón – a big head
  • Maduro – male sex organ (vulgar)
  • Momia – an ugly person
  • No es la ropa, es la percha – it’s not the clothes but what’s underneath.
  • ¿Para qué darle un peine a un calvo? – Why give a comb to a bald man?
  • Pepa – female sex organ (vulgar)
  • Picha – male sex organ (vulgar)
  • Pichel –face (insulting)
  • Quedar como un culo – to look like an ass or fool (vulgar)
  • Rosca – male sex organ (vulgar)
  • Volvérsele la rosca – when a man changes his sexual orientation (vulgar)

A tomar porque el mundo se va acabar – Let’s drink because life is short
Toma – a wall socket
Toma – a take when filming a movie
Toma y daca – give and take
Tomador – a drinker
Tomar – to drink. Beber is also used
Tomar a la ligera – to take something lightly
Tomar a mal –mto offend
Tomar aire – to get some air
Tomar algo con un grano de sal – to take something with a grain of salt
Tomar asiento – to sit down
Tomar el rábano por las hojas – to take the bull by the horns
Tomar fuerzas – to get strength
Tomar puntes – to take notes
Tomarle cariño a – to become fond of someone
Tomar como cosaco – to drink like a Cosac (to drink a lot)
Tomar con calma  - to take it easy
Tomarle a alguien el pelo – to pull someone’s leg
Tomar en serio – to take seriously
Tomar forma to take on a shape
Tomar la delantera – to take the lead (literally and figuratively)
Tomar las medidas – to take measurements
Tomar por esposa – to take for one’s wife (marriage ceremony)
Tomar por idiota -to take for a fool
Tomar por sorpresa – to take by surprise
Tomar precaucioes – to take precautions
Tomar sobre  sí una cosa – to take something upon oneself
Tomar su tiempo – to take one’s time
Tomar un curso – to take a class or study something
Tomar un respiro – to take a break or breather
Tomar un taxi, tren, autobús, avión – to take a taxi, train, bus, plane etc.
Tomar una calle – to take a street
Tomar una ciudad – to take a city (besiege)
Tomar una curva – to take a curve
Tomar una foto – to take a photo
Tomar una pausa – to take a break
Tomar vacaciones – to take a vacation
Tomar vuelo – to take flight
Tomarse las cosas a la tremenda – to take things  too hard

Tiquismos:

  • ¡Tome chichi! – Take that for being a know it all!
  • ¡Tome papito! – means the same as the last one
  • Tomadera – the act of drinking a lot
  • Tomar a pecho una cosa – to give importance to something
  • Tomar café con lengua – to drink coffee without anything else
  • Tomar y manejar, con el diablo pasear – don’t drink and drive
Tenebroso

Tenebroso

Achicarse to back down, chicken out or choke in sports
Acobardarse to chicken out
Apendejarse to act like coward
Asustarse to get frightened or scared
Asustado scared
Asustante scary (adjective)
Asustar to scare
Aterrador scary  (adjective)
Cagarse de miedo to be scared shitless (vulgar)
Dar escalofríos to gave someone the creeps
Dar miedo run-of-the-mill fear For example: Me da miedo (It scares me)
Espantoso/horrible For example: La muchacha se ve espantosa (The girl looks horrible/bad)
Espantapájaros scarecrow
Espantasuegras (thing for scaring off mother-in-laws) a rolled-up blow out party favor that you blow on and it unwinds
Espantar to frighten
Espantarse  to get scared
La casa de los espantos a haunted house at an amusement park
Miedo is a run-of-the-mill type of fear. For example: Tengo miedo de los perros (I’m afraid of dogs). Same as dar miedo.
Miedoso scaredy cat
No tener agallas to not have the guts to do something
No tener huevos to not have balls or guts (vulgar)
No tener valor means the same as the last two
Pavor a phobia For example: Las serpientes me dan pavor (I am terrified of snakes)
Película de horror or película de miedo a horror movie
Susto is a sudden type of fear For example: ¡Qué susto! (What a scare!)
Temer is a polite way to state fear. For example: Temo haber llegado en un mal momento (I fear I may arrived at a bad moment.)
Temer que to fear that
Temblar de miedo to be shaking with fear
Temor a specific fear
Temor por to fear for
Temoroso fearful
Tener los huevos de corbata (to have one’s testicles as a tie) to be fearful (vulgar)
Tener horror a algo to be scared of something
Tener miedo a or tener miedo de to be scared of For example: Tengo miedo de los perros or le tengo miedo a los perros (I am afraid of dogs)
Tenerle miedo a su propia sombra to be scared of one’s own shadow

Tiquismos:

  • Con mucho susto (with fear) is often used instead of con mucho gusto (you’re welcome). It is a play on words. There is another version. “Con mucho susto y poca gana
  • Espantar la mula – to leave or go
  • Gato escaldado del agua fría huye once bitten, twice shy
  • Huevos tibios a coward (vulgar)
  • Pendejo coward
  • Gallina chicken (coward)
  • No tiene nada que temer sino al temor mismonothing to fear but fear itself FDR. I thought I’d throw this one in.

Acomodador: an usher in a theater
Acomodar: to seat someone in a theater
Acomodar: to put in place. For example : Acomoda bien las maletas en el carro (Put the suitcases carefully in the car)
Acomodarse: to adapt oneself. For example: él se acomodó a las circunstancias (He adapted to the circumstances)
Acomodarse: to make oneself comfortable For example: ¡Acomódese¡ (Make yourself comfortable or make yourself at home)
Acomodado:  well-to-do. For example: Es una familia acomodada (It is a well-to-do family.)
Acomplejado: to have a complex or be neurotic
Apenado: embarassed
Comodamente:  comfortably
Encajar:  to fit in (figurative) Muchas personas encajan perfectamente aquí. (A lot of people fit in perfectly here.)
Estar como gallina en corral ajeno: to be out of place
Estar como pez fuera de agua: to feel out of place (like a fish out of water)
Estar como sapo en pozo ajeno: to feel out of place (like a toad in another well)
Estar en su elemento: To be in one’s element
Inadaptado: a misfit
Incomodar: to cause an inconvenience
Incomodidad: inconvenience
Incómodo: uncomfortable
Más incómodo que dormir con la suegra: More uncomfortable than sleeping with your mother-in-law
Más incómo  que un trompo en el bolsillo: More uncomfortable than a top (for spinning) in your pocket
No encajar: not to fit in (figurative)
Quejarse: to complain
Quejón: a complainer
Sentirse fuera de lugar: to feel out of place

Tiquismos:

  • Aunque esté bien sentado le duele el trasero - someone who always feels uneasy in any situation or complains no matter how good the situation is.
  • Reunión de más de dos es revolución – two is company, three is a crowd. Tres es multitud means the same thing.