Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

“Christopher Howard’s Guide to Costa Rican Spanish”
By Steve Silver
Special for Costa Rica Today

Christopher Howard  first became  fascinated by the Spanish language and culture while studying in Puebla, Mexico over thirty years.  Mr. Howard’s latest 160-page guidebook reflects his life-long interest in the subject.  It is a must read for anyone thinking of spending long  periods of time in Costa Rica.

When Mr. Howard moved to Costa Rica in the early 1980s he quickly realized that he would have to learn Costa Rican-style Spanish. Despite having an advanced degree in Spanish, having studied and lived in Mexico and having traveled to every country in Latin America he quickly realized that Spanish was spoken a little different here.  First, he noticed that  there were a lot of local expressions and vocabulary with which he was not familiar.  So he set out  learn all the nuances  of the local lingo.   His new guidebook is the result of almost 25 years of research in the field of Spanish as a second language. By no means is it a complete course in the Spanish language, but does provide neophytes with the basics to  survive here.  Travelers, students, full and part-time residents as well as serious language students will all benefit from the information in this handy book. Howard has taken some of the material from his weekly newspaper columns “Learning the language” and “Short Cuts for Learning Spanish.”

The book is divided into different sections.  The first part deals with pronunciation and has some handy drills to help students sound  more like native speakers.  The next section contains essential Spanish survival phrases you will need for  most daily situations you will encounter in Costa Rica. There is another chapter which shows how Costa Ricans use the vos form of verbs instead of the tú form to address friends. Then there are two chapters dedicated to Costa Rican street slang and useful idioms.  You won’t be able to find most of this material in a standard Spanish dictionary or any other source in English.

The next chapter contains a section on piropos or phrases used for flirting.  Two great sections follow where Chris gives his  secrets for learning  the language.  At the end of the guide is a list of good books  and other sources for learning the language. Finally, the is a short English- Spanish, Spanish-English dictionary.

This guide is pocket-size so you can take it with you wherever you go.

It is available  in Costa Rica through 7th Street Books, Librería Internacional and  Librería Universal. On line it can be obtained through  Amazon.com or www.escaprartist.com.  It can also be purchased in U.S. and Canadian bookstores. Worldwide distribution is through Book Surge.

Mr. Howard has also authored: The bestselling “New Golden Door to Retirement and Living in Costa Rica.”,  the equally popular “Living and Investing in Panamá.”  the one-of-a-kind “Living and Investing in Nicaragua” and  “Living and Investing in Cuba,”  He has co-authored “Driving the Pan-American Highway to Mexico and Central America”  and the soon-to-be released  blockbuster “The Official Guide to Costa Rican Real Estate.”

October 2005

Noted Costa Rican linguist, Miguel A, Quesada Pacheco , defines the word “pachuco” as: a person with unacceptable social customs, a kind of woman’s underwear or a type of street slang used by young people. In this series of columns I will only deal with the last definition.

Cagada/o de risa – a funny person or thing (vulgar)
Dar pelota – to flirt
Darle vuelta – to cheat on someone
Dejar plantado – to stand someone up
Despiche – a mess
Echarle el ruco – to hit on someone or try to pick them up. Echar el cuento or echar el caballo are also used.
Echarse – to drink something
Echarse al pico – to tell on someone
Embarcarse – to commit an error or get involved in a difficult situation
Enfiestarse – to party
Enchingarse – to take off ones clothes
Está legal – means something is cool
Estaca – a cheap person
Estar en todas – to be well informed. Estar sobre la jugada is a similar expression
Estar hasta el culo – to be drunk on ones ass (vulgar)
Estar limpio/a – to be without money
Estrilón – a complainer

You point with your lips.
You snap your index finger against your second
(bird) finger when you think something’s funny or incredible.
You miss the chaos when you leave the country.
You miss the way black beans in restaurants used to be whole and had a different flavor.
Diay and puta come out of your mouth like you were born to them.
You watch a Spanish language movie and you understand the body language that gives another layer of nuance to the acting.
You start to prevaricate so somebody else can save face.
You answer bien por dicha even when the other person doesn’t ask you how you were, but you were expecting them to, so you say it automatically.
The sound of a gringo accent in Spanish makes your ears bleed.
You get pissed off when your friend slams the door to your car.
You go to an English speaking country and when you want to ask for a glass of water the first thing out of your mouth to a waiter in a restaurant is “mae, regalame….” and you don’t get why he’s looking at you funny.

Despu?s de a??o y medio en clases, me doy cuenta todo lo que he aprendido del dioma Ingles. Para aumentar un poco el l?xico del idioma ingles, les hago una peque?a contribuci?n:

BETWEEN BETWEEN AND DRINK A CHAIR: Entre entre y toma una silla
IN FOR NOTHING SILVER NO GREEN: Empanada de platano verde.

Para los que creen que saben mucho ingles, ? a que no conocian las siguientes frases?:

FOR IF THE FLIES: Por si las moscas.
ARE YOU DRINKING MY HAIR?: Me estas tomando el pelo?
TO THROW THE STORY: Echar el cuento
WHAT IS THE STICK: Que es la vara
GO TO KNOW: Anda a saber.
TO PULL THE PIE: Jalarse la torta
LIKE WHO DOESN’T WANT THE THING: Como quien no quiere la cosa.
I DON’T GIVE MORE: No doy mas
WITH ALL THE LEG: Con toda la pata
TO HANG YOUR TENNIS: colgar los tennis
SEE HER HAIRY: Verla peluda
IT MATTERS ME A WHISTLE: Me importa un pito
TO BE A DEAD LITTLE FLY: Ser un mosquita muerta
TO GIVE BALL: dar pelota
FRESHIER THAN A LETTUCE: Mas fresco que una lechuga
CAT FOR RABBIT: gato por liebre
DON`T YOU HILL OVER THE FLYING PANCAKE: No se monte en la arepa voladora
FOR THE TIGER: pa’l tigre
MY LIFE IS FULL OF INHALATIONS: Mi vida estA llena de aspiracion
MORE SALTED THAN A SAILOR SNOT: Mas salado que un moco marinero
GO PULLING: Va jalando

Ademas hay que agregar cosas como:
Open monkeys: Abramonos
Let’s row: Rememos
Pure tens: Puros dieces
What a big glue: Que gomon
Pure life: Pura vida (infaltable)

Ciudades en Costa Rica:
BIG FROG = Zapote
IF YOU WANT = Siquirres
THE VALLEY OF THE GOLD YES = El Valle de Orosi
CAR TO GO = Cartago
IF YOU LAUGH =Aserri
TINAS GOLD = Orotina
THOSE LEFT ALONE = Desemparados
THE BLANKET = La Sabana
FOR LESS= Escazu

Noted Costa Rican linguist, Miguel A, Quesada Pacheco , defines the word “pachuco” as: a person with unacceptable social customs, a kind of woman’s underwear or a type of street slang used by young people. In this series of columns I will only deal with the last definition.

Abrirse - to split (to leave)
Agarrarse - to fight
¡Al chile! - Really! Seriously!
Apretar - to kiss
Batear -to lie or talk a lot of crap
Bostezo - a boring person
Blanco - a cigarette
Botar el rancho - to vomit
Bote or tarro - jail
Bretear - to work
Buchón - somebody who hogs things
Burrada - a stupid act
Cachos - shoes
Caña - a colón (money)
Chapulín - a juvenile delinquent
Chepe - Slang for the city San José or nickname for a man called José
Chepito - a snoopy person
Cruz - shirt