Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

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

Someone sent me this and I wanted to share it with all of you who are studying Spanish. Next time you want to lament over how ‘Diificult’ Spanish is, think about those poor folks studying Englsh and trying to wade their way through all of our ‘expressions’.
Enjoy!

You Think English is Easy??? Think of trying to explain these to someone studying English as a second language!

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture.
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .
A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row .
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear.
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Let’s face it – English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

PS. – Why doesn’t “Buick” rhyme with “quick”

Now we know why it’s been said that the English language is the hardest to learn.

In English we only have one verb which means “to play.” However, in Spanish Jugar and tocar are verbs which mean “to play,” but have very different uses. Jugar + a, is used to play a sport or game. José juega al tenis. Joe plays tennis. Me gusta jugar a la pelota. I like to play ball. On the other hand the verb tocar is used to play a musical instrument: Carmen toca muy bien el piano. Carmen plays the piano very well. Tocar may also mean to have one’s turn at doing something, to knock on a door or to touch someone or something.

Pedir and preguntar are two other troublesome verbs for English speakers. Both of these verbs mean to ask but note the uses. Pedir means to ask for or request something. El niño le pide dinero a su padre. The boy asks his father for money. Preguntar means to ask a question or inquire. El alumno pregunta a la profesora cómo está. The student asks the teacher how she is.

Poder and saber are two verbs that mean “can,” but have different uses. Poder means “can’ in the sense of ability. No puedo ayudar a mi amigo. I cannot help my friend (unable to help). Saber means “can” in the sense of to know how. El niño no sabe leer. The child can’t read (doesn’t know how to).

Finally, volver and devolver, both mean “to return” but are not used the same way. Volver means to return in the sense of come back. Voy a volver a casa. I’m going to return home. Devolver means to return in the sense of to give something back. Voy a devolver el libro a la biblioteca. I’m going to return the book to the library.

Tiquismo of the week:
Agazapado is a person who is a hypocrite in Costa Rica.

Experienced businessman will tell you that doing business in any foreign country can be difficult, not to mention when one doess not speak the language.

All of the guidebooks about living in Costa rica mention the many obstacles of conducting business: endless red tape, slow moving bureaucracy, different laws and customs and above all another language.

It is imperative if you are doinig business in Costa Riaca on a regular basis that you learn Spanish. You can use a bilingual lawyer to assist you, but sooner or later you will have to become somewhat self-sufficeint and acquire a basic Spanish business vocabulary. Now there are three great books to help you achieve this end.

The first is, Just Enough Business Spanish by Passport Books. This handy guide provides one simple A-Z list of business trems to help you: communicate at sales meetings, in discussions of contracts and when making presentations. It also contains phrases and words that can help you when travelling, at your hotel and coping with typical business trip problems. In general, this guide will make doing business in Costa Rica or any country south of the border much smoother.

The second book is Talking Business in Spanish published by Barron’s. It is excellent and contains all of the essential information you need to know. It has more than 3,000 business terms dealing with accounting, adverising, banking computers exporting and importing, finance and investment, labor relations, manufactoring and marketing – all translated from English to Spanish and Spanish to English, plus general phrases for travellers.

Finally, there is Wiley’s English-Spanish, Spanish-English Dictionary by Steven M. Kaplan. It is very complete and provides a ready reference to essential terms and phrases used in all areas of business, including international business, banking, management, commerce, and securities. It has over 40,000 business words and phrases and is user-friendly.

Tiquismo of the week:

Burrocracia which sounds like the word burocracia which means bureaucracy. However, if you notice the first word has an extra “r”. The beginning of the word “burro” which means ‘donkey” in Spanish. This word play is the Spanish speakers way of making fun of the asinine way most bureaucracy works in their countries.