Guide to Costa Rican Spanish

LEGAL TERMS / TERMINOS LEGALES

Due diligence – Diligencia debida
Easement – Servidumbre
Executor – Albacea
Execution of the verdict – Ejecución de la pena
Embezzlement – Desfalco
Encumbrance – Gravamen
Evidence – Evidencia or pruebas
Eye witness – Testigo ocular
False witness – Testigo falso
Fees – Honorarios
Felony – Delito mayor
Fight case – Pelear el caso
Find guilty – Encontrar culpable
Find innocent – Encontrar inocente
Fine – Multa
Fraud – Fraude

Tiquismos of the week:

Destaparse el tamal: hell broke loose
Dios tarda pero no olvida: God may take time but never forgets
Donde menos se piensa salta la liebre: the hare jumps in the least expected place (things sometimes happen unexpectedly)

Terraza – a deck
Texturizar – to texturize
Tierra – earth or dirt
Tina or bañera – a bathtub
Toma de corriente – wall plug tomacorriente in Costa Rica
Tragaluz – a skylight
Travesaño – crossbeam
Tubería – pipes
Tubo – pipe
Tubo de drenaje – drain pipe
Umbral – threshold of a door
Varilla – rebar
Vestidor or walk in closet
Verjas – bars for windows
Vidrio – glass
Vidrio bisvelado – bevelled glass
Vidrio escarpado – frosted glass
Vidrio polarizado or ahumado – smoked glass
Viga – beam
Viga corona – The crown or main beam or top supporting beam that the next floor or roof structure is built on top of. Can be cement, steel or wood
Viguetas de entrepiso – floor joists.
Vitral – stained glass
Zanja – a ditch
Zinc – a type of corrugated metal used for roofing

Tiquismos of the week:

Dar agua a los caites: to run like heck
Dar atolillo con el dedo: to make empty promises
Dar pelota: to flirt with someone
Dar los veinte: to end a romantic relationship

Tico humor and wordplay for advanced students( this may be tough to understand):

Nuevamente – Means newly. In jest it means a new mind or brain.

Radiestécisa or marcar pozos – water witching (locating underground water)
Rancho – a gazebo type structure used for BBQ’s and other outdoor recreation activities
Reflector – flood light
Repello – concrete plaster
Repellar – to plaster
Rodapie – a footboard or baseboard
Sala – living room
Sellador – primer
Sistema de riego or aspersión – sprinklers
Sótano – basement
Tabla – a board
Tanque captación – backup water tank
Tanque de agua caliente – hot water tank
Tanque séptico – septic tank
Tapia – low exterior wall
Techar – to roof
Techo – roof
Teja – a roof tile
Tejado – a roof with tile
Temporizador – automatic timing device to shut off electrical equipment

Tiquismos of the week:

Cría fama y échate a dormir: don´t sleep on your laurels Also No duermas sobre tus laureles
Cuando el río suena, piedras trae: life gives us warnings
Cuando llueve todos nos mojamos: misfortune doesn´t discriminate Also Las desgracias no vienen solas

Tico humor and wordplay for advanced students( this may be tough to understand):

Talento – literally means “talent” but in this context it means “It is slow…Está lento.”

Madera – wood
Mampostería – cement work
Manija – door handle
Marco – door or window frame
Medio baño – half-bath
Muebles de cocina – kitchen cabinets
Muro de contención or retención – retaining wall
Obra gris – grey work = the cement work for a structure
Pared – interior or exterior wall
Pasta – putty or plaster for interior or exterior finishing of walls or ceilings
Patio – patio
Patio de luz – an interior patio or light well
Perforar un pozo – to drill a well
Permiso de construcción – construction permit
Perling – Perling is slang for Perfil=C shaped metal studs for framing construction, including;
Vigas=beams ,Cerchas=trusses , Columnas=columns and Viguetas de entrepiso=floor joists.
Persianas – Venetian blinds
Piedra – stone
Pintura – paint
Pintura base – primer
Piscina – swimming pool
Plafón – a light fixture
Planos – plans
Plantel or sitio para construir – a construction site
Portón – a gate
Puerta – door
Puerta corrediza – sliding door
Puertas de baño – doors for a shower stall

Tiquismos of the week:

Como entierro de pobre: As fast as a poor man´s burial
Como soplar y hacer botellas: a task that is easy to accomplish
Como trapito de dominguear: Spiffy, any project to be proud of

Tico humor and wordplay for advanced students( this may be tough to understand):

Sorprendida – literally means surprised but in this context it is “a nun that is on fire.”

Ebanista – a person who builds doors or cabinets
Empotrable – built in
Enchape – a stone facade
Esacaleras – stairs
Escalera de caracol – spiral staircase
Espejo – mirror
Fachada – façade
Fontanería – pluming
Formaleta – a wooden frame used for filling spaces with concrete
Fragua – grout
Fraguar – to grout
Fregadero – kitchen sink
Frente – front of a house or property
Fuente – fountain
Grado de inclinación- slope
Grifería – faucets
Gypsum or tablaroca– sheet rock
Hierro forjado – wrought iron
Iluminación – lighting
Jacuzzi – Jacuzzi
Jardinera – flower bed
Ladrillo – brick
Lastre or grava – gravel
Lavamanos – bathroom sink
Línea blanca – kitchen appliances like a refrigerator
Loza sanitaria – bathroom fixtures like the tub and toilette
Llave de paso – Any type shut off valve for plumbing. Metal or PVC for water, gas, air pressure

Tiquismos of the week:

Caer como San Juan al 24: something happening on a very opportune time (San Juan´s festivities in Costa Rica are on June 24th)
Cambiar la mama por un burro: to make a bad deal
Colgarle el guecho: a gullible person
Como cuando usted era pobre: I´m fine, just like when you used to be poor!

Tico humor and wordplay for advanced students (this may be tough to understand):

Cacareo is the sound a rooster makes or bragging. In this case it is excrement of a prisoner.