Spanish in Costa Rica. Mae, I can speak pachuco too!
No matter where you are from or where you go in the world, every culture has their own slang. Wether you use it or not, slang has it’s place and in some instances it can be quite humorous.
Being a good ol’ southern boy heaven knows I have used my fair share of southern slang. When I moved to Costa Rica not only did I find it important to learn to speak Spanish, but to speak using Costaricquenismos or pachuco (slang) like the locals.
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Knowing how to use some of the local slang will often take you much further than speaking proper Spanish. At the very least it will impress the locals and make them laugh and appreciate that you took the time to go the extra mile to learn a few of their own special words and phrases.
A few years ago a group of Costa Rican students made an animated video entitled Gringo Pinto. In the video, a Gringo is walking around San Jose and asks a local Tico to give him directions back to his hotel.
As is common in Costa Rica, the Tico kindly obliges and goes about giving the direction using the local Tico slang called pachuco. There is one slight difference between the video and that of a real life experience with a Costa Rican in that a Costa Rican would almost never speak to you using slang unless they know you personally and they are confident that you will understand what they are saying.
In my opinion these students did an amazing job of translating the Costa Rican slang by adding visuals to the video to help accentuate the words and phrases. This really helps to get the point across.
Each time the Tico says something that doesn’t quite make sense to the Gringo, the Gringo has a visual of the word or phrase adding to the humor of the video as well as the viewers understanding of the literal meaning of the words.
If you want to become part of the local culture when you move to Costa Rica take the time to learn to speak Spanish. It is important that you get to know your Costa Rican neighbors.
Take a cooking class and learn to cook some of the local cuisine. After that take it one step further and learn to speak pachuco, the local slang. Even if it is just a few words or phrases, this will be the fastest way to disarm the locals.
They will see you have a special interest in being part of their culture. Of course, none of these suggestions are mandatory, but I can assure you that your experience in this dynamic country will be far different if you put in just a little effort.
Pura Vida Mae!
Take a few minutes to watch the video Gringo Pinto and see if you can understand what is being said. Once you figure out the words and phrases you can refer to the list of words/phases below with the Pachuco-Spanish- English translations and repeat the process. I hope you find this video as humorous and creative as I do.
- Compa- Amigo- Friend
- Un queque-Facil- A piece of cake, very easy
- Ponerse las pilas- Poner atencion- To pay attention to, be serious
- Pelar la oreja- Eschuar atentamente- To listen carefully
- Agarrar la lata- Coger el autobus- To take the bus
- Si no le pinta- Si no le parch bien- To not like a situation
- Agarrar un pirata- Coger una taxi- To take an independent,unlicensed taxi
- Carepistola- Pesona malintencionda- A person with bad intentions
- Echar harina- Pagar dinero-To pay (harina meaning money)
- Bates- Hombres, muchachos- Men
- Echarle ojo- Tener cuidado- To pay attention to, to watch out for
- Rayarse el disco- Volverse loco- To make oneself crazy
- Huelepedos-Metiche- Nosey
- Tostado- Borracho- To be drunk
- Un mujeron-Una muter attractiva- A very attractive woman, a babe
- Moverse el piso-Attraccion fisica excesiva- Love at first sight
- Dar taco- Intimidar, asustar- To intimidate or to scare
- Echar el cuento- Cortejar- To be courteous
- Dolor de huevos- Persona engreida- A difficult person
- Una teja- Persona sempatica- To be a nice person
- Verla peluda- Verse en una situacion dificil- To be in a bad situation
- Nave- Automovil, carro- An automobile
- No tener un cinco- Estar sin dinero- To be flat broke
- No deje que lo limpien- No deje que le cobran mas de la cuenta- To not be taken advantage of or robbed
- Irse volando- Apurarse- To go or move fast
- Soda- Fonda, restaurante pequeno- A cafe or informal restaurant
- Una manzana- Una cuadra- One block
- Cualquier loco- Una persona- Anyone, anybody
- Pescar- Entender- To understand
- Gringuito/Gringuillo- Extranjero- Foreigner, specifically someone from the United States
Spanish in Costa Rica. Mae, I can speak pachuco too!
Article/Property ID Number 4541
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Andrew Makarik
to@welovecostarica.comAndrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.
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