Monday, July 23, 2012

Un chesco por favor

I'd be willing to bet you haven't seen the word chesco in your dictionary or any other dictionary for that matter.  I really don't remember where I came across this word, but never mind that, let's talk about what it means.

Like so many other words I talk about on this blog, chesco is mexican slang.  The standard word is refresco.    And if you've never heard the word refresco, you'll be glad you read this post.  Here's a photo:


Yes, a refresco is a soda. 

While chesco is mexican slang, the word refresco is universal.  It's not hard to use, here's an example:

Dame dos tacos y un chesco
Give me two tacos and a soda

Quiero un chesco, una coca
I want a soda, a coke

Notice that you can say coca to order a coke.  Coca seems to be pretty universal, I've used it with Dominicans and Puerto Ricans as well as Mexicans.

Since we're on the topic of refrescos, Mexico has it's own very popular (and delicious) brand of refrescos called Jarritos.


Personally, I love these things.  They come in many different sabores (flavors) such as:

Tamarindo, mandarina, tuttifruti, jamaica, limón, toronja, guayaba, piña, fresa, mango
Tamarind, Orange, Fruit Punch, Jamaica, Lime, Grapefruit, Guava, Pineapple, Strawberry, Mango

My personal favorite is fresa. You can find Jarritos in any Mexican grocery store or authentic neighborhood Mexican restaurant.

While we're on the subject let's talk a little more about a refresco.

A refresco can come in a botella (bottle) or a lata (can).  If it comes in a botella, then you're going to need to destapar the corcholata.

Destapar means to uncover or take the bottle cap off of our botella.   You'll need a destapador for that. 


And a bottle cap is called a  corcholata.  At least that's what it's called in Mexico.  If your Spanish speaking friends are from another country, ask them what they call it, as I suspect each country has it's own name for it.  In fact, share it in the comments section when you find out.



That's it for today.   Now go out and enjoy your refesco of choice!

5 comments:

  1. "refresco" isn't universal in all the Spanish speaking countries. In my country we say "bebida" instead of "refresco"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is 8 years too late, but it may be useful for the next person.

      By "universal" I mean that it would be understood by the vast majority of Spanish speakers, even if it's not the preferred word used in a particular country or region.

      Either way, you make a very good point regarding the amount of variety in the language.

      Delete
  2. sorry, anon again. You can also say "gaseosa"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, they call them "gaseosas" in Peru.
      Peru also has Inca Cola, which I like.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for that. My Mexican cousin said he got some KFC & chesco and now I don't need to ask him to translate!

    ReplyDelete