¿Quiubo parcero?

I don't know about you, but the first thing I thought when I first saw "Quiubo" is "What?  Is that even Spanish?".  Turns out it is.

Quiubo is a shortened version of ¿Qué hubo?, which if you ask me, is almost as cryptic as quiubo.

Think of it as our bastardized version of "what's up" - "wazzup".  In fact, "what's up" is what this phrase actually means.   Add it to your list of informal Spanish greetings.  I know this phrase is used in Colombia and Mexico, but I'm not making any promises about anywhere else.

That leaves us with parcero.    Parcero (parcera) is simply another way to call someone an amigo, along the lines of pana, mano, compa, carnal and cuate.  Parcero is very Colombian.  And according to our good friends at Word Reference, the abbreviated form, parce, is very much in fashion these days. 

By the way, if you're interested in learning more about Colombian Spanish, then I recommend you take a look at a book called Colombian Spanish.

It's actually a very enlightening book that will help you learn to speak more like a native Spanish speaker (in any country) as well as teaching you the most important Colombian words and expressions you'll need to know along with a bit of culture.   I was honestly surprised at just how good of a book this is.  But I digress, let's get back on track.



Let's take a moment to talk about a few more informal greetings. 

Pana, which I believe is very common in South America, goes quite well with:

¿Qué hay pana?
What's new buddy?

And "Qué hay" is short for "Qué hay de nuevo". 

Then there's "Qué onda".

Qué onda compa (mano/carnal/cuate)
What's up buddy/brother/dude

Keep in mind words like compa, mano (shortened from hermano), carnal, and cuate don't always have an exact (or any) translation, consider the English words more or less equivalents.  I grouped all these together because they are very Mexican.  Spend a few minutes listening to a morning radio talk show on your local Mexican station and you'll probably hear all of these within 30 minutes.  Also, click here to read my earlier post about "qué onda".  If you plan on going to Mexico or speak with a lot of Mexicans, you'll want this one in you toolbox.

And of course there's "¿Qué pasa?, but do we really need to discuss this one? 

The last one I'll mention is...

¿Qué has hecho?
What have you been up to?

I'm sure there's a bizillion more of these, but at some point in your Spanish speaking career you will hear all of the ones I mentioned above, if you haven't already.

Ya!  That's it for today. 

¡Hasta la próxima!

¿Tienes ganas?

Before we start talking about "¿tienes ganas?", let's start with the word ganas. 

Ganas can perhaps best be translated as desire, or the urge to do something.

To run you only need legs, time and desire

Everything else is an accesory

Now that we know what ganas are we can start to talk about expressions like "Tener ganas de".

Tener ganas de means to feel like doing something.  Here's some examples:

Tengo ganas de ir al cine
I feel like going to the movies

¿Tienes ganas de ir a la playa?
Do you feel like going to the beach?

No tengo ganas de ir al cine
I don't feel like going to the movies

You can use the expression tener ganas to express your desire to do anything, or nothing at all:

Hoy no tengo ganas de hacer nada
I don't feel like doing anything today


You can also say something like...

Se me pasaron las ganas
I don't feel like it anymore

There's also "dar ganas de".  This is when something makes you feel like doing something.

Esta canción me da ganas de bailar
This song makes me want to dance

You may have also heard....

¡Échale ganas!

Which translates to something like "do  your best", "put your all into it", "give it your best shot".

Give it your best Manuel, You can do it!!

There's also con ganas de.

¿Cómo estás?
Con ganas de verte

How are you?
With the urge/desire to see you / I really want to you see.

That loses a little something in the translation, but I think you get the picture.  Once you get a good grasp on this subject, the Spanish will make much more sense.

I woke up today wanting to see you

And now we're about to get what  I found to be an interesting and somewhat surprising use of the word ganas.

When you start talking about "las ganas", it's a way of refering to "deseo sexual" - sexual desire, or as we might say "to be in the mood".   I wouldn't call that a literal translation, but it definitely conveys the meaning.

Es dificil no sentir ganas al verlo
It's hard not to be in the mode when you see him

Se perdío las ganas
He's not in the mood any more

Mi esposo tiene más ganas que yo
My husbands is in the mood more often than me

And finally, if you're with that someone special and the time is right, you can ask:

¿Tienes ganas?
Are you in the mood?



Las ganas doesn't always refer to romantic urges, but the context will certainly make it clear when it does. 

This post is by no means an exhaustive discussion of the word ganas and it's associated expressions, but it's more than enough to get you started.




¡Hasta la próxima!

Ve al grano y no te andes por las ramas

Ve al grano y no te andes por las ramas

This was another one of those expressions that stopped me dead in my tracks. Hopefully I can prevent the same thing from happening to you.

Let's make a literal translation, although it won't do us any good.

Ve al grano y no te andes por las ramas
Go to the grain and don't walk toward the branches

Ramas is literally the word for tree branches, and no te no andes comes from andar, which has many uses. In fact, I talked about several uses of andar which you can read about by clicking HERE.

So now that we know our literal translation is useless, exactly what does this mean?

Ve al grano y no te andes por las ramas
Get straight to the point and don't beat around the bush

Andarse por las ramas is an idiomatic expression. 

Here's a few more examples:

Te andas por las ramas
You're beating around the bush

Nunca me ando por las ramas
I never beat around the bush

Enjoy this one, I'm sure you will have many chances to use it, and something that's probably even more amazing, for once no me andé por las ramas - I didn't beat around the bush,  in one of my entradas (posts).

¡Que tengan un buen día!

¿Quién es tu gallo?

This is a gallo:

We call it a rooster, not that I needed to tell you that.  And at this point I bet you already know what a gallina is.  You guessed it, a hen.  And a pollito is a baby chicken, or chick.  Of course, once one of these tasty critters make it onto to your plate, it offiically becomes pollo - chicken.    

Now that we've got all that out of the way, I can tell you that todays phrase has nothing to do with chickens.

¿Quién es tu gallo?

Who's your rooster?

Clearly this makes no sense in English, so let me explain.

¿Quién es tu gallo?

This is an informal way of asking the question "Who do you think is going to win?  or "Who's your pick".  You get the point.

You can say things like:

¿Miami vs Pittsburgh, quién es tu gallo?‎

¿Quién es tu gallo para el partido?

This phrase is really easy to use, and will have you sounding like a native.  You can use it for any type of contest or game, not just boxing.

The only potential caveat with this is I think it's a Mexican expression.  But don't hesitate to use it even if your friends aren't Mexican.  You can explain what it means and find out their version of this expression, and then come back at share it with me.

That's it for today, ¡hasta la proxíma!

Estás en linea

This is another situation where literal translations just don't work.

When you tell someone...

Estás en linea

You're telling them they look trim, perhaps athletic and has a nice body in general.  In more generic terms you'd say "estás en buena forma".

And there's the expression...

Estás en linea curva

Which means just the opposite.  Now you're talking about someone who's not in "buena forma", but instead gordo or gorda (fat).

Since we're on the topic of giving out compliments, let's continue our discussion about hot bods.  

Cuerpo means "body", so you could say:

Tienes buen cuerpo
You've got a nice body

 But if you're really moved by someone's physique, then you want the word cuerpazo.  A cuerpazo is a really great body.

¡Qué cuerpazo tienes!
You've got a really great body

You can use "bien bueno".

Este chico esta bien bueno
This guy is really hot

And for a woman:

Esta chica esta bien buena
This girl is really hot

Now it's time to get gender specific.  Ladies, here's a few words for you first.

A galán is what we call a hunk.   Most women seem to think Brad Pitt and Denzel Washington are galanes. 

There's also papacito.  This can be used as a term of endearment as well as saying a guy is a total hunk. 

Guys, get ready, it's your turn.

A mamacita is a way of saying a woman is totally hot.  Also a possible term of affection.

Mira esa mamacita
Look at that sexy girl

A buenota is also a very attractive woman.

La novia de Juan es una buenota
Juan's girlfriend is super hot

Well, I think that's more than enough to get you started.  Keep in mind while none of these phrases are explicit, most of them are meant for you to use with friends.  It's like using the word hottie in English, some people will be offended, some won't. 

If you're looking for terms a little less colorful, you can also go with hermoso/a, guapo/a, or bonita.  And it's my understanding that men are never called bonito. 

 If you're not familar with hermosísimo/a and guapísimo/a  they're another way of emphasizing that someone is really beautiful or handsome.   You can also do the same thing with reguapa and rehermosa.  When you add the prefix "re", it intensifies the meaning.  You can tack on "re" to many words in Spanish, like rebueno.  It's not just good, it's really good.

This soup is really good
Esta sopa es rebuena

That's it.  Have fun with these!

¡Hasta la próxima!

¿Vas llegando?

I was having dinner in a great little Mexican-Central American restaurant chatting with the owner.  In fact, he actually thought I was Panamanian, I was flattered.  I guess all my hard work is paying off.  Everything was going well. That is, until he asked me...

¿Vas llegando?

Once again, I had the deer in headlights look.  In fact, I couldn't even understand what he said, my gringo ears just weren't able to decipher those two simple words.  Oh well, I'm used to that now, so let's just talk about what this means.

The first thing I learned is that "vas llegando" is incorrect, at least grammatically so.  But let's remember that even though it's grammatically incorrect, it's important recognize common, colloquial speech.  It should be:

¿Vienes llegando?
Are you just arriving?

That's a literal translation,  but I think it sounds more natural to translate it as:

¿Vienes llegando?
Did you just get here?

It can also be interpreted as...

¿Vienes llegando?
Are you on your way?

How do you know when to use which translation?  Simple, context. 

You're driving to visit your mom, and she calls and asks "¿Vienes llegando?" - Are you on your way?

You finally make it to your moms house and your brother walks in 5 minutes after you and asks you ¿Vienes llegando? - Did you just get here?

So with that said, let's revisit my conversation in the restaurant.  To be just a little more specific, I told the owner that I was working locally and that I wasn't familar with the city, and that's when he asked...

¿Vas llegando?

In this context, "vas llegando" would be better translated as "Did you just move here?".   One phrase, three possible translations.  Don't you love Spanish?

Fortunately, the rest of the conversation went well and there were no more "deer in headlights" moments.  Thank goodness, I try to keep them limited to one a day. 

The actual phrase is "venir llegando", and in general means "to have just arrived (got here)".   Here's a couple of examples:

Vengo llegando
I just got in.

Viene llegando
He just got here.

That's it!

Espero que te sirva.

¿Vaso o copa?

At some point we all learn the words vaso and copa. Usually we're taught a vaso is defined as a glass or cup, and then we're told if you want a glass of wine, then you need to use the word copa. Easy enough, but they never even bother to explain why, much less what the difference is between a vaso and a copa.

Well, 5 years later, I finally got the answer to that question, which I stumbled across from sheer dumb luck. To be honest, it never occurred to me to the ask the question. Today we're going to talk about copas.


A copa is what we call a wine glass. In Spanish you order (pedir) a  "copa de vino", a glass of wine. It might a "copa de vino tinto" red wine, or "vino blanco", white wine.  The difference here is in Spanish you're specifically mentioning the type of glass wine is served in, while in English we're fine with just using the generic term "glass".

Let's take a closer look at what a copa actually is.   Not that you need one, but here's a photo:

A copa actually consists of several parts:

Recipiente de vidrio - This is the part you drink from.  

Cálliz, tallo or pie - The stem.

Base - The base.  Remember to use your Spanish pronunciation.

Copas have stems and bases, where as vasos don't.  There is actually more than one type of copa, such as:

copa de agua, copa de whiskey, copa ancha, and copa de vino

Those are just a few.  Click here if you want to see what other kinds of copas there are.  This page is in Spanish, and I found interesting.

Well, I think that's enough about copas. Let's move on to vasos.  And technically, a copa is still a vaso.   Really, there isn't a whole for me to say about vasos, except that a vaso doesn't have a pie (stem), and like copas, there are many different kinds.  Here's a few to get you started:


vaso largo 
A tall glass

vaso ancho
A short, wide glass

vaso de plastico
A plastic cup

There are several types of vasos, like a vaso de agua, water glass, but I won't torture you with any more photos.  I'm pretty sure you already what these things look like anyway.

Ya!  That's it for today!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Soy muy noviera

When you say "Soy muy noviera (noviero)"  it means you like to have a lot of boyfriends, or girlfriends in the case of a guy.  It doesn't necessarily imply that you like to have them all at the same time. 

But this post isn't exactly about that.  Instead, we're going to talk about the different stages of relationships, and it all starts with meeting someone.  Once you meet (conocer) someone, you start off as friends, amigos.

If you decide that you like each other's company in that special way, but not enough to be an actual couple, then you're amigos cariñosos or perhaps amigos con derechos.  Spanish has a number of ways to describe relationships like this.  We say friends with benefits. Just to be clear, friends with benefits is a way of saying you hook up with (ligar) someone just for the purpose of having sex.

Once you decide to become exclusive, an official couple, you're enamorados.  We would call this dating, in a relationship, or if you don't mind a high school flashback, going steady.  I suppose the correct term would be courting, or the courtship.  Although to be honest I can't remember the last time I actually heard someone use those words outside of a movie that takes place in the 1700's. 

Once the official peticion de mano (marriage proposal) has taken place, and you have a comprimiso de boda/matrimonio , meaning you've decided to get married, you officially enter the noviazgo phase, the engagement.  The official title of a couple at this point is novios, although you'll hear the terms pareja or enamorados.

The interesting thing to note about the words novio and novia is that they mean boyfriend/girlfriend as well as fiancé/fiancée.  A more accurate translation for boyfriend and girlfriend would be enamorado/enamorada, but novio and novia are what you'll hear the most.  How do you know when novio means fiancé and not boyfriend?  The context of the conversation.  Or you could simply ask "¿estas comprometido?" - Are you engaged?  There's also prometida/prometido which undeniable means fiancé/fiancée, but isn't always used. 

Once you take the big plunge and go through with the boda (wedding), you're now in the stage called matrimonio, marriage - and you'll be known as casados, formally known as husband and wife, marido and esposa.

While marido and esposa are the official terms, you'll also hear mujer (woman) as a synomym for esposa, without the negative baggage that the word "woman" carries in English.  And esposo is another word for marido.  You can even say "mi vieja/viejo" (my old lady/man). 

Sadly, sometimes marriage (matrimonio) just doesn't work out, and then you divociar (divorce) and become divorciados (divorced).  That is, after you separar (seperate) and become separados (separated).  But if you're lucky (suertudo), you reach the final stage of marriage, "till death do us part".  Although some people might argue about the lucky part of that.

That's it, a crash course on the in's and out's of the relationship terminology in Spanish.

Espero que te sirva.
I hope this helps

¡Nos vemos!

Tantas curvas y yo sin frenos

I thought we'd have some fun today, after all, from time to time we all need a good laugh.

Tantas curvas y yo sin frenos
So many curves and I don't have any brakes

If you're thinking this has anything to do with driving, you are soooo wrong.

This is an example of a piropo.  A piropo is can be anything from a cheesy pick up line to a very sweet compliment.  And while piropos are typically a man's domain, women can use them too. 

If you search for piropos you'll find sites that categorize them as piropos graciosos (funny), piropos romanticos (romantic), piropos groseros (dirty) and a whole lot more.

Let's take a look at a few more piropos.

Dicen que robar es malo, yo nunca lo haría;
pero un beso tuyo, con gusto lo robaría!
They say stealing is bad, I would never do it;
but for one of your kisses, I would gladly steal it.

Las 24 horas del dia yo las divido asi:
9 soñando contigo y 15 pensando en ti
I divide up the 24 hours in a day like this:
9 dreaming of you and 15 thinking about you

Si la belleza fuera un instante, tu serias la eternidad
If beauty were a moment, you would be enternity

Clearly those were examples of piropos romanticos.  Now let's look at some piropos graciosos.

Nunca te olvides del número 591
-5 minutos de placer
-9 meses de embarazo
-1 más en la familia
Never forget the number 591
5 minutes of pleasure
9 months of pregnancy
1 more family member
 
Bailas muy bien, apenas noto tus doscientos kilos.
You dance well, I can barely notice that you weigh 400lbs.
 
¡¡Mami!! ¡Si tú fueras droga, yo sería un adicto!
Baby, if you were a drug, I'd be an addict
 
¡Muñeca! ¿De qué juguetería te escapaste?
He doll, what toy store did you escape from?
 
Bonitos pantalones, quedarían muy bien en el suelo de mi dormitorio.
Nice pants, they'd look great on my bedroom floor
 
Debes estar cansada hoy,
después de todo lo que hicimos en mi sueño anoche.
You must tired today, after everything we did in my dream last night
 
We haven't covered piropos groseros, and while I'm far from the politically correct type, I'm not going to post anything overly rude.  Here's a sample that's not so bad, just remember that piropos groseros just get worse.
 
Que lindas piernas,  ¿a que hora abren?
Nice legs, what time do they open?
 
If you want to read more piropos, you can google (googlear, yes, some people actually use this word)  piropos.  But to save you some time, here's a link:
 
http://www.piroposcortos.com/
 
That's it for today.  I hope you managed to get a laugh or two.

¡Hasta la próxima! 
 

¿Me escuchas ahora?

These words will forever be remembered as what was very likely one of the most famous advertising campaigns of the 21st century.

¿Me escuchas ahora?
Can you hear me now?

Thank you Verizon Wireless.

Talking on the phone is really no big deal, unless you're doing it in a second language you're still struggling to learn.  At that point it can become terrifying, but today we'll talk about some handy phrases that will surely be helpful when the day comes you have to speak Spanish over the phone.

Talking over a landline (teléfono fijo)  isn't usually that bad, but cell phones are a completely different story.  Let's discuss some common situations, starting with the most basic:

A cell phone is a celular, or simply cel.  You'll probably hear móvil in Spain.

No te escucho
I can't hear you

OK, Oir actually means "to hear", but escuchar (to listen) is a colloquial usage and is very, very common.  But if you want to be grammatically correct, you can say:

No te oigo
I can't hear you

And is there anyone who hasn't had these problems when talking on a cell phone?

No tengo recepcion
I don't have reception

No tengo señal
I don't have a signal

Se te escucha cortado
You're breaking up

You can't  hear the other person because they're speaking too softly,  like a whisper, or, not loud enough:

No te escucho porque tu voz suena muy baja 
I can't hear you because your voice sounds low

Now let's talk about technical difficulties.

Se me acabó la batería / Se me terminó la batería / Me quedé sin batería
My battery is dead

Necesito recargar la batería
I need to recharge the battery

You can also use the verb cargar

Necesito cargar la batería
I need to recharge the battery

Ojalá que te sirva. I hope that helps.

¡Nos vemos!

Yo lo enchufo

Every week I have an intercambio with my amiga from Peru.  Well, on this particular occassion while I was setting up my laptop she says:

Yo lo enchufo

Surprisingly, while I didn't understand what she said, my eyes didn't glaze over.  I politely said "¿Cómo?", and she repeated it again.  That's when my eyes glazed over, because my ears just weren't getting the job done.

Yo lo enchufo 
I'll plug it in

She was referring to the power cord for my laptop.  It's amazing how after 5 years of learning Spanish it never occurred to me learn how to talk about plugging things in, nor had any book ever bothered to mention it.  Oh well.

Let's go into a little more detail.

Enchufar
to plug in

Dámelo para enchufarlo
Give it to me so I can plug it can

¿Puedes enchufarlo?
Can you plug it in?

Well, now we know how to talk about plugging a cord in, but we still don't know how to talk about what we plug the cord into.  The word for socket, plug or outlet is enchufe.  You can also say tomacorriente.

But this is where things get a little tricky. A search for enchufe fotos returns the following:

As well as:

 It turns out enchufe can mean both the wall socket and the actual plug.  The search also turned up one other photo:

I just thought that one was kinda funny.  Let's get back on track.

If you want to talk about the actual plug without the ambiguity, then use the word clavija.   

Now that we've got the thing plugged in, the verb desenchufar means to uplug.

Ya lo desenchufé
I already unplugged it

Está desenchufado
It's unplugged

Puedes desenchufarlo
You can unplug it

If you'd like a little more practice with enchufar, then check out this great free podcast.

Enchufar


Created by the good folks at Learning Spanish Like Crazy, this podcast will help you learn the correct usage and conjugation of the verb enchufar .   But make yourself comfortable before you start listening, because it's 17 minutes long.

So there you go.  Next time you need something plugged in or unplugged in Spanish, you'll know exactly what to say.

Lastly, if you enjoy the podcast, you may find the Learning Spanish Like Crazy downloadable audio courses a great way to learn Spanish.  The learning method is exactly the same as the podcast. There are 3 levels, one for each stage of the learning process - Level 1 (beginners), Level 2 (intermediate) and level 3 (advanced).


¡Nos vemos!

¿Qué? ¿Quieres que sea tu chacha?

Aside from being a very popular dance, "chacha" is a shortened version of "la muchacha". 

So if we translate our sentence we come up with something like:

What?  You want me to be the girl? 

Well, eso no tiene sentido - that doesn't make any sense.   But it will after I give you this key piece of information. 

"La muchacha" is way of referring to what we might call a nanny - someone who helps out with the kids and chores around the house (las tareas de la casa).   So let's take a look at our sentence again.

¿Qué? ¿Quieres que sea tu chacha?
What? You want me to be your maid? 

Although chacha, or la muchacha,  is more accurately defined as nanny, in this context it's best translated as maid.  This is something you might hear from a wife or girlfriend who is unhappy about having to constantly clean up after their significant other all the time, which is how I first heard it.  I always get a good laugh when I hear the word chacha, because it reminds of my amiga ranting about her novio (boyfriend), who she affectionately calls "el gringo" or "cabrón".  

Other terms you can use are empleada doméstica, sirvienta, mucama, or afanadora.   I don't really recommend using sirvienta, because Spanish speakers seem to universally agree that it's a bit disrespectful.   

Well, that's it for today.  Hasta la próxima.

¡Me dejaste plantado!

You left me planted!

Admittedly, in English this doesn't make any sense.  That's often the problem with literal translations, so let's get to the bottom of this.

First things first. If you don't know, dejar means to leave, as in leaving something behind.  Here are some examples.

If someone is giving you a ride:


Déjame en la esquina
Let me out at the corner

You forgot something:

Dejo mis llaves en casa.
I left my keys at home

You don't want to be bothered:

Déjame en paz
Leave me alone

Great, now let's get back to our expression.

In this case, ¡Me dejaste plantado! is an idiomatic expression. 

When  you dejar alguien plantado that means you've stood them up.

No me dejes plantado
Don't stand me up

¡Me dejaste plantado!
You stood me up

This expression can be pretty useful and is nice to have in your toolbox, especially if one of your friends isn't exactly the reliable type.

¡Hasta la próxima!

Voy a romper el chanchito

If you don't know what a chanchito is (I certainly didn't) then take a look at this photo:

Cute little devil isn't he?  A pig in Spanish is also known as cerdo, puerco, marrano, or cochino.  By the way, chancho is the proper form of chanchito, which is the diminutive form.  chanchito would translate to "little piggy" or "piglet" in English.

If you want to insult someone, you can use any of those terms except chancho.  I always use cochino, because that's what I learned from my Mexican amigos.  It all depends on who you talk to which one is most commonly used.  But rest assured they'll get the point.

Speaking of chanchos, there's also Los Tres Cerditos - The Three Little Pigs.  If you want to read this story to your kids or grandkids, or maybe even for yourself, just click on the link below.

Los Tres Cerditos

If you're like me, then you'll want to see the video.  Thank goodness for You Tube:

Un video de Los Tres Cerditos

Have fun with those.  Now it's time to get back to business.

Voy a romper el chanchito

I'm going to break the little piggy

Ouch!  Sounds a bit violent, don't you think?  Well, despite the fact it may sound like a wierd way of saying we're having bacon for breakfast, it's not.  I'm going to show you one more photo and then it will all make sense.

Chanchito is also a colloquial way of refering to a piggy bank.  The official term is alcancía.

So now we can accurately translate our sentence:

Voy a romper el chanchito
I'm going to break open the piggy bank

Yes, occassionally you have to resort to using all that loose change we've been stashing away.  And in these tough economic times, we may just have to romper el chanchito to get by.

¡Hasta pronto!

Cuidado, ahi viene el mero mero

The vast majority of us have to get up and drag ourselves into work and report to the boss.   It sucks, but hey, así es la vida (that's life).

There are several words you can use to refer to the boss in Spanish, like "el jefe" or "la jefa" for a female boss.

Then there's the very Mexican "patrón" and "patrona",  which also mean "boss".

But then also there's more informal ways of referring to the boss, like "the big kahuna", "the man", "the top dog", or "the big boss".   "El mero mero" is a way of expressing that same concept in Spanish.  Mexican Spanish that is.

Cuidado, ahi viene el mero mero
Watch out, here comes the boss

Habla con él, es el mero mero
Talk to him, he's the boss


Mi hija cree la mera mera
My daughter thinks she's the boss

El mero mero can also be used to say something, or someone, is the best.

¡Soy el mero mero!
I'm the best

El blog My Spanish Notes es el mero mero
The blog My Spanish Notes is the best

OK, Maybe I went a little overboard on the last one.

So now translating our expression should be pan comido (easy as pie):

Cuidado, ahi viene el mero mero
Watch out, here comes the big boss

This is a great expression, you can have a lot of fun with, I certainly do.

¡Hasta pronto!

¿Te gustan los jitomates?

Sometimes Spanish really throws me for a loop.  What seems so simple and straight-forward sometimes isn't.  Like talking about tomatoes.

For most of the five years I spent learning Spanish, I was happy knowing that tomate was Spanish for tomatoe.  And it is.  But so is jitomate. 

Jitomate is a word you'll hear in Mexico for tomato.   The good old round red tomatoes that we know so well.  And just for giggles, here's a picture.

Now, there is another type of tomato.  You know, what we call cherry tomatoes.

These are called tomatillos.

So there's one more kind of tomatoes we still have to talk about, the green ones.

Guess what these are called?  Tomates.  Or a tomate verde.

Well, wasn't that interesting? But guess what?  It gets better.

These variations on the names of tomatoes vary regionally within Mexico.  I found an interesting thread in WordReference that has a very nice discussion about tomates.  Check it out:

Jitomate

I would have never thought a discussion on tomatoes would be so complicated.  ¡Ni modo!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Las rocolas de mi abuela

I went out to lunch with a few co-workers to a new Mexican restaurant.  It's gran apertura (grand opening) was just 2 weeks ago.

Anyway, I noticed they had a brand new jukebox.  It wasn't like the ones I grew up with, it was a modern version that took credit cards.  And then it dawned on me, what the heck do you call a jukebox in Spanish?   Lucky for me the waitress told me.  A jukebox is called a rocola. 

Since we're on the topic of rocolas and music, let's talk about a few more things.

To talk about playing music, whether it be on a rocola or on the radio, you need to use the verb tocar.  Here's a good example:

¿Cómo se llama esa cosa que toca musica?
What do you call that thing that plays music?

That's what I asked the waitress in order find out what you call a jukebox in Spanish.

When you listen to Spanish radio, you'll probably hear:

Tocamos solo éxitos
We only play the hits

You may have noticed our next word, éxitos - hits.  You'll probably also hear things like "los mejores (grandes) éxitos.  The best hits.  Usually the best hits are pegajoso - catchy, which is what makes them éxitos in the first place.

And just to be thorough, a song is called a cancíon, and the lyrics are called letras.  

Now let's take a walk down memory lane.  At least it is for those of us old enough to remember the old-fashioned record, or album, known in Spanish as a disco, which you could buy in a disquería.  Which you had to play on a tocadiscos.    But these days we tocar our music on a reproductor de MP3 (MP3 Player). 

All of this reminds me of another word I learned, traganíquel.   I learned this from a panameña (a woman from Panama).  It's a word they use for jukebox, and if I'm not mistaken, it's used in Nicaragua as well.  Traganíquel can also refer to any machine that takes coins (monedas), like slot machines. 

That leaves us with one last piece of unfinished business.

Las rocolas de mi abuela
My grandmothers jukeboxes

That's actually the name of a short blog entry talking about old-fashioned jukeboxes.  For some of you this will just a be a great opportunity to practice your Spanish, and for the rest of you it wil probably bring back some good memories.  Here's the link:

http://peruinside.com/blog/2008/01/17/las-rocolas-de-mi-abuelo/

That's it for today!

¡Cuídense!

No te hagas

The first time I heard this, it was actually directed at me.  Since then it's become one of my favorite phrases.

Essentially, it's a way of telling someone to "stop pretending", "stop acting like..." or "don't act like you don't know".

Let's take a look at how we might use this:

You loan your friend $20, the next day you see him with a pocket full of money, and you say "Great, you can pay me back that $20".  He says "What $20?".  Your response:

No te hagas (el tonto / el pato)
Don't act stupid/Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about

You may have noticed that you can tack on "el tonto" or "el pato"  to this expression.  While "el tonto"  actually makes sense, because it can mean "fool" or "silly", but I have no idea where "el pato" comes in.  Tha's just the way the expression works.

Here are some more examples:

No te hagas el enojado
Stop acting like you should be angry

No te hagas la victima
Don't act like you're the victim

There are other ways to use this phrase, but this will certainly get you started.

¡Hasta la próxima!

YO NO FUI !!!!!

¡Yo no fui!

You probably learned that that this translates to "I didn't go".  And that would be 100% correct.

¿Fuiste el super?
Did you go the supermakert?

No fui.
No, I didn't go.

But as always, phrases in Spanish typically have more than one meaning.

If someone is trying to blame you for something, the second definition of "yo no fui" is something you'll want to remember:

Quien dejó la puerta abierta? - Who left the door open?
Quien quemó el pollo? - Who Burned the chicken?
Quien hizo eso? - Who did that?

¡¡Yo no fui!!
It wasn't me

In fact, I recommend you blame you someone else...

Yo no fui, ¡ fue Anthony!
It wasn't me, it was Anthony

Of course if it’s something good like…

Quien limpio la cocina? - who cleaned the kitchen?

I would say “Fui yo!” - It was me!

¡Hasta Pronto!

Se me ponchó una llanta

If you don't know, a llanta is a tire.   And as we all know, tires often go flat.  I had a flat two weeks in a row, both at almost midnight.  Yeah, it sucked.  But I digress.

In Mexico, when you want to talk about getting a flat tire, the verb you're likely to hear is poncharse.    So if you want to say you got a flat tire, that's where our phrase comes in:

Se me ponchó una llanta
I got a flat tire

If you want to talk about other people who got flat tires, you can say:

Se te ponchó una llanta
You got a flat tire

Se le ponchó una llanta
He/She got a flat tire

Se nos ponchó una llanta
We got a flat tire

Se les ponchó una llanta
They got a flat tire

A flat tire, the tire itself that is, is called a ponchada.  And the plural version is ponchadas.  You may also hear the word ponchadura.

If you want your tire fixed, you  might want to go to a "taller para reperar llantas" - a workshop where they repair tires.   These places go by several names:

"ponchaduría", "desponchaduría", "desponchadora", "vulcanizadora"  or "vulka".

These workshops aren't your Sears or Wal-Mart tire centers, but instead might look something like this:

In fact, if you take a drive through a Mexican neighborhood, you may see a desponchadora that hopefully isn't as quite as untidy as the one in our photo. 

Like always, in the Spanish language there's more than one way to skin a cat.  Especially if you're talking about flat tires.  Other words to take a look at are pinchar, gomas, and desinfladas to name a few.  Wordreference.com is a great place to look if you're interested in alternatives.

Anyway, that's it for today.  Be careful not to ponchar any llantas in the near future!

Tengo cosas en el tintero

Until I heard this phrase, I didn't know what a tintero was.  So why don't we start there.

Here's a picture of a tintero...

So now we know what a tintero is.  The little bottle that holds your ink.  Lucky for us the the ball point pen came along.

As usual, a literal translation won't work.  There aren't to many things (cosas) you can put into a tintero.  So let's just make our translation:

Tengo cosas en el tintero

I have some things on my mind

I happen to like this expression, don't ask me why.  And I learned this from a Peruvian friend, so I really have no idea how universal this is, but don't let that stop you from using this phrase.  If the people you're speaking to aren't familar with it, explain it.  I bet in return they tell you their version of the expression and it's a win win situation for everybody.

That's it for today, ¡hasta pronto!

Quiero quitarme la llantita

If you don't already know, llantita is the diminutive form of llanta, which means tire.  On it's own, it could be interpreted as a "little tire", but that's not the case in this context, so let's take a look at things and figure this out.

Quitarse means "to take off", and is a quite a useful verb, but maybe we'll discuss quitarse at a later time in more detail. 

Llantita is a colloquial way of refering to what we like to call a "spare tire", and not the kind you keep in the trunk of your car.  Yes, I'm refering to the ever annoying roll of fat that lives around our waist and can be nearly impossible to get rid of. 

Now we're ready to make our translation...

Quiero quitarme la llantita
I want to get rid of my spare tire

You could also refer to your spare tire as a "llanta", or "michelines". 

Another way to talk to about losing your spare tire is to use the verbs eliminar or bajar.

Pan comido, right?

I'm sure none of us like talking about our spare tires, but if you have to, you can now talk about them in Spanish!

Que codo eres!

Que codo eres!

If we interpret that literally, you've just told someone what an elbow they are, because codo means elbow.

But this is another one of those times where a literal translation falls short.

In Spanish, when you call someone codo, you're calling them cheap. So if we revisit our translation...

Que codo eres
You're so cheap

Codo is one of several ways to call someone cheap in Spanish.  There's also tocaño or tocaña although that probably translates more like stingy.

And surprisingly, you can call someone cheap without saying a word.  I think you ladies will appreciate this one. When that guy at the bar refuses to buy you a drink, you can just glance over at your girlfriend and tap your elbow, and she'll get the message.  And so will he, if he's looking.  Keep in mind that when you talk about a third party, you need to say "Que codo es".

Now guys, don't think I've sold you out.  If someone calls you codo, you can reply with...

No soy codo, sino ahorritivo
I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty

Lastly I'll leave you with a tiny bit of culture and a chiste (joke).

In Mexico, people from Monterrey (for whatever reason) are famous for being codo.  So with that bit of information, I think you can appreciate this joke...

¿Qué pasaría si se inunda Monterrey?
What will happen if Monterrey floods?


Se haría una inmensa sopa de coditos.
It'll make a huge elbow soup

Captaste el chiste?
Did you get the joke?

I hope you found this useful and maybe even entertaining.  I've had the fortune (misfortune?) of being called codo, and having this little of information made the situation even more humorous and memorable. 

¡Hasta la proxima!

¡Que buena (mala) onda!

There are actually a few phrases in Mexican Spanish involving the word "onda".  Today we're going to talk about a few of them.

I've already discussed one very important phrase "Que onda", so click here if you missed it.

So let's move right along and get straight to the point (ir al grano), "Que buena onda" is the equivalent of "cool" or "that's awesome".

When would you use this phrase? Well, it 's really straight-forward.  If someone tells you they just got a big raise. You can reply "¡Que buena onda!"

Or maybe your friend just got free concert tickets..."¡Que buena onda!"

I'm sure you get the drift, so let's talk about "Que mala onda".

"Que mala onda" is the opposite of "Que buena onda". This translates to something like "bummer" or "that sucks".

If your friend lost his free concert tickets, you could say "Que mala onda".   This is easy stuff, I think you get the idea, so let's talk about the last usage I'm going to cover.

You can also use the word "onda" to describe people...

Maria es buena onda
Marie is cool/nice

Maria es mala onda
Maria is not nice/cool

I'm sure that the word "onda" can be used in a variety of other ways, but these usages are practically staples of Mexican Spanish, so they're worth learning.
 
¡Hasta la próxima!

¡No te metas conmigo!

The verb "meterse" has many uses, one of which is "to get in".  For example:

Me gusta ir a la piscina, pero no me meto
I like to go to the pool, but I don't get in.


If you're like me, that usage alone was an amazing discovery for me.  But it turns out there's another usage as well.

No te metas conmigo, que no me conoces
Don't mess with me, because you don't know me.

And yes, that can carry a warning or threating like tone.

Here's a few more examples:


No me meto con qualquiera
I don't get involved with just anybody


No te metas con mi hermanita
Don't mess with my little sister

No te metas con drugas
Don't get involved with drugs

No te metas en mi vida
Don't interfere in my life

This pretty straight forward, and you should be able to start using this right away, and if you haven't really noticed it's usage in Spanish before, I imagine you'll start to see it everywhere now.

¡Hasta la próxima!

¡Estoy de fodonga!

I had no idea what this meant when I heard it.  And I've certainly never seen this word in a textbook.  I imagine I never will.

Anyway, all of that aside, let's get to the bottom of this phrase.

Fodonga, or fodongo, basically means to be lazy, messy, have an unkept appearance, or perhaps just a slob.  In English we might say someone looks a mess, in public or private.   A woman who goes to the store with hair rollers in place, maybe even wearing her bathrobe.  The guy who goes out in public looking like he hasn't combed his hair in weeks and is wearing the most wrinkled t-shirt and pants you've ever seen.  Those are good examples of fodongos.

And if you've ever seen any of the 'people in Wal-Mart' emails, you definitely know what fodongo means.

But if you still have some doubts about what 'un fodongo' might look like, I think this photo will give you a good idea:

So if you tell someone...

Estoy de fodonga

That's means you're looking a hot mess right now and have yet to spruce yourself up.  Hopefully you're just sitting around the house, and not out in public. 

Have fun with this one, you can get a lot laughs with it as you and your friends make fun of the crazy looking people you see in Wal-Mart!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Allá viene la combi

Before we can talk about what this phrase means, we need to talk about what a combi is.  Actually, today's post is really about the combi itself, and not so much the Spanish.  Every now and then, despite not living in Mexico, I'm able to learn a little something about the life of the people on that side of the border, so I thought I'd share it with you.

While I've never actually ridden in a combi myself, now that I know what they are, I realize that I've seen plenty of them on my visits to Tijuana.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go:

A combi is nothing more than a van, basically your old school Volkswagon van.   To see more pictures of combi's,  click here. You really should take a look at the pictures, I found them fairly interesting.  In fact, here's one more:

As you can see, not all combi's are created equal.

Anyway, back to the combi.   In Mexico a combi is typically used as a taxi or bus, although as you can see by the photo above, they can serve other purposes.

While the focus of this post was really about the combi, we still need to deciper our phrase: 

Allá viene la combi

There goes the combi

This something you might say as you miss your ride. 

Let me clarify that "Allá viene" literally translates to "there comes", but I chose to translate it as "there goes", because it sounds kind of clumsy in English to say "there comes". Just something I thought I should point out.

There's also another meaning to this phrase, which isn't really very nice.  It's not vulgar by any means, but it's not a very nice thing to say.  If you're interested, you'll have to read about it (click here) in my other blog "No seas pelangoche", which is all about the groserías of Mexican Spanish. 

Let's look at some other ways to use the word "Allá".  You can say things like:

Allá arriba

Up there

Allá abajo

Down there

Vamos para allá

We're going that way

Allá voy

I'm coming

That's it for today.   While this was pretty straight-forward, being able talk to your Mexican friends about combi's will certainly impress them.

¡Hasta la próxima! 

Yo te hablo

Yo te hablo
I'll talk to you

Well, it seems like this one is pretty much an open and shut case.  And it almost is.  Almost.

But don't worry, this phrase really is pan comido.

Yo te hablo is a very informal and colloquial way of telling someone you'll call them back.  However, this may be something exclusive to Mexican Spanish.  With that in mind, let's take a look at some more universal ways of telling someone you'll call them back.

Te regreso la llamada

Te devuevlo la llamada

One thing you never want to say is:

Llamame pa' tras

This is a bit of English translated literally creeping into Spanish, and in some circles may be used to say "Call me back", but it's absolutely incorrect Spanish and I promise you most native speakers will cringe at the sound of this. 

Other than remembering not to use this phrase, the only other thing worth pointing out is that "pa'" is short for "para", and that is something you need to remember, because you'll hear it a lot.
¡Ya!

With these simple but handy phrases, you'll be able to return phone calls in Spanish with ease!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Traes mucho pegue

Sometimes literal translations just don't work, and this is one of those times, so we won't even try.

Let's start with "traes".  The verb is traer, which means "to bring".  Sometimes traer can be used as a synonym of tener.   I discussed this in a previous post, and you can read about it here if you like.  With that in mind, we can translate "traes" as something to the effect of "you bring" or "you have".

"Mucho" should need no translation, unless you're an absolute newbie to Spanish, but just in case, it means " a lot".

"pegue" comes from pegar, meaning to hit.  But since the literal translation doesn't work in this case, just file that bit of information away for some other time.

In this case, we have to look at "pegue" in combination with tener or traer.   So the key to understanding this phrase lies in understanding the phrase "tener pegue" or "traer pegue".  We're going to talk about "tener pegue", because that's actually the phrase, just keep in mind that you may also hear "traer pegue".

OK, I've drawn this out long enough, let's get to the point.  (ir al grano)

"Tener pegue" means   to have sex appeal, or charm if you like.  It means you've got a way with the opposite sex.

So if someone tells you "Tienes mucho pegue", well, lift your head up high and smile, because they just gave you a very nice compliment.  Especially if it comes from a person you're trying to "ligar" (hook up)  with.

Tienes (traes) mucho pegue
You got a lot of sex appeal

I've yet to hear this phrase directed at me, but perhaps you all have better luck and more "pegue" than me.

If you want some extra credit, or perhaps a little advice on how improve your sex appeal, check out the link below to get some consejos (advice).

http://guilleybruno.guateblogger.com/2009/10/tips-para-tener-pegue.html

¡Hasta la próxima!

¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa' dentro!

Personally, I consider this piece of Spanish a "must know".  Maybe that's because I spend so much time in bars when I go to Mexico, but that's another story, albeit related.

It's pretty much a worldwide custom to make a toast while you have a few drinks friends or celebrate a special occasion.  In America, we say "cheers", as you well know.  But in Spanish, you say ¡salud!

But personally, I find that particular toast a bit plain, which brings us to the topic of today's post.

¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa' dentro!

While we can make a literal translation, there's no equivalent expression in English that I'm aware of. Memorize this and say it right before you slam down your favorite tequila, or whatever your drink of choice is.   OK, maybe you don't have to slam it down, but it might make the night more interesting.

Let's talk a little about the Spanish you see in this image.


You probably noticed the pa in steps 1, 2 and 4 on the image.  That's just a contraction for para.   The pa'l on step 3 is a contraction for para al.  And that's your Spanish lesson for today.

So here's how it works, so pay close attention (fijense bien) because the physical mechanics of this toast are crucial.  OK, maybe crucial is a bit much, but the motions come with the phrase.

You know what?  Forget the picture, here's a video of this toast being done in action.  If you can't see the video here's the direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr3Q5H57kRU

Now, oddly enough, that is the traditional toast and that's exactly how it's done.  Except I'm not accustomed to doing it that way.

I'll describe the way I've seen it done, and done it myself.  I picked this up in Northern Mexico, Tijuana to be exact.  I can't tell you how common it is outside of there.

Let's get to it.

At each step, be sure to "clink" or touch glasses. Or beer bottles, whatever it is your drinking from.  I'm typically drinking beer, so let's go with that.

Now in my version the movements aren't as exaggerated as they are in the picture and video above.  You just hold your beer bottle (or glass) at about shoulder height in front of you and it stays at that level.  After that, just go through the motions:

"Arriba" -  Literally translates to "up".  Touch the necks of your beer bottles

"Abajo" - Literally translates to "down". Touch the bottom of your beer bottles

"Al centro" - Literally translates to "center". Touch the center of your beer bottles.  You general rub them up and down just a tad too.

"Pa' dentro or Adentro" - Literally translates to "inside".  Drink immediately, bottoms up!

I know it's tough to envision, I'll work on getting some video next time I'm there.

And here's a variation of this wonderful toast.  The words have changed (just a little) but motions are the same.

Arriba, abajo, al centro, con un movimiento, el vaso a la boca y todo adentro

Simple, right?  Well, I say you head to the closest cantina (bar) and practice this until you get it right.

Also be sure to visit my sister blog and read my post 3 Ways to ask for happy hour specials in Spanish.

And lastly,  for 20+ more bar/drinking phrases and over 1600 useful Spanish phrases on your Android device, check out My Spanish Phrasebook.



¡Cuidense amigos!

Se me antoja un helado de vainilla

If you ever get the urge to eat something specific, like a piece of cheesecake, or a steak, or whatever, then you've had an antojo, a craving.

To say you have a craving for something, you use the verb antojarse.  Actually, you may want to think of it as a desire, or an urge to eat or do something, because you can use it to say you have an urge to do something besides eat.  But in this post we're talking about cravings for food.

Se me antoja un helado de vainilla
I have a craving for vanilla ice cream

This is a really easy piece of Spanish you can add to your toolbox.  Simply say "Se me antoja de" and add whatever it is you're craving at the end.

You can also say:

Tengo el antojo de una torta de pesacado
I have a craving for a fish torta

You can also "ando de antojo", which means you feel like eating just about everything you see.  I often find myself feeling like this.

A person can also be an antojadizo/antojadiza which means that you pretty much "ando de antojo" all the time (todo el tiempo).

Here are some examples:

Soy muy antojadizo
I always have a craving to eat

That's it.  Now you can have cravings in both English and Spanish.

¡Adios!

Toda la familía anda domingueando

As soon I heard the word "domingueando", and found out what it meant, I was in love with it.  Not that it's all that special, I just get a kick out of it.

"domingueando" comes from the verb dominguear.  And you may have noticed the simularity to the word "domingo" in there.  "domingo", meaning Sunday, of course.

So what does it mean to "dominguear"?  It means to put on your "Sunday best" as we might say in English.  In other words, you're wearing your church clothes.  You know, your nice slacks and a fancy shirt, and perhaps a nice dress for the ladies. 

So with that bit of basic information we can translate our sentence:

Toda la familía anda domingueando
The whole family is all dressed up

Here's another example:

Hoy me voy a poner mis pantalones de dominguear
I'm going to put on my Sunday pants

And FYI, it doesn't have to be Sunday for you to "dominguear".


It's never a bad thing to "dominguear" de vez en cuando (once in a while), and now you can even talk about it in Spanish!

¡Cuidense!