http://www.costarica.com/about-costa-rica/useful-information/costa-rican-slang-and-idioms pachuco (street slang),
mae (my):
Mae can be used to mean "dude" between friends, or simply to refer to any man or woman ("ese mae te esta
llamando" = "that guy is calling you").
pura vida(poor-ah vee-dah
): Pura vida means "pure life," but more than anything, it's a way of life. This phrase symbolizes the Costa Rican
idea of letting things go, and simply enjoying life. Use it as an answer to "como estas?" ("how are you?"), or to say
"thank you" or "you're welcome."
tico / tica (tee-ko/tee-ka):
Due to a quirk of speech, Costa Ricans are called Ticos. Since Spanish uses gendered nouns, a Costa Rican man
is a Tico, and a Costa Rican woman is a Tica.
100 (cien) metros (see-en metros
): Always remember that "cien metros" means "one block." Likewise, "doscientos (200) metros" means "two
blocks," and "cincuenta (50) metros", "half a block" – all regardless of the actual length of the block.
-aguevado (ah-gway-va-doh):
bored or boring (synonym of bostezo)
-apuntarse (ah-poon-tar-say):
to sign up (for something, like a tour)
-bostezo (boh-stes-oh):
bored or boring (a synonym of aguevado)
-brete (bre-tay): work or job
-como amanecio? (coh-moh ahmahn-es-ee-oh):
how are you this morning?
-chunche(choon-chay):
thingamajig
-di/diay(dee/dee-ay):
With no exact translation, diay is best thought of as an interjection at the beginning of a sentence, similar to "um" or
"well."
-dolor de jupa (dole-or day hoopah):
a headache
-el chante (el chahn-tay):
home (house); place
-estar de chicha(es-tar day
chee-chah):
to be angry
-estar de goma (es-tar day gohmah):
to have a hangover
-fijate/fijese(fee-hah-tay/fee-heysay):
Another phrase with no exact translation, this is best thought of as an interjection, approximately meaning "would
you believe it?"
-guila(gwee-lah):
Despite its meaning in Mexico, a guila in Costa Rica is merely a "girl."
-hijueputa (ee-who-ay-poo-tah)
(vulgar):
son of a bitch
-la jama (lah hah-mah):
food
-jamar (hah-marh):
to eat
-jumas (hoo-mahs):
drunk
-la choza (lah choh-sah):
home
-que mala nota! (kay mahl-ah
no-tah):
what a bad person!
-macha (mah-cha):
a blond female, usually a foreigner
-mucho gusto (moo-choh goostoh):
Translating directly as "[with] much pleasure," Costa Ricans use this in lieu of "de nada," or "thank you."
-no entender ni papa (no en-tender nee pah-pah):
to not understand a word
-no joda!/no jodás!(no hoeda/no hoe-das):
don't bother me! / leave me alone!
-ojo! (oh-hoe):
watch out!
-pura paja(poor-ah pa-hah):
crap; bullshit
-pinche (peen-chay):
Despite its meaning in Mexico, pinche means "stingy" in Costa Rica.
-por dicha(poor dee-chah):
thank goodness
-pulperia(pool-pehr-ee-ah):
a small corner store
-que m'iche? (kay mee-chay):
what's up? / what do you have to tell me?
-que pereza!(kay pay-ray-sah):
ugh, what a drag! (synonym of "que tigra!")
-que tigra! (kay tee-grah):
ugh, what a drag! (synonym of "que pereza!")
-salado (sahl-ah-doh):
unlucky
-soda (soh-dah):
a small, family-run typical restaurant
-soque!(soh-kay):
hurry up!
-una teja (oo-nah tay-hah):
Una teja is 100 of anything, usually money (100 colones). If someone is giving you directions, however, una teja
refers to "100 meters," or one block.
-tome chichi!(toe-may cheechee):
Though this phrase has no direct translation, it's essentially a teasing form of "take that!"
-tuanis(too-ahn-ees):
Said to be a Spanish adaptation of "too nice," this popular phrase means "cool."
-va jalando!(bah hahl-ahn-do):
get out of here! / go away!
-la vara (lah bar-ah):
the thing
-upe! (oo-pay):
hello? anyone home?
-vieras que/viera que (bee-airahs kay/bee-air-ah kay):
Another Costa Rican idiom with no direct translation, "vieras que/viera que" means "sure", in the sense of "I sure
was surprised by his apology!" ("Vieras que sorprendida me dejo su disculpa!")
Ticos are amused and delighted when foreigners try to speak Spanish, especially when they include tiquismos
expressions that are peculiar to Costa Rican or Central American culture.
Not only the vocabulary, but the way of using words is important, Spanish speakers use a lot of muletillas (fillers,
literal in their speech. They "address" the person with
whom they are speaking more often than is done in English, and they do it in a way that English speakers might
consider slightly offensive. It is common that women will be called mamita , madre , mi hijita , (little mother, mother,
my little daughter, all roughly corresponding to "honey"). Latin people love to use salient physical characteristics as
nicknames. Common ones are gordo (fatty), flaco (skinny), macho or macha (Costa Rican for fair-skinned or fair
haired), negro (dark-skinned), chino (it doesn't matter if you're Asian or just have slightly slanting eyes, your name
is Chino), gato (blue or green eyes). You just have to be slightly gordo or flaco to merit those names. If you're really
gordo or flaco , and people really like you, you get a special name like repollito (little cabbage) or palito (little stick).
Gordo and negro are commonly used as terms of endearment, regardless of appearance.
Any male under thirty is usually called maje by his friends. This is a special Costa Rican measure of friendship,
which literally means "dummy" but figuratively is more like pal or buddy. It is used widely as a muletilla .
Majes have various expressions of approval such as the famous pura vida (great, terrific), or tuanis (cool), buena
nota (groovy). Mala nota is un-groovy, furris is un-cool and salado means "too bad for you".
Expressions of extreme approval are que bruto , que barbaro - and disapproval, que horror , or fatal , maje .
The above are the slang expressions of urban youth. However, all Ticos are aware of polite, courteous and
respectful forms of speech. They make their world more pleasant by using little. expressions of appreciation. For
example, if someone helps you in a store or on the street, you say " Muchas gracias, muy amable " (Thank you
very much, you are very kind), and they will say " Con mucho gusto " (With much pleasure).
It is customary in the morning to ask " Como amanecio " (How did you wake up?) " Muy bien, por dicha, y usted ?"
(Very well, luckily, and you?) " Muy bien, gracias a Dios ." (Very well, thank God.)
When talking about a future event or plan, Ticos will often include si Dios quiere (if God wants, God willing): " Nos
vemos el martes, si Dios quiere ." (We'll see each other Tuesday, God willing.)
If you are in the city and see someone on the other side of the street that you know, you call " Adios !" In the
countryside, when you pass someone on the road, it is customary to say adios even if you don't know them. In
these situations, adios means hello. It is only used to mean goodbye when you're going away for good. Everyday
goodbyes are hasta luego (until then, until later), and the other person might add " Que Dios le acompane " (May
God accompany you).
Giving a coin to a beggar in the street often earns you a special blessing: he or she will say " Dios se lo pague "
(May God repay you).
Vos is a form of second person singular address used throughout Central America instead of tu . Small children,
however, are usually addressed as usted , probably in order to teach them to use this more respectful form with
their elders, until they know how to make the differentiation themselves. The fact that the archaic vos is used even
now in Costa Rica shows how isolated it was during colonial times. The verb form used with vos is made by
changing the r on the end of an infinitive to s and accenting the last syllable. Thus with the verb poder , " tu puedes
" becomes " vos podes '', and with sentirse , " tu te sientes " becomes " vos te sentis ".
Other fillers that are used commonly in Spanish are terms like fijate , imaginate , and vieras que , for which there
are no real equivalents in English. Roughly, they could be translated as "would you believe" or "just think!" These
expressions are used to give emphasis to what the speaker is saying. For example:
" Fijate vos que no me dejaron entrar !" (Would you believe it--they wouldn't let me in!)
" Imaginese Como me dio pena verla as i" (Imagine how bad I felt to see her like that.)
Vieras is often used to give the equivalent of the way we use "sure" in English: " Vieras que gusto me dio !'' (I sure
was scared, or, you should have seen how it scared me.)
Achara is another particularly tico expression which indicates regret at a loss: " Fijese que el perro comio mis
begonias. achara mis florecitas ." (Would you believe it--the dog ate my begonias. My poor little flowers!)
When you come to someone's house, especially in the country, it is customary to stand on the ground near the
porch and say " Upe !" as a way of letting them know you're there. When they ask you to come in, as you enter the
house you say " Con permiso " (with your permission). If they offer you something to eat, it is much more polite to
accept than not to accept. Giving makes people happy, and if you don't let them give to you, it hurts them. People
will ask you about your family, whether you're married, how many children you have. Most can't quite grasp the
idea of people not being married or not having children. When you're sitting and talking and finally no one can think
of anything else to say, you say, " Pues, si " (Well, yes).
Learn some of these expressions and practice them until you don't make any metidas de pata (literally, "putting
your foot in it", or mistakes). Ticos will be glad to help you. If you do make a mistake, there is a word which is
instant absolution: just say, " Diay ?" That means, "Well, what can you expect?" or "What can be done about it?" As
you get to know the Ticos , you'll find out that this little word comes in very handy.