Photos: Jorge Santiago
To really connect in a foreign language, you have to learn how to play with it.
Mexicans have a way with expressions. They use Spanish the way a bullfighter uses a flag – to grab your attention, to add a little romance and drama and flair, to turn a dull conversation into artful swoops of language.
1. caerle gordo a alguien
Used to refer to someone who rubs you the wrong way. For example, that friend of ours who never returned the book I lent her, and who’s always gossiping about everyone else, ella me cae gorda. You can use “caerme …” to describe how you get along with someone in general – “me cae bien, me cae mal” – with the literal, direct translation being how well someone falls on you. In this particular version, my favorite, someone falls fat on you.
2. pintarse de colores
Get the hell out of there. As in, what my Mexican friends do when I try to convince them to go trail running, what kids do the second the last bell rings at the end of the school day.
3. echarle ganas
Throw some life into it. “Echale ganas!” you might say to someone who looks like they’d rather be doing anything other than what they’re doing at that moment.
4. tener ganas de
Crave, have a desire to, have the urge to. Applies to cravings big and small, culinary and otherwise. In my case, tengo ganas de viajar por Belice, tengo ganas de comer chilaquiles verdes, tengo ganas de arriesgarme.
5. creerse mucho
Brag, think too much of oneself. Se cree mucho is said with a derogative tone, as in, he thinks he knows Spanish fluently but really he’s all arrogance.
6. echar la hueva
The opposite of “echarle ganas.” Instead of giving it your all, you give it an egg, the ultimate Mexican symbol of laziness. What am I doing on any given Sunday afternoon? Echando la hueva.
7. comiendo moscas
Literally eating flies, figuratively dazing out. So when someone’s staring off into space while you’re explaining the basis of your thesis project you can call them out with, “Estás comiendo moscas!”
8. Irse el avion
Lose your train of thought. You’re talking about one thing, and suddenly you say, “se me fue el avion:” my plane just took off.
Y ahora, me pinto de colores, damas y caballeros.
Community Connection
If you’re studying Spanish, or just curious about what “que cabrón” means, take a look at our quick and dirty phrasebook of Mexican slang. If, for some reason, this post made you crave tacos, you might want to check out the foodie primer for Mexico.
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16 Comments... join the discussion!
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I still can’t get over how different mexican spanish is from spain spanish. Everytime you start to think you’re fluent, just go to another country and realize they have a whole different set of vocabularly than what you’re used to.
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Gracias por eso Saraita! Estoy en Oaxaca ahora y quiero aprender mas ‘espanol de la calle’! Quires tomar un cafe?
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Sure, Brooke! If you click on my name it’ll take you to my website, and you can contact me through there so we can set up a time.
How long will you be in Oaxaca for?
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when you ask -quieres tomar un café?
you can also say
un cafecito?
and a clever answer is:
nos lo echamos !
wich the literal translation is ;we throw it to ourselves !
but is a funny way to say, why not?↵ -
Reminds me of this book of foreign idioms “I’m Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears”
http://www.hangingnoodles.com/Here’s a little gallery of New Yorker cartoons based on the expressions in the book: http://picasaweb.google.com/hangingnoodles/Web_illos#5347733089018796722
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Tengo ganas de is quite possibly my favorite Spanish expression in the entire world. To me, it says so much more than “I want to”; there’s this extra (way extra) level of desire implied by ganas.
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Me gustará hacer algo así con Buenos Aires, pero temo que sería nada pero puteando! Que buena, Sarah!
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Kate – you should do something with “que se yo?” That was the quintessential porteño expression for me. What are all the potential uses of que se yo?
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You could get 10 posts out of lunfardo porteño . Let’s brainstorm!
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Why “echar la hueva” and not “echar el huevo’? Why in this case is egg feminine?
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Arré !- vamos al cine? arré !
that is a term used to say ok,or yes but in a very
excited way
leterally it would be like “hia !” wich is the call
that the cowboy does to his horse when he
wants to make him run.↵ -
Always good to throw in a coupla good anglicisms too, like dame un “rayde” en la “troca.”
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