No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeArts & CultureLearning Costa Rica Spanish for expats and tourists: Part 4

Learning Costa Rica Spanish for expats and tourists: Part 4

You can’t call yourself fluent in Costa Rican Spanish unless you understand its slang.

Over the past several weeks, we brought you Parts 1,2 and 3 of our Tico Talk series on tiquismos or costarriqueñismos.

Here’s Part 4:

A la hora de burro: To be late for something.

Añejo: A person who has not bathed or has poor hygiene. Champú is also used for person who does not bathe.

Azote: An attractive person.

Bomba: A bomb, pump, or gas station. Additionally, during a Costa Rican folk dance, there is an interruption where someone recites a popular and often humorous verse. When the music stops, someone yells, “Bomba.”

Dicharachero/a: A person like me who uses a lot of  Costa Rican expressions.

Estar camote: To be crazy. Camote means sweet potato. In the old days, people who resided in Costa Rican mental institutions were fed a lot of sweet potatoes. So the word camote became a synonym for crazy.

Fajarse: To work hard or make a big effort.

Goma: Hangover. Gomón is a big hangover. Resaca is used for hangover in many countries.

Guachiman: A type of guard or watchman. It is derived from the English word, “watchman.”  Gauchi is the shortened form of this word. Gauchi is also short for the town of Guachipelín

Guácala: Yuck! Or gross! 

Pellejo: An old person

Pelliscado/a: A mentally sharp person. Vivo/a is a synonym.

La pelona: The personification of death.

Palmarse: To die. Patearse el balde (literally to “kick the bucket”) is often also used here, as is  Colgar los tenis.

Pelota: A group of people or friends. This word also means “ball” in Spanish. 

Ruco: A horse. This word can also mean “pants.”  Echar el ruco is to try and seduce a woman.

Tiquismos or Costa Rican expressions of the week:

Subirsele el apellido: To get mad. Enjojarse or ponerse bravo/a mean the same thing.

Ser de pocas pulgas: A person who gets angry easily

No hay santo en que persignarse: “Nowadays, you cannot trust anyone.”

Christopher Howard has been conducting monthly relocation/retirement tours and writing retirement guidebooks for over 30 years. See www.liveincostarica.com. He is also the author of the one-of-a-kind bestselling, “Guide to Costa Rican Spanish,” that can be purchased through Amazon.

Trending Now

Costa Rica’s UN Ocean Conference Role Slammed as Hypocritical

Costa Rica’s high-profile role in the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3) in Nice, France, has triggered fierce criticism from lawmakers and environmentalists, who...

Costa Rica’s Massive Drug Raid Targets Cocaine Network to Europe

Costa Rican authorities struck a major blow against international drug trafficking dismantling a criminal network that smuggled over five tons of cocaine to Europe....

Costa Rica Law Now Requires Corporations to Register an Email for Legal Notices

Costa Rica has recently approved a very important law which establishes a new obligation for commercial corporations, and that obligation is that they must...

Costa Rica’s Social Crisis Deepens Amid Political Clashes

Costa Rica is sliding into a state of structural violence fueled by political clashes, social division, and weakening institutions, according to a new National...

Costa Rica’s Guanacaste Welcomes First Starbucks in Liberia

Starbucks has opened its first store in Guanacaste at Solarium Business Park in Liberia, marking a significant step in its expansion across Costa Rica....

Gold Cup 2025: Costa Rica, Mexico and Canada Aim for Glory

While other CONCACAF teams have their sights set on the 2026 World Cup, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Canada are raising the stakes by targeting...
spot_img
Costa Rica Tours
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica