Leave it to Costa Ricans to turn an unnerving nighttime earthquake into immediate fodder for a nationwide joke.
After a magnitude 6.7 earthquake rattled the country at 11:23 p.m. Tuesday, an unnamed Cartago resident called into Channel 7 TV News to describe how he had experienced the tremor.
“En Cartago fue un despiche total,” he said, using a (slightly) vulgar Tiquismo, or Costa Rican expression, to report things were a total mess.
As the caller spoke, the network showed video footage of a seemingly unaffected Costa Rican street.
The lighthearted moment was a hit on social media, with many Ticos adopting the Tiquismo as their saying of the day — or noting that “despiche total” was a disappointingly accurate description of their lives.
And as authorities confirmed the earthquake hadn’t caused major damages or injuries, the Cartago resident’s dramatic report gave us all the chance to share a laugh.
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