Wow, wikipedia seriously has EVERYTHING....every spanish profanity you could ask for

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Chingada)
Jump to: navigation, search
"Joder" redirects here. For the community in Nebraska, see Joder, Nebraska.
Media_httpuploadwikim_cofze
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.

This article is a summary of Spanish profanity, referred to in the Spanish language as lenguaje soez (low language), maldiciones (curse words), malas palabras (bad words), insultos (insults), vulgaridades (vulgarities), juramentos (oaths — swearing), palabrotas (lit.: "big words"), tacos (in Spain), palabras sucias (dirty words in Panama), lisuras (in Peru), puteadas (in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay), desvergue in El Salvador, majaderías in Mexico, garabatos (gibberish or shootings/firings in Chile), or groserías (impolite words or acts). Spanish profanity varies in Spanish-speaking nations, and even in regions of the same nation. Several of these words have linguistic and historical significance.

Idiomatic expressions, particularly profanity, can be very hard to translate into other languages, and so most of the English translations offered in this article are very rough and most likely do not reflect the full meaning of the expression they intend to translate.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Verbs denoting sexual acts

The following verbs are indicative of a variety of sexual acts, especially sexual intercourse and masturbation, though mostly limited to specific geographic regions.

  • Chaquetear - a verb that can be used as to masturbate mainly in Mexico. Used in European Spanish by both fighters of Spanish Civil War, used as traitor or coward. In Chile, it means to change one's posture rapidly[citation needed].
It has another possible meaning in Mexican Spanish: to create false hopes or to hallucinate, [hacerse una chaqueta mental (literally: "To make a mental masturbation")]; compare to the English expression mental masturbation and to paja mental, which is an almost literal translation of the English phrase.
  • Chingar - comes from the Caló (Spanish Romani) word čingarár, meaning "to fight".[1] In the form La Chingada, it was famously applied to La Malinche, the mistress of Hernán Cortés. In Mexico, chingar means to fuck someone or to make a mistake (cf. English to fuck up). Chinga a tu madre or Vete y chinga a tu madre ("Go fuck your mother") is often considered the strongest Mexican curse, and vete a la chingada roughly translates "go fuck yourself". Other uses are somewhat more tame — a Mexican might say No me chingues, a fairly strong version of "Don't annoy me", "are you serious?", or "get out of here!" that literally translates as "don't fuck (with) me", or if a Mexican is beaten in a business deal or in sports, me chingaron ("they fucked me") might be used. Also used is the expression estás corriendo en la chingada, literally "you are running in that which is fucked". Soy chingón could mean in English "I rule" or "I'm the man", ¡No chingues! or ¡No manches! means something like "No way!" (literally more like "Don't screw around"). ¡Qué chingón! could be used to say "Wow, that's cool!" in a more aggressive way. ¡Qué chinga! roughly translates to "What a heavy duty!", while ¡A la chingada! can be a curse at someone or an expression of shock. Machín is another variation on chingar, a contraction of lo más chingón, roughly translated, "the baddest motherfucker". "Chingadera" is used to display frustration with an object. Translates to "fucking thing". The word is understood in Spain and Puerto Rico, and used in the latter. It could mean from something related to sexual relations to being screwed up.
  • Chimar - another variant of "to fuck" used in Guatemala.
  • Chinquechar - equivalent of the verb chingar. However, chinquechar is used mostly for to have sex (mostly in northern and western Mexico).
  • Cachar is commonly used in Peru for to have sex. In Chile it can have this meaning when used as a noun (cacha, pegarse una cachita; "to have a little sex"), but it's mainly used for to understand. It comes from the English to catch something or someone.
  • Chichar - like Chingar Dominican way of saying to fuck, but with a slight variation of a movement taken from the Cha Cha Cha.
  • Clavar - means to nail something. In Puerto Rico it can be used as both vulgar and obscene expressions la clavé ("I nailed her"), Me la clavaron ("They screwed me up" or "I was screwed").
  • Coger - means to seize, to catch, to take (e.g. a bus), to pick (e.g. fruit from a tree), to pick up (in all senses of the English word), used most commonly in Spain, Colombia, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Panama. However, in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile, it is used as synonymous of to get (some) in the sense of a sexual encounter (to fuck), and cannot be said in polite company. In those countries, the original meaning of coger (as to pick, etc.) has been changed to almost completely the sexual orientation of the word, the original meaning has then been given to the word agarrar (to grab or to hold in all senses in English). Coger can be used in both senses (i.e. literal and obscene) in Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela and the southwestern United States. In Puerto Rico, Cuba and Spain coger is totally inoffensive, unless used clearly in a phrase having literal sexual connotation; it is used mostly as a way to say "Go away, you annoyance!".
  • Comer - means to eat. In Colombia and Panama (in youth slang) its used frequently to mean the same as fuck, e.g. "Me la comí" (literally: "I ate her", metaphorically: "I ate her out"). In Chile (again youth slang) its meaning is making out with someone without further compromise. Also in Spain means fellatio at comerla or comérsela, so do chuparla ("to suck it") or mamarla.
  • Correrse - means to get off, to have an orgasm. Used commonly in Spain. Otherwise, it means to get off the way.
  • Culear - derives from culo, which means "ass" in most Latin American countries. In Spain and Puerto Rico, where it means "buttocks", culear means moving one's buttocks, especially now among young people and in reggaetón song lyrics. In northern Mexico, it also means to be afraid, as in te culeaste ("you got scared"). In slang it also means to make life difficult for someone, but it is rarely used in Spain and has little or no sexual reference. In Venezuela, Panama, Nicaragua, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Colombia and other Latin American countries, it means to have sex (not necessarily anal intercourse — compare with English slang getting a piece of ass). Polite terms for the buttocks are nalgas and glúteos. The term is rarely if ever used in Cuba.
  • Dar - literally "to give", means in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay "to fuck (someone)". In Mexico darlas ("to give them"), depending on the context, means "to give oneself (to another)" (sexually speaking).
Dar un poco de caña - identical to the British "give a bit of stick" or the American "give a kick in the ass", meaning abuse or admonishment to correct some behavior. This expression holds primarily in Spain. In other regions it is unknown and the listener may mistake it for a crude sexual reference, although in Cuba a similar term is used, dale leña, or "give him/her (fire)wood". In El Salvador, it also has a sexual connotation, as in me la di ("I fucked her").
  • Dar estilla: these two words together in Dominican Republic mean "to fuck", for example Le di estilla a ella ("I fucked her"), but literally translated to English it doesn't mean much, just "to give a piece of wood or splinter". This phrase is a common youth slang.
  • The verb hacer(lo) (lit.: to do (it)) - also denotes "to have sexual intercourse" in Panama and Puerto Rico. To say lo hice con él/ella ("I did it with him/her") means "I had intercourse with him/her". Note that hacer ("to do" or "to make") does not necessarily mean sexual intercourse.
  • The phrase echar un polvo, literally "to throw a dust", actually means "to have sexual intercourse", most commonly used in Spain and Argentina, although it is fairly common in the Dominican Republic and it has gained popularity in Panama, Colombia, Costa Rica and Puerto Rico. In Peru, the variant tirarse un polvo is used.
  • Follar another synonym, used particularly in Spain and to a lesser extent in Cuba, but rarely found elsewhere. In these countries it means to have sex.
  • Hundir, literally means to sink, but in Puerto Rico is occasionally used as meter, a slang for male to female intercourse. Common uses and variations are voy a hundírselo and hundirle los pelos ("sink the curlies"; pelos is a reference to female pubic hair).
  • Joder means "fuck" in terms of intercourse, and also the notions of "fucking with someone" and "screw something up" or constantly annoying someone. In Spain, the word is also used as an interjection, as in, ¡Joder! ("Fuck!"). The word joder comes from the Latin futuere (cognate with French foutre, Italian fottere, Romanian fute, Catalan fotre, and Galician and Portuguese foder). In parts of South America, joder means both "to annoy" (no jodas = "no kidding") or "to have fun" (vamos a joder = "let's have fun") and is deemed mildly vulgar but not obscene. In Chile, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Panama, joder can be used as a vulgar substitute of the verbs to annoy, or to fool/to mock (No jodas conmigo = "Don't fool with me", Tú me estás jodiendo = "You've got to be -fucking- kidding me"). The substantive joda is used as "fun" (e.g.la joda loca = "great fun, wild party"), and the word jodido as "difficult" (examen jodido = "hard exam"). In Cuba and Puerto Rico, the word is used in all of its meanings, but the terms of intercourse are the least used. In Spanish slang, joder is commonly used to suggest amazement (¡¿Joder, sabes español?! can mean "Cool, you know Spanish?"). Also in Spain, jodía (usually the imperfect tense of joder) used to refer to a Jewish woman or a variety of bean (now judía).
  • Limar ("to smooth out") is used in Guatemala by a very small population which speaks Caló (a slang language) and is another variant of "to fuck". In Argentine slang, it means to be out of your mind, and also to be very amazed by something.
  • Mámalo is a Spanish term meaning "suck it". It is commonly considered slang when used between males (as in the adjective mamalón, which means "outstanding") and derogatory when spoken to females. Comes from the verb mamar which means "to lactate" (the act of sucking a breast to feed from its milk) which is used as a verb for fellatio in Spanish from the Americas.
  • Meter, which can be translated as the inoffensive verb "to put in", can sometimes be used in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, or even Spain to imply the insertion of the male penis during sexual intercourse. (Yo se lo metí a ella = "I put it inside her").
  • Picar, translated as "to sting", could also mean "to have sex", as a metaphor for the insertion of the penis in the vagina.
  • Pisar, which is used in Central America (chiefly El Salvador and some parts of Honduras) and to some extent in Chile, Guatemala, and Cuba, translates as "to step on", which implies "stepping on" or being on top of another person during intercourse, like the rooster does to the hen.
  • Ponchar is another variant of "to fuck" used in Mexico, also means "to pinch". In other countries, it means "to strike out" (baseball) and is unoffensive. In Panama it is used in both ways.
  • Ponerla, literally "to put it", in Argentina means to have sex (for example, hoy la puse means "I had sex today").
  • Puñeta is an expression widely used in Puerto Rico and other Spanish-speaking countries. It may be an exclamation, akin to the English "Shit!", although if translated literally, it means "to masturbate" (me hice una puñeta/"I masturbated"). In this sense, the word derives from puño ("fist"). It can also be used as an emphasizing interjection (¿Dónde puñeta has estado?/"Where the fuck have you been?").
It is tough to translate properly into English by itself, it is more easily defined by its context. By itself, it is usually used as a vulgar expression of surprise or aggravation. One could say ¡puñeta! when staring at a beautiful girl for example, but also when hitting oneself on the head. Una puñeta ("a puñeta") means a "yank", as in yanking one's penis (masturbation). It is only used to refer to male masturbation, not female masturbation (which is called dar dedo, "to finger"). Hacerse una puñeta means to pleasure oneself. Also very common is the use of puñetero ("masturbator").
This sense requires the use of the word puñeta in singular; when used in the plural, like in vete a hacer puñetas, the meaning is completely different: this could be roughly translated as "Go to hell" and makes reference to the adornments that lawyers and judges wear in the wrist (puño) of shirts. These adornments are very laborious and require many hours of production, so making such adornments (hacer puñetas) is supposed to be unpleasant and tedious labor. Other word for male masturbation, used in Costa Rica, is sobo ("rub") for the physical description of the hand movements. This does not apply to female masturbation, which in the Dominican Republic is referred to as darse dedo (lit.: "fingering (-self)"). The word apuñalar(se) (lit.: to stab (yourself) with a dagger) means to masturbate in Panama.
Ay, puñeta is a favorite expression of pornstar Carmen Luvana, who commonly uses it to show excitement during sex scenes. She often uses it when she reaches (presumed) orgasm.
  • Ra'par is a variant dealing with intercourse, used in the Dominican Republic. It is a variation of the verb raspar ("to scratch"), with its mid s almost silent.
  • Remojar el cochayuyo' (lit.: to soak the cochayuyo) is used in Chilean Spanish to refer to the sexual act.[2] The expression alludes to the cochayuyo algae that is harvested on Chile's coast; this algae is preserved by being sun-dried and to prepare it in a dish it then it needs to be softened up by being soaked in water.
  • Singar is most commonly used in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Cuba to mean "to have sex", but chingar also has the same meaning.
  • Tirar (to pull, to shoot, or throw away, among other meanings) is sometimes used in Spain, Nicaragua, Perú, Chile, Ecuador and Puerto Rico, although it is rather common in Venezuela and Colombia. In those cases, it is used when one says me la tiré (I fucked her). In Argentina, tirar la goma translates as "to throw the rubber" and involves a fellatio.

[edit] Words denoting male and female genitalia

[edit] Cojones

Cojón, plural cojones is slang for "testicles" and may be used as a synonym for "guts" or "[having] what it takes", hence making it equivalent to English balls or bollocks.

  • A common expression in Spain is anything to the effect of (...) hace lo que le sale de los cojones (lit.: "(...) does whatever comes out of his/her balls"), meaning "(...) does whatever the fuck he/she wants". Variations are sale de los huevos, sale de las pelotas, etc. A common Basque catchphrase is los de Bilbao nacemos donde nos sale de los cojones ("we Bilbao natives are born wherever the fuck we want").
  • Sometimes, to denote obnoxious or overbearing behavior from someone else, idiom tocar los cojones/huevos/pelotas/... (lit.: "touching someone else's balls") comes to play. For instance: venga, dame eso y para ya de tocar los cojones: "come on, give me that and stop fucking around". It can sometimes be an understatement: a principios de los treinta, los nazis ya empezaban a tocar los cojones.
  • It is also frequent to derive other words, such as adjectival form cojonudo (lit.: "ballsy"), indicating admiration. A famous Navarran brand of asparagus has this name.[3]
  • It is sometimes used, at least in Spain, as a suffix, complement or termination to a word or name in order to confer it a derisive or overbearing quality. For instance: el Marcos de los cojones would be indicative of something such as "that fucking Marcos guy". Dame ya la maleta de los cojones would mean "give me the fucking suitcase".
  • (...) me importa un cojón or (...) me importa un huevo stands for "I don't give a fuck about (...)". Alternative variations raise the cardinality, usually to three: (...) me importa tres cojones.
  • Cojones alone can also be used much like the four-word exclamations, though less usually; it is frequently a giveaway for native Catalan speakers when they speak Spanish, as collons is used much more profusely in situations akin to those for "fuck", "shit", etc.

[edit] Concha / Chucha

  • Concha (lit.: shell) is an offensive word for a woman's vulva or vagina (i.e. something akin to English cunt) in Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. It is commonly heard in the phrase ¡(La) concha (de) tu madre! ("Your mother's cunt"), which may be used either as an impersonal interjection expressing anger, surprise or frustration, or as a direct insult. Depending on the context, the phrase may cause massive offense. ¡Chucha![4]/¡chuchamadre! and ¡chucha de tu madre! (respectively) are the Panamanian, Chilean, Ecuadorian, Peruvian or southern Colombian equivalents. Example expressions: Vení, oleme, oleme la chucha ("Come and sniff my pussy"), ¡Salí, gran puta, que te arranco la chucha! ("Come out you bitch, I'll tear off your pussy!"). Although toto would be the Dominican equivalent, semilla (lit.: "seed") is often used in a similar context. In Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, chocha or crica imply the word "pussy", although the latter in other countries may have a different (non vulgar) meaning. ¡Crica! may also be used as an interjection, expressing anger or frustration, like "May I be damned!". In Venezuela, chocha can mean female genitalia, but it can also mean a type of round seed or a particular type of bird.[5] Chocha is also a game bird in Spain. The painter Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes made a painting with that name depicting some of those hunted birds. The contracted term conchetumadre is very common and very offensive in Chile, as well as in Ecuador.

[edit] Coño

  • Coño is a vulgar word for a woman's vulva or vagina. It is frequently translated as "cunt" (and is, indeed, etymologically related) but is in reality significantly less offensive (it is much more common to hear the word coño on Spanish television than the word cunt on British television, for example). In Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic it is amongst the most popular of curse words. The word is frequently used as an interjection, expressing surprise, anger or frustration. If you hit your finger with a hammer, ¡Coño! would be like "Shit!" or "Goddamn it!" It is also common to use the expression ¿Pero qué coño? that could be translated as "What the fuck?" However, in Colombia it also means "diaper." Its usage was so common among Peninsular Spaniards in the Philippines that konyo became the Tagalog name for upper class people.

[edit] Huevos

  • Huevos (literally: "eggs"), pelotas (literally: "balls"), and albóndigas (literally: meatballs) all refer to testicles in a profane manner. They are equivalent to cojones in many situations. In Mexico, in a situation where any ambiguity might arise, it is reasonably common to avoid this word for its literal meaning of "eggs", substituting the inoffensive blanquillos (literally: "little white ones"). Sometimes the term lavahuevos ("ball-washer" or "testicle-scrubber") is used in the same context as "brown-noser" in English (personally degrading oneself for another's approval).

[edit] Polla

  • Polla (lit.: "female chicken/hen"), in Spain (and in Puerto Rico, to a lesser extent) the word polla is used as slang for "dick" and also for a (young) girl (as in "chick"). Some years ago, in Costa Rica, the term jupa de pollo ("chicken's head") was popular slang for "penis". The term todo el jupa de pollo was a popular way to say "the whole shebang" or "it's complete now".

[edit] Other terms

  • Cuca (sometimes cucaracha, lit.: "cockroach") is the equivalent of "cunt" in Venezuela and Colombia. Slightly milder than coño, and is almost inoffensive in Dominican Republic. However, the term has other meanings. While in the Dominican Republic it is a common term for a parrot, in Chile, cuca is criminal slang for paddy wagon. It is also an inoffensive word for penis that many children use in Spain. It also has a slightly archaic use in Spain and all Latin America to describe a congenial, outgoing person with a gift for flattery ("Julia is very Cuca") or ("Eddie is so Cuco; look at all the friends he has."). In Nicaragua is used as slang for "penis".
  • Güevo (a deformation of huevo, with the same use as it) means balls in Dominican Republic (and to a lesser extent, Puerto Rico). Highly offensive Dominican insults involving this term are mamagüevo (lit.: "ball sucker") and mamagüevaso (lit.: "big ball sucker"). Ñema is used to refer to the penis' head. See also huevón below.
  • Commonly in Panama, micha is used to refer to the female pussy/cunt (Micha is also a type of bread). Picha is the equivalent to the male "dick"/"cock" in Chiriqui while pinga is used in the rest of the country.
  • Panocha. In Mexico and the Philippines, panocha refers generally to sweet breads or cakes, or, more specifically, to a raw, coarse form of sugar produced there. It is also a fudge made with brown sugar, butter, cream or milk, and nuts (penuche). In New Mexico it means a sprouted-wheat pudding. In the southwestern United States (and northern Mexico, perhaps?), however, it often refers to the female genitalia ("pussy"). Use of this word has been known to cause embarrassment among Mexicans from Mexico and their American-born relatives. Etymology: Spanish penuche, panoja: ear of corn, from the Latin panicula whence comes the English word "panicle": pyramidal loosely branched flower cluster.
  • Cajeta in Argentina refers to the vulva; in México, cajeta is a form of dulce de leche made from goats' milk.
  • In Cuba, the word papaya has multiple meanings: in some regional dialects, it means cunt. There are tales of North American tourists who asked a grocer for a papaya (fruit) and being angrily informed that he was not a pimp.
  • In Spain, pelotas (lit.: "balls" as in sports) or bolas may be used as a half-profane equivalent for cojones.
  • In Venezuela, the words papo and chocho also mean "cunt".
  • In Panama, the word pipí (lit.: "piss"/"urine") is used to refer to the "dick"/"cock". Example: Se me paró el pipí ("My dick has become erect").
  • A verga is a part of a ship's mast (a yardarm), but its slang meaning is "cock" in most Spanish dialects, and as a Latin word, in other Romance languages such as Italian. In Venezuela and Mexico the word is used quite commonly. In the former country it can be used as a generic stand in for an object that is being referred to, but also as an exclamation or to openly brag about one's own ability or proficiency at something, ¡Soy bien verga! (lit.: "I'm very dick") and ¡Soy la verga andando! (lit.: "I'm the walking dick!") mean "I'm very good [at this/something]!" and "I'm the best there is!" respectively. A common expression in Mexico is ¡Vete a la verga!, meaning "Get the fuck out of here!". In Mexico can be used as bad or ugly ¡Está de la verga!, "This is ugly!", or ¡Sabe a verga!, "This tastes bad!". In Guatemala, it also refers to a state of drunkenness as in ¡Está bien a verga!, meaning "He's really drunk!". It can also be used to express greatness as in ¡Se ve bien vergón!, which means "It looks great!". In Honduras it is used in the expression no vale la verga, meaning "no good".
  • Pinga or less commonly pingo is literally "penis" in a vulgar way (i.e. "cock" or "dick"). Considered crude in most regions, although its male variant (pingo) may also be a word describing a horse, for example in Argentina. However, in Mexico it is also used as a term of endearment for a devilish but likable character in the manner of a Puck, Huckleberry Finn, or Dennis the Menace. The equivalent word in other regions for such people is travieso/traviesa (which in turn means "transvestic" in Argentina). In Mexico, Central America and other parts of South America, verga is commonly used, also, to say "¡La verga!" could mean "Fuck!" or "No way!" (the second in a sense of "I can't believe it"). Pija is also very common in Argentina and Uruguay (the adjective pijudo describes a man who has a big pija.)
  • Carajo means "cock" in Spain, although it might also mean a small cup of coffee, or the crow's nest, the topmost part of the mast of a ship. In Latin America, carajo is a very common interjection that can be translated to "fuck!" or "shit!", as Nos vamos a morir, ¡carajo! ("We're gonna die, fuck!") or a far away place, likened to hell: ¡Vete al carajo!. The diminutive, carajito, is used in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to refer to (usually annoying) children, or to scold a person for acting immaturely, e.g. No actúes como un carajito ("Don't act like a brat!"). Caray is an inoffensive minced oath for this word. Ay caray could be translated "Dang it" or "Darn it!" The word caracho is also used in the non-offensive way like caray. The connotation of "far away place" is reportedly based on the name of the Cargados Carajos, which belong to Mauritius. Unofficial odes to Cuba, Ecuador, and Peru are common utterances in those countries: ¡Viva Cuba, carajo!, ¡Viva el Ecuador, carajo!, and ¡Viva el Perú, carajo! It is said that the term carajo originated during the period when the Moors were in Spain, and applied to a physical description of a Muslim inhabitant as having a (Spanish: cara de ajo, "garlic-face" or "garlic-shaped face") and later contracted to carajo.

Differences in regional Spanish can sometimes produce awkward situations in communication between two Spanish speakers of different countries, but such differences are usually known internationally and taken humorously, although some can cause awkward confusions. The word culantro refers to an aromatic herb used in cooking, but in Puerto Rico it also means ass. Also, the phrase esa señora tiene muy buena cuchara translates literally as "that lady has a very good spoon" and means "that lady cooks very well", referring to the use of a cuchara/spoon while cooking. However, in Guatemala, the word cuchara is used as a synonym of "vagina", which can lead to a very unpleasant situation.

[edit] Verbs denoting scatological acts

[edit] Cagar

Cagar means to do caca. It also means to screw (something) up, e.g. ¡te cagaste los pantalones! ("You screwed your pants up!"). Particularly in Spain, there are a number of commonly-used interjections incorporating this verb, many of which refer to shitting on something sacred, e.g. Me cago en Dios ("I shit on God"), Me cago en la Virgen ("I shit on the Virgin"), Me cago en la hostia ("I shit on the Host"), Me cago en tu madre (lit.: "I shit on your mother"), Cágate en tu madre (lit.: the command "Shit on your mother"), ¡Me cago en la leche! (lit.: "I shit in the milk!"). In Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico and Argentina it also means to make a big mistake la cagaste (lit.: "you shat on it"). In Mexico City it may be used to indicate 'good luck': te cagaste (lit.: "You shat yourself"). In the latter country, it can also mean "you fucked" or "scolded" somebody: te cagaste a ese cabrón.

[edit] Mierda

Mierda is a term which signifies excrement; the connotations are approximately the same as those of "shit". Terms such as Vete a la mierda (literally: "Go to (the) shit"), however, means to go to hell. Caca is a less offensive term often used by children, and is loosely comparable to the English "poop", which is not used as a swear word in all countries. Also, the phrases come mierda and come caca literally translate to "eat shit" in Puerto Rico and Mexico, and often are used as an insult. In Cuba, comemierda may also mean a clueless idiot, someone out of touch with his or her surroundings. In Puerto Rico, a comemierda is a snobbish, stuck-up person. In Peru, irse a la mierda or estar hecho mierda can also mean being extremely drunk.

It is also used to describe unpleasant or negative things, such as tiempo de mierda ("shitty weather") or auto de mierda ("piece-of-shit car", "lemon"). A less common use is as a translation of the British profanity "bugger". The euphemisms miércoles (Wednesday) and eme (the letter m) are sometimes used as minced oaths.

[edit] Gilipollas

Whenever looking for a word denoting low intelligence, most Spanish natives have three options:

  • using a merely descriptive term, or one which, although insulting, can be used as a mild or at times even affectionate form of teasing: tonto ("silly"), burro (lit.: "donkey"), etc.
  • using a more explicitly insulting expression, although one which still does not qualify as a real profanity: imbécil, idiota, estúpido.
  • one which delves into profanity. Gilipollas and capullo would correspond to such case.

Gilipollas is a term used mostly in Spain and lacking an exact translation to English. Although the most frequent equivalents when translated in books, films other media are "jerk", "jackass", "douchebag" or "asshole" (in English), con (in French) and boludo (in Argentinian Spanish) or pendejo (in Latin American Spanish, see below), there sometimes is a subtlety missing therein which is seldom captured in languages other than European Spanish -- to wit, the word may imply self-aware idiocy or incompetence, with this self-awareness occasionally stressed to the point of (presumably futile) complacence. Nevertheless, this is not always the case and the common ground for every accepted meaning of the word is limited to either one of the following:

  • any combination, however unequal, of obnoxiousness and stupidity;
  • stupidity alone, in which case there will always be a degree of animosity, whether faked or real, from whoever uses the word.

The etymology of the word itself immediately confirms its genuinely Peninsular Spanish origins and preponderance, as opposed to other profanities perhaps more linked to Latin America: it is the combination of the Caló jili, usually translated as "candid", "silly" or "idiot", and a word which according to different sources is either polla (listed below) or a colloquial evolution thereto of the Latin pulla (bladder).

Perhaps due to the alternative origins of the latter part of the word, there has been some controversy concerning its status as a real profanity, although its clear phonetic evocation of the word polla leaves little room for doubt, at least in its common daily use. It is due to this that attempts at an euphemism have at times become popular, as is the case with gilipuertas (puerta standing for door). In relatively recent times, further rough equivalents have appeared, especially in Spain, although most of them (such as soplapollas, "cock sucker") delve much further into plain profanity. A cognate in Catalan is gilipolles.

A usual derivation of the word gilipollas into an adjective form (or a false adjectival participle) is agilipollado/agilipollada; hence, (...) está agilipollado/a would mean "(...) is behaving like, or has become, at least temporarily, a gilipollas"; regardless of whether or not such condition or irreversible, the verb estar is always used, as opposed to ser. Gilipollat/da would be the Catalan cognate. Another Spanish construction with similar rationale is atontado, linked to tonto, "silly".

A derivation of the word is its noun form gilipollez, standing for "stupidity" or "bullshit".

[edit] Capullo

A near-synonym is capullo, literally slang for the glans penis (and primarily the Spanish translation of both "cocoon" and "flower bud") though its use in ad hominem references is nearly always interchangeable with that of gilipollas.

The main difference between the two of them is that while a gilipollas normally behaves like he does out of sheer stupidity, a capullo normally acts like one by applying certain amount of evil intentions to his acts. While one can act like a gilipollas without being one, in the capullo instance that is not possible. In English to be means at the same time both the permanent/ fundamental characteristics and the non permanent/ circumstantial ones of anything, in Spanish to be separates into two distinct verbs: ser and estar which respectively reflect the aforementioned characteristics. So, to say about anyone that es un gilipollas means that he is stupid/ annoying permanently, while to say está agilipollado reflects both his present state and the fact that it could change at any time to a non agilipollado one. This is not true for a capullo: if someone thinks about someone else that he is a capullo, he thinks so permanently, because the degree of evil he sees in the capullo's actions tends to be thought of as a permanent characteristic, inherent to the capullo's personality. So the correspondent verb ser would be used: es un capullo, and the estar verb would never be used.

Whenever used as an affectionate or heavily informal form of teasing rather than as an insult, though, capullo is used a bit more often. This may be due to the fact that someone who does not have an intention to offend will resort to a lower amount of syllables, hence rendering the expression less coarse and ill-sounding. Therefore, expressions such as venga va, no seas ___ ("come on, don't be silly") will use capullo more frequently than gilipollas.

[edit] Maricón

Maricón (lit.: "big Mary/María") and its derivative words marica and marico are words used for referring to someone as a gay man, or for criticizing someone for doing something that, according to stereotypes, only a gay person would do. It comes from Marica, a diminutive form of the very common female name María ("Mary"). In Spain and Cuba the word has a stronger meaning with a very negative emphasis; akin to "faggot" or "poof" in the English language. In southern Spain the term maricona refers to a male gay queen; which is often used humorously. However, maricona is exclusively used to refer to a lesbian in the Dominican Republic. In Argentina, Chile, and Mexico, maricón or marica is especially used to denote a "chicken" (coward), and it is not considered an expletive. In Chile, maricón also means something like "sadistic for no reason". Some examples of the uses of this word are:

  • Eres una marica. ("You are a faggot")
  • Mano, eres tremendamente maricón. ("Dude, you're really gay!"; note that maricón is actually used as an adjective here)
  • Yo sí soy maricón, ¿y qué? ("I am gay, so what?")
  • No seas maricón. ("Don't chicken out", "Don't be a pussy", "Don't be an asshole")
  • ¡Qué maricón de mierda, ¿eh?! ("What a fucking faggot, huuh?!")
  • Devuelve la mamadera al bebé, que lo haces llorar. ¡No seas maricón! ("Give back the feeding bottle to the baby, because you make him cry. Don't be a sadistic!")

One important exception is Colombia,[citation needed] where marica is used as a slang term of affection or as a general exclamation ("ay, marica!" being equivalent to "oh, man!" or "dude!" in U.S. English).[citation needed] This often causes confusion or unintended offense among Spanish-speaking first-time visitors to Colombia. Maricón, however, remains an insulting and profane term for homosexuals in Colombia as well.

Other synonyms are: julai, julandrón, mariquita, afeminado, invertido (official noun under Spanish Francisco Franco dictatorship), mariposa, mariposón, plumón, sarasa, desviado, bámbaro (south of Colombia) bujarra, bujarrón, bugarrón (Puerto Rico), cabro, hueco ("hollow"), pato ("duck") (Puerto Rico, Panama), trucha ("trout"), joto, puñal, trolo (Argentina), pargo, parcha, parchita, plon, Homogay, homo, loca ("crazy woman") (Cuba, Puerto Rico), raro ("weird"), rarito, roscón, mariconsón, puto, tortillero, tragasable, tragaleche ("milk-drinker"), chivo, cabro, rosquete, mamaverga ("cock-sucker"), muerdealmohadas ("pillow-biter") (Peru), comilón, cundango (Dominican Republic, Cuba), pájaro ("little bird") (Dominican Republic, Cuba), cueco (Panama), colizón, hueco, fleto, maraco, cola (Chile), playo ("flat") (Costa Rica), culero (Honduras, El Salvador), cochón (Nicaragua). In Cuba, cundango refers specifically to a male sex partner ("Tommy has been Robert's cundango for years").

Probably the strongest profanity referring to a homosexual male is puto; literally male prostitute. It is highly offensive, but is sometimes used by members of the gay community to refer to themselves (to create a comical effect). This corresponds to the use of "bitch" between English-speaking lesbians or gays and in the prison population. Puto can also be used as a masculine equivalent to the term puta, lit.: "prostitute/whore", with the closest translation (as far as understanding the meaning or impact of the word) being "bitch". In Puerto Rico puto or palgo may represent a womanizer.

Spanish being a grammatically gendered language, switching the gender of adjectives and/or pronouns when referring to someone of either sex can imply homosexuality, much as in English one might refer to a flamboyantly gay man as her. Some words referring to a male homosexual end in an "a" but have the male article "el", a deliberate violation of Spanish grammar for a paradoxical effect.

A derivative of maricón is mariquita which literally is "little faggot". It means "pussy" in the sense that someone is a wimp or sissy. This expression is known to be used in Spain. It can be used in a sentence like ¡Eres una mariquita!, meaning "You're a pussy!" It also means Ladybird.

[edit] Paja