What are common slang words used in spanish?
In english we have a lot of slang words and i was wondering if in spanish they have a lot also.
7 Answers
In english we have a lot of slang words and i was wondering if in spanish they have a lot also.
No, English is the only language among over 6000 that has slang. The rest of us speak like walking dictionaries, using the precise dictionary entry every time.
Jokes apart, slang is very difficult to quantify, because it has too many regional variations and it changes too quickly for any dictionary to keep track of them. I can tell you that Spanish has easily over 30 different standard ways of saying drunk, and God knows how many if you check in all Spanish speaking countries. Dirty words like penis and the female counterpart can also have over 25 terms shared by most speakers, and countless ones if you consider all countries. Not long ago, a serious dictionary of insults was published in Spain, with etymological and historical explanations, and the total number of insults outnumbered the average vocabulary of a normal person in any country... but just with insults, and this dictionary does not cover the entire spectrum of the Spanish speaking world, and countries like Mexico are full of slang. This book alone, has about 200 ways of saying prostitute -try to beat that!
Bottom line: it could take you half a lifetime to learn all the Spanish slang.
Here's one: Tío
"Hola, tío."
"Tío" means "uncle," literally, but in Spain it is used in greetings, to mean "buddy," as in "Hey, buddy." Some think it's more like "dude."
It can also if you are recounting a story to mean "this guy," as in "this guy comes up to me in the street..." You hear it all of the time.
Here's another one I thought was funny: estar flipando.
It means to be flipping out.
I really mean both words and expressions... like what are spanish curse words?
¡Guácala! - Yuck!
Yes. Probably as much as English. Why wouldn't they?
Words or expresions?
