Cool Spanish Words

Question

Having recently completed Pimsleur Latin American Spanish, I've now moved on to Notes in Spanish radio podcasts. I downloaded a 172 of these off the website free of charge (Notes in Spanish). Each lasts about 15 minutes, and they're divided into beginner level (30), intermediate (46), and advanced (96), and try to introduce the learner to some 'cooler' Spanish that you won't necessarily find in many textbooks.

Despite having done 75 hours of Pimsleur, which towards the end they introduced some fairy involved grammar, I've decided to start Notes in Spanish at the very beginning of the beginner level in order to pick up some more European Spanish words (and the European accent). So far I've listened to the first 5, and here are some of the expressions that I've learned (or relearned). Certain might be more typically European Spanish, and for a few of them I already knew alternatives that might be considered more Latin American (I'll put some of the alternatives after in brackets).

• me horroriza * ... I strongly dislike * (works like 'gustar')
• me mola *... I think * is really cool (works like 'gustar') (very colloquial)
• qué rollo... what a drag (very colloquial)
• empollón... swot
• atasco... traffic jam (I already knew 'embotellamiento')
• marcha... night life
• ir de marcha... to go out for the evening / night
• ¿ donde está la marcha ?... where's good to go out at night ?
• ¡ vaya !... oh no !
• máquina... together person
• guay... cool (I already knew chévere) (very colloquial)
• rizado... curly (for hair; I don't think 'rizado' is particularly European, but the word I knew before is 'chino', which I think might be Mexican)
• cero cero siete... pronounced 'thayro thayro siete', means James Bond
• madrugar... to get up early
• dormilón(a).. sleepyhead
• echarse una siesta... to have a siesta

dormilón/dormilona :) - Tosh, Jun 21, 2015

Thanks... :-) - Faldaesque, Jun 21, 2015

Guay, me molan tus palabras jaja sigue así ;) - Neox, Jun 22, 2015

:) - ian-hill, Jun 22, 2015

wow! thanks for sharing all this, Gutsy. - Sassette, Jun 23, 2015

Gracias. :) - rac1, Jun 24, 2015

......... fairy involved grammar, :) that's a new one on me Jon. - ian-hill, Jun 30, 2015

Answer 1

Were youi discussing this fiesta with your teacher [tonight]

Notes in Spanish is great - I think someone started a thread going through them, When you feel more confidant their Gold series is excellent. As you probably realise as you progress their podcasts are all in Spanish.

Yes, that's what we were discussing exactly... ;-) - Faldaesque, Jun 23, 2015

Answer 2

Here are some more of these. I'm making pretty fast progress through the beginner level podcasts on Notes in Spanish, having listened to 11 of these over the last four days (I want to complete all 30 before I go on my holidays in early July). They are very 'listenable', and the native-Spanish speaker is very clear. This had worried me slightly beforehand, since I'm more accustomed to a Latin American accent. One difference that I've noted is the use of the past perfect tense, which I had already read they use more in Spain than in Latin American countries (and the Canary Islands). For example, 'esta mañana he desayunado' in Spain as compared with 'esta mañana desayuné' in Latin America/Canaries (at least that's my understanding of it). I think I'll probably stick with the latter form, because although initially when I began learning it was easier for me to use the past perfect (European) form, which emulates French, and although I found learning the preterite to be a hard slog, nonetheless now that I'm used to it, it feels more natural (and is closer to English). As before, some of these words might be more typically European (or perhaps not)...

• acogedor... cozy
• televisión de pantalla plana... flat screen TV
• un plasma... a plasma TV
• marco... picture frame (I already knew 'cuadro')
• ¡ qué ilusión !... how exciting !
• ilusionado... excited (I already knew 'emocionado')
• hogar, dolce hogar... home, sweet home
• tarta... cake (I already knew 'pastel')
• hacer obras... to carry out works, e.g. road works
• día de relax... day off
• pasar un buen rato... to have a good time
• encender el ordenador... (of course, 'la computadora' is the word in LA, and I already knew both; I gather both are understood in Spain, but 'ordenador' is more common)
• portátil... laptop (the same in both European Spanish and LA)
• vago... lazy (I already knew 'perezoso', but when I used this with my tutor she didn't understand my pronunciation, 'pereSoso' and thought I had said 'soso', meaning 'bland'; in Spain it's 'vago' (pronunced 'Bago') or 'pereTHoso')
• dormir la siesta... to have a siesta (see 'echarse una siesta', above; maybe 'dormir' is used more for describing the past, i.e. 'voy a echarme una siesta / 'ya he dormido la siesta')
• fenomenal... great (I already knew 'magnífico', although I had actually heard 'fenomenal' in Spain a few times; I gather it's very common and often used in an almost meaningless, throwaway kind of manner like when you give a shop assistant the exact money)
• que no veas... like you wouldn't believe, e.g. 'hacía un montón de calor que no veas' = 'it was hot like you wouldn't believe'
• pulpo... octopus
• pilotar... to fly (i.e. what a pilot does; for passenger/bird = 'volar')
• locura... madness (e.g. '¿ que locura has hecho en tu vida ? = 'what crazy things have you done in your life ?')
• no me lo creo... I don't believe it ('no me diga(s)')

Also, two words that I learned from my tutor:

• pillar... to understand / catch on / get the gist of (e.g. 'no me pillo' = 'I don't get it')
• hoguera... bonfire

Answer 3

I'm approaching the end of the beginner level podcasts and still enjoying them. After the first few, they actually became more length than I had anticipated, typically around 25 minutes each, and there's quite a lot of English mixed in with the Spanish. However, I expect in the intermediate level the ratio might shift more towards Spanish.

Some observations:

• This being European Spanish, the usted/es forms of the verb are almost entirely ignored. For example, when they give a verb conjugations, they give only the following forms: yo / tú / el / nostotros / vosotros / ellos. Although, of course, the el/ellos forms are the same as the usted/es forms, the actual words usted/es are omitted. So far the only mention of usted has been in podcast no.24, when usted is mentioned as a footnote in reference to ordering food, and even then they say it's often acceptable to address your waiter using the tú form. There's been no mention of ustedes whatsoever.
• I've noted the vosotros form being used more and more.
• I'm not always sure when a new word is exclusively European, although occasionally a word will stand out, e.g. tiquismiquis, which means 'fusspot', and has to be the strangest Spanish word I've ever encountered so far.

Anyway, here are some more words:

• últimamente... recently / lately
• malo... meaning ill (instead of 'enfermo'), but only when used with 'estar' (means 'wicked' with 'ser')
• especial... awkward / difficult / tricky when describing a person, e.g. mi jefe es bastante especial = my boss is rather difficult
• ir de tapas / tomar tapas... to go out for tapas
• cenar en condiciones... to have a proper sit-down dinner (i.e. not tapas/raciones)
• ración... sharing plate for several people
• judías... green beans
• albóndigas... meatballs
• huevos revueltos... scrambled eggs
• huevos rotos... fry-up with eggs & veg
• oiga... to attract waiter's attention, but old-fashioned & occasionally slightly impolite (maybe like calling 'garçon' to a waiter in France as opposed to 'monsieur'); apparently old people still use it
• ¿ nos puede tomar nota por favor ?... can you take our order please ?
• quédate con la vuelta... keep the change (not from these podcasts, & I'm not entirely sure if it works in Spain)
• está para chuparse los dedos... it's finger-licking good
• tiquismiquis... fusspot
• has dado el clavo... you've hit the nail on the head

Answer 4

Has oído "bullicio"? Significa "mucho ruido".

Bulla too - I think. - ian-hill, Jun 26, 2015

Answer 5

Here are some more. One striking feature about listening to these podcasts on Notes in Spanish is the strong European Spanish preference to 'tutear'. They haven't used 'usted' at all yet, even when introducing phrases to use with people that you don't know in shops and restaurants, whereas the Latin American resources that I used previously much prefer 'usted' over 'tú', even when having lunch with work colleagues. This seems to be an important cultural difference between continents that makes a big difference is how to use the language.

• ir / dar de paseo... to go for a walk (I previously knew 'caminar' / 'ir de caminata')
• sobre todos... above all, especially ('especialmente')
• no me apetece *... I don't feel like *
• tinto de verano... drink made from red wine, lemonade & ice
• caña... small beer (served thus so it doesn't become warm halfway through); I understand the gradation of beer sizes in Spain (from smallest up) is caña / tubo / litro
• un montón de... used in place of 'mucho/a/os/as', e.g. 'hace un montón de calor' = 'it's very hot' (colloquial)
• me pones una cerveza... please give me a beer (I've heard the present indicative is often used instead of the imperative for politeness, and often without 'por favor', whereas native English-speakers might feel the need to add 'por favor', yet it's implied in Spanish)
• qué sean dos... make that two (when ordering drinks, for example)
• tengo pereza para *... I'm very lazy about *
• ¿ cada cuanto (tiempo) ?... how often ?
• a lo mejor... probably
• ¿ a cómo son * ?... how much are * ? (to ask price; '¿ cuanto cuesta(n) ?)
• por un lado / por otro lado... on one hand / on the other hand
• en concreto... in particular
• moverse... to get about
• me estás tomando el pelo... you're pulling my hair / kidding me on (sounds like 'm'estás tomando el pelo')

:) - ian-hill, Jun 22, 2015

Answer 6

These are fab , give it another go so we can either copy or remember.

Answer 7

Ayer terminé el nivel principiante de 'Notes in Spanish' y comencé a escuchar las grabaciones del nivel del medio. Estas son más cortas (10 minutos aproximadamente) pero sólo en español. He hecho cinco y puedo decir que pude entender casi todo el sentido pero no cada palabra. Siento que por la primera vez soy capaz de entender una conversación en español. He hablado con mi profe de español que encontró divertidas mis palabras nuevas pero me dijo que son palabras verdaderas que se dicen es España hoy en día. Desafortunadamente creo que mi capacidad de entender ha mejorado más que mi capacidad de hablar. Aunque yo podía pillar la gran parte de lo que ella me decía, cuando traté de explicar varios cosas, fue mucho más difícil.

Anyway, here are some more words and phrases:

• casi prefiero *... I would rather * (here 'casi' is almost a kind of 'throwaway word', although I've heard it dropped in now & again)
• comisaría... police station (I already knew 'estación de policía')
• poner una denuncia... to report a crime / to give a statement (to the police)
• cartera... a man's wallet (I already knew 'billetera')
• monedero... a woman's purse (British English; I'm actually not sure what Americans call this)
• chorizo... petty thief / pickpocket (&, obviously, 'spicy sausage')
• te toca a ti... it's your turn
• ningún sitio... nowhere (I already knew 'ninguna parte'; I've heard 'sitio' used a lot wheras previously I would have expected 'parte' or 'lugar'; I'm not sure if 'sitio' is more European)
• ¡ qué timo !... what a con !
• pasar de todo... to ignore everyone / to be oblivious to everyone else / to ignore advice
• pasa de todo olímpicamente... he's supremely ignorant (my Spanish teacher laughed out loud at this but confirmed it's an actual expression; it seems to be a kind of set phrase)
• comercio pequeño... traditional small shop (often family-run)
• las tiendas de toda la vida... traditional shops
• chiflar... to like something a lot / to be crazy about something (works like 'gustar' / 'molar')
• no me quedó otro remedio... I had no choice
• no me quedó otra... I had no choice (...'otra opción ¿?)
• juerga... not sure how to translate this, but I think it's what you do as part of 'la marcha'; in British English: 'a night on the town' / 'a night on the tiles'
• mesilla... small side-table, e.g. bedside
• cuñado... brother-in-law
• ático... attic apartment with a rooftop terrace
• cara de sueño... sleepy face (after 'una juerga' puede ser)

These are very insightful. :) - rac1, Jun 30, 2015

Answer 8

• majo... nice, as in a person (simpático)
• está chupado... it's easy / it's a piece of cake
• bronca... trouble / bother
• tener tirón... to be popular / to have caught on
• libro del bolsillo... paperback
• tapa dura... hardback
• ¿ cómo ha quedado el partido ?... how did the match go ? (football/soccer)
• de qué equipo eres ?... which team do you support ?

Answer 9

Un poquito más...

• (me) lo pasé bien... I had a good time (I already knew 'me fue bien')
• (me lo he pasado bien... Means the same as above but is used more immediately afterwards, e.g. on leaving someone's house after a dinner party, at least in European Spanish
• Pásatelo muy bien... I hope you have a good time / I hope it goes well for you (I already knew 'que te vaya bien')
• se dan/intercambian regalos... people exchange gifts
• chuches / chucherías... sweets / sweeties / candy (I already knew 'dulces' and 'caramelos')
• no pasa nada... it's not important ('no me importa')
• pasota... someone who doesn't care / shirker
• filosofía pasota... couldn't-care-less attitude
• ¡ es una pasada !... it's amazing, e.g. ¡ Mardrid por la noche es una pasada ! = Madrid at night is amazing !

Answer 10

A few more...

• tortita... pankcake (I already knew 'panqueque'; incidentally, my Spanish tutor had never heard 'panqueque' as a Spanish word & only the English 'pancake', so maybe 'panqueque' is a purely LA word)
• bricolage... DIY (do-it-yourself)
• carpintería... joinery (carpintero = joiner; pájaro carpintero = woodpecker)
• yo que tú / yo en tu lugar... If I were you (si yo fuera tú)
• tripa... tummy (e.g. tienes un poquito de tripa = you have a little bit of a tummy)
• engordar... to fatter
• X engorda... X is fattening (e.g. el queso engorda = cheese is fattening)
• te engordas... you're getting fat
• en línea... on-line (en internet)
• serán las + hora... it's probably about + time (when you don't know exactly)
• estará + lugar... it's probably + place (when you don't know exactly)
• ¡ qué cara tienes !... what a cheek ! / how cheeky of you !
• ¡ eres una cara dura !... you're so cheeky !
• es que + excusa... It's because + excuse
• intercambio... language exchange partner
• cervecería... brasserie / beer house
• cursi... corny / tacky
• ligar... to fraternise / to liaise
• salir de ligue... to go out on the pull (British English) / to try and date someone (American English)
• ligue... boyfriend / girlfriend (or an affair (masculine noun))