Table Of Content

7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page i dictionary of SSPPAANNIISSHH SSLLAANNGG and colloquial expressions 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page ii 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page iii dictionary of SSPPAANNIISSHH SSLLAANNGG and colloquial expressions SECONDEDITION MichaelMahler,M.A.,M.A.T. 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page iv © Copyrights 2008, 2000 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. All inquiries should be addressed to: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. 250 Wireless Boulevard Hauppauge, NY 11788 www.barronseduc.com ISBN-13: 978-0-7641-3929-1 ISBN-10: 0-7641-3929-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2008931688 Printed in China 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page v CCCooonnnttteeennntttsss Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii What Is Slang? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii What Kind of Slang Do You Have Here?. . . . . . . . . vii Where Did We Get All These Words and Expressions?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii How Is the Information Organized? . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Preface to the Second Edition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Dictionary of Spanish Slang and Colloquial Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS As in the original enterprise, I was fortunate to have the assistance of many. I am most indebted to my Colombian friend Jose Florez, whose research and contributions have been invaluable; to Mariángela and Peter Litwin for reading the entries and making suggestions; to Salvador Herrán for suggestions on Mexican slang, particularly soccer; to Yvette Cruz, for suggestions on Cuban expressions; to Pepe Gomez Trabadela and Candido Gomez Benitez for help with slang from Spain, and to Cesar Herrera for help with some mili- tary terms. I am equally indebted to Diana Collins who did the final corrections and insertions to the manuscript. And finally, as in the first edition, to my wife Soledad for her patience and support. The Author vi 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page vii PREFACE What Is Slang? In the preface of Dictionary of American Slang, Second Supplemented Edition,Stuart Berg Flexner says that Ameri- can slang, “...is the body of words and expressions fre- quently used by or intelligible to a rather large portion of the American public, but not accepted as good, formal usage by the majority.” He adds that, “American slang tries for a quick, easy, personal mode of speech. It comes mostly from cant, jargon, and argot words....” Most of us know what slang is and we recognize where, when, and how we can use it. We know the formal or “correct” word for things, we know some of the alternative words for them, and most of us even know the taboo words that we usually don’t employ in mixed company. When in doubt, we consult a dictionary. Flexner says, “Slang is best defined by a dictionary that points out who uses slang and what ‘flavor’it conveys.” This dictionary has many flavors. What Kind of Slang Do You Have Here? North Americans tend to think of Spanish as being divided into many dialects, even though it is the official language of 21 countries and the second language of the United States. In the preparation of this dictionary, correspondents and informants from all the countries where Spanish is spo- ken were asked to list terms and expressions that were uniquely native to their lands. As expected, the majority of terms listed were shared with other Spanish-speaking countries and many had their origin in Spain. Spanish is a rich paella of a language, seasoned with the flavors and spices of slangs from all the countries that speak it. That is what Dictionary of Spanish Slang provides: an alphabetically arranged collection of national and supranational slang terms and colloquial expressions. Why a dictionary of Spanish slang or any slang for that matter? The writer, the artist, the dramatist, the cinematog- vii 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page viii PREFACE rapher and anyone who strives for reality in human commu- nication will use slang because slang is what we all use. Slang is everywhere, in books, magazines, film, video, at home, in school, in the courtroom, even in church. There- fore, a dictionary of Spanish slang will be useful to the learner who wishes to more thoroughly understand the language used in daily life. Where Did We Get All These Words and Expressions? Over the thirty years that I have been a student of Spanish (and English) I have been jotting down words. As an inter- preter and translator I have been looking up words and expressions as part of my work. My sources have been students, housewives, businessmen, murderers, drug addicts, drug pushers, artists, bankers, accountants, colleagues, teachers, professors, interpreters, and translators. Spanish-language media is a rich source of material. Spanish-language films readily available in the U.S. thanks to many video outlets are another source. The internet is a cornucopia of information for the lexicographer. One can connect to www.mundohispano.netand from there to all the major Spanish-language periodicals. Through the internet came the most recent entries in the Dictionary, “Emilio”and “Ismael,”both being used for the ubiquitous “E-mail.” Interest in slang in general increased with the publication of the Dictionary of American Slang mentioned earlier. In Spain, Camilo José Cela became a “slangologist” when he published his Diccionario Secreto.Victor León advanced our knowledge of peninsular Spanish slang in 1980 with the publication of his landmark Diccionario del Argot Español (Alianza Editorial, Madrid). Other works consulted in the preparation of this work are Diccionario de Voces Colo- quiales de Puerto Ricoby Gabriel Vicente Maura (Editorial Zemi, 1984) and Diccionario del Argot y Jerga Limeño o Jerga Criolla del Perúby Guillermo E. Bendezú Neyra (Edi- tora e Importadora Lima). No investigator of Mexican slang can avoid the rich reference provided in Picardía Mexicana viii 7_3929_DOSpanSlang_FM 7/19/08 8:54 AM Page ix PREFACE by A. Jimenez (Editores Mexicanos Unidos), Bernard H. Hamel’s Bilingual Dictionary of Mexican Spanish(Bilingual Book Press, 1996),andThe Dictionary of Chicano Spanish by Roberto A. Galván and Richard V. Teschner (National Textbook Company, 1989). How Is the Information Organized? Our information is organized in the following way: 1.THE SPANISH WORD OR IDIOM IS LISTED IN CAPS AND BOLD. 2. The region, part of speech, tone, and category are listed in lower-case italics. 3. A definition is given in standard English, followed when possible by one or more English slang equiva- lents. 4. A Spanish-language example follows. The entry word or phrase appears in lowercase italics. 5. “An English-language translation of the Spanish example, set off with quotation marks, appears at the end.” English slang is used when possible. These translations are quite liberal. Rather than attempt- ing to match metaphor for metaphor we have opted to convey the meaning using metaphors that would be more understandable to American English readers. For example, the Spanish “Es más campo que las amapolas” (lit. He is more country than the poppies) is translated as “He’s more country than the Grand Ole Opry,” since the Spanish allu- sion to the poppy flower would not convey the same feeling of country as the image of the Grand Ole Opry conveys in English. Verbsare presented in the infinitive form. DESCOJONARSE, Spain, prnl. v. To break up laughing. Nos descojonamos viendo las películas antiguas de Cantin- flas. “We cracked up laughing, watching the old Cantinflas movies.” ix

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Travelers with intermediate-level knowledge of Spanish, and students of Spanish language on intermediate or advanced levels will value this book as a key to getting past the slang barrier and grasping Spanish and its idioms as people of different regions and social classes actually speak it. Close t