Here is the third post in our series Phrases That Aren’t Taught In School. The first two for Puerto Rico and Argentina have already caused a furor. If you are interested in contributing to other posts in the series, send me a note to [email protected]/.
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Dirty, vulgar and swear words
There’s always so much controversy drummed up from naughty words in a language. Teachers avoid explaining them to their students and there’s a tension created since for students they’re the first words they want to know. I remember being 13 years old and asking a German exchange student how to say “I like big boobs.” The phrase to this day still easily rolls off my tongue.
Like it or not (and I’ve said this before), if you go in-country YOU WILL HEAR THESE PHRASES, even if you are disgusted by them. They are ingrained into the daily speech of Chileans. Given that, you should learn them. There’s no need for you to ever repeat them if you are not comfortable with the phrases. But at least you’ll understand what others are trying to express.
Here’s an English equivalent of what you would be missing by ignoring these phrases. Just think of the difference in meaning among I’m angry, I’m pissed off, and I want to fucking wring your neck and rip it off. To ignore or not understand the last two phrases completely misses the emotion that the speaker is feeling at that moment.
10 vulgar Spanish slang words and phrases from Chile that aren’t taught in school, but you need to know
Scroll down to read the text version of this infographic.
1. Agarrar para el hueveo
To screw with, tease, fuck around with, yank someone’s chain
2. Ándate a la chucha
Fuck off, go piss off, fuck you
3. Ahuevonado
Completely clueless, idiotic, stupid, dumbass
4. Conchetumadre
A mother fucker, a son of a bitch or surprise expression like “holy shit!” or “motherfucker!”
5. Huevón culiado
A fucking shithead, a motherfucking son-of-a-bitch
6. Quedar pá la cagá
Destroyed, a fucking mess, referring to a situation or a person’s emotional state
7. ¡Puta!
“Shit!” or “Motherfucker!”
8. Ni cagando or Ni ca’
No fucking way
9. La cagó
The shit, awesome, sweet or the opposite, fucked-up, made a fucking mess of it
10.¡Viva Chile, mierda!
“Long live Chile, goddammit!”
If you want to learn more local language from Chile, search the Speaking Latino free slang database or check out my book Speaking Chileno: A Guide to Spanish from Chile.
Check out these other Chile Spanish Slang Word articles.
