In Dominican Spanish the word vaina means something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known or you’re just too lazy to say the specific word. The English equivalent would be “thingy”, “thingamajig” or “whatchamacallit.”
In some contexts I could imply something that’s crappy or low quality.
But when we are talking about the DR, you are talking about Dominican Spanish. This version of Spanish is not only spoken in the Dominican Republic but also among the Dominican communities in the U.S. – you’ll find larger groups on the east coast mostly in New York City, New Jersey, Boston, Philadelphia, and Miami.
What does vaina mean in English?
In English, you may hear: thing, stuff, thingamajig, whoosie whatsit, thingamabob, doodad, doohickey, doojigger, gizmo, whatchamacallit…
In Spanish, vaina is either a neutral word or kind of a negative word so watch who you say it to.
And it’s pronounced as “vy-nuh.”
Why Do Dominicans Say “Vaina”?
If you find yourself asking what is a vaina it’s likely you forgot the specific word or are just using it as a filler word.
Como se llama esa vaina would be a typical phrase to hear, meaning “what’s that thingy called”…like it’s on the tip of your tongue.
Time to jump to science, no matter what language you happen to be speaking, let’s say you forgot the word of that…THING.
This is a really common language phemonon. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’re dumb as a rock. It’s believed that our human brain has activated the meaning of the word, but not the sound; so we just skip the phonological part. [Also affectionately referred to as a brain fart.] You have the idea in your head, you know the word, but your brain just cannot produce the corresponding word sound to come out of your mouth.
We usually then snap our fingers or move our hand in a circular motion hoping to get our brain to remember the word faster. Does it help? Science says no, it’s just a way for us to physically show our aggitation of not being able to make the sound we want.
“It’s the *snap* snap* thing, with the stuff that does the…you know.”
OR maybe you’re just being lazy with nouns.
For example:
Esa vaina es fea – that thing is ugly.
Esa vaina no funciona – that sh!t doesn’t work.
So you either don’t know, you’re filling the silence or you’re “noun lazy”, either way, “vaina” is the most useful.
Just look for it in the recently released ‘Diccionario del Español Dominicano’ and you will see a whole block of definitions. The word “vaina” in the Dominican Republic can have a broad spectrum of meanings, from positives to negatives.
“Vaina” can be used to name something that you don’t know (thing) or as part of many colloquial or slang expressions.
The other day I had the opportunity to chat with two Spanish teachers from the Dominican Republic and I asked them about the word “vaina”. In my opinion, the word vaina is so common among the Dominican community, that I consider it part of their identity. But to my surprise, these teachers had a different opinion.
“After living abroad, I realized that the vocabulary (in the Dominican Republic) is very, very poor and everything that we don’t know the name of is simply ‘una vaina’,”, one teacher said laughing.
The other teacher expressed: “Well, I don’t use that word. (The use of the word “vaina”) depends on how educated is the person… That is why, in my case, I don’t use it because I think it looks bad. If an object has a name, why do I have to use that word? I have to call it by its name, right? I try to avoid it.”
Where Did “Vaina” Come From?
Before going to the Dominican meanings of “vaina”, let us clarify what it really is. According to the dictionary, vaina is a scabbard or sheath for holding a sword, knife or large blade – this dates back to Roman times. Vaina is also the seed-pod in plants or the husk or shell in nuts. This is one of those words that has had a semantic change. Basically, this word used to mean _______, now it means _______. For example, in English, awful used to mean awe-inspiring, now it means extreamly bad. Lewd used to mean dumb and now it means someone who is sexually crude (probably also dumb).
What is Vaina in Dominican Republic slang
If we look for the word “vaina” in dictionaries specialized in Dominican Spanish, we will get many uses of this word. For example, the ‘Diccionario de Dominicanismos’ by Orlando Inoa gives us the following two meanings:
1. Disappointment, deception (Chasco, engaño)
2. Problem (Problema)
But, the best reference source is the ‘Diccionario del español dominicano’ because it gives us many more definitions:
1. Thing or matter whose name is unknown or one does not want to mention. (Cosa o asunto cuyo nombre es desconocido o no se quiere mencionar.)
2. Subject or business issue. (Asunto o tema de negocio.)
3. Disgruntled, thing or situation that is uncomfortable or unpleasant. (Contrariedad, cosa o situación que resulta molesta o desagradable.)
4. Annoying, jerk, problematic person. (Persona molesta, fastidiosa, problemática.)
Dominican Spanish phrases with VAINA
This dictionary even gives colloquial Dominican phrases with “vaina”. Check out these examples and their meanings:
1. Dar una vaina: Suffer an ailment whose name is unknown or one does not want to mention. (Sufrir una dolencia cuyo nombre es desconocido o no se quiere mencionar.)
2. dejar esa vaina or dejarse de vaina: To stop bothering someone. (Dejar de molestar a alguien.)
3. de vaina: By chance, unexpectedly. (Por casualidad, de forma inesperada.)
4. echarle la vaina (a alguien): To force someone to do something nasty. (Obligar a alguien a hacer algo desagradable.)
5. echase una vaina: To be in difficulties as a result of their actions or decisions. (Verse en dificultades a consecuencia de sus actos o decisiones)
6. echar vainas: a. Pretend to demonstrate superiority to someone. (Pretender demostrar superioridad o poder ante alguien.) b. To harm someone else. (Perjudicar a alguien ante otra persona.)
7. Juan Vainas: A feeble-minded person who is easily swayed to whatever another person wants them to do. (Hombre apocado que se presta con facilidad a todo cuanto se quiere hacer de él.)
8. privar en vaina: To see oneself superior to others in some respect. (Considerarse superior a los demás en algún aspecto.)
9. tratar de vaina (a alguien): To treat someone with indifference. (Tratar a alguien con indiferencia.)
10. vainero or vainera: An annoying person or someone who mocks others. (Una persona molesta o burlona.)
11. vainoso: A picky or prone to anger person. (Una persona quisquillosa, irascible.)
Awesome VAINA videos
And now comes the real test. In these videos, native Dominican Miguel Ramírez, shows an unbelievable domain of the most important word in the Dominican Republic. In these monologs, he uses the word “vaina” from start to finish. Almost 3 minutes of pura vaina. Amazing!
So, my tip for you is: If you happen to be in the Dominican Republic, try to master the use of the word “vaina” if you wish to speak fluently like a Dominican. Plus, remember to check out our book Quick Guide to Dominican Spanish than includes English explanations of hundreds of words used in the Dominican Republic.
Check out these other articles about Dominican Spanish Words.
