Puerto Rico uses the US dollar, but they use all the money terminology from Spain. For example the words peseta and chavos. This video includes 20 Puerto Rico money, business and finance words, pronounced by a native speaker.
The List of Puerto Rican Spanish Slang Expressions About Money: 19 Words and Phrases
1. a dos por chavo: extremely cheap, a good bargain. Not worth much, poorly made. Common, easy to get a hold of.
2. arrancao (arrancado): broke financially.
3. biles: bills.
4. chavito prieto: a penny. Other names are: perra or perrita.
5. chavitos: pennies. Other words are: perras or perritas.
6. cheque de goma: rubber check, bounced check.
7. coger fiao: to take something without immediately paying, but paying later.
8. embrollao: mixed up in (debt or problems).
9. estar forrao de chavos: to have a lot of money.
10. irse como pan caliente: to sell (out) something quickly.
11. le sacaron el dinero con alicate: means that someone is extremely stingy or tight with money.
12. no tienen en qué caerse muerto: broke, bankrupt, insolvent..
13. se le va a caer el kiosko: something (a business, an agreement, etc.) is going to fall apart from lack of support or focus.
14. estar pelao: financially broke.
15. peseta: a 25-cent coin, a quarter.
16. peso: refers to a US dollar, the official currency. Peso is used interchangeably with dólar.
17. serrucho: everyone chips in to buy something.
18. estar en tiempo muerto: down time, period of little work.
19. vellón: term used for a nickel or dime (ficha in Ponce).
More Spanish words for Money
All these money terms from Puerto Rico and some of the illustrations are included in the books Speaking Boricua and Speaking Phrases Boricua. If you want to learn more money slang terms, check out the Argentina money slang video and the article The Most Complete List of Spanish Slang Words for MONEY where we featured 46 money terms from Latin America.
Check out these other Puerto Rican Spanish Slang Expressions articles.
