Friends & family

Un tío/Una tía (*) Lit. An uncle/aunt, but you'll hear these words a lot, particularly amongst young people, to refer to birds/blokes. Used on its own, it refers to a mate. Hola tío, ¿qué tal? Hello mate, how's things? El/La colega, El/La colegui (*) Lit. Colleague. Mate, pal. ¿Qué pasa, colega? (*) What's up, mate? El/La tronco (*) Mate, pal. Less frequent but more streetwise. Lit. a tree trunk. Tranqui tronco (*) Chill out, mate! La basca/la peña (*) The folk, the gang, the posse. A group of friends or people in general. Vinieron Ángel y toda la basca (*) Ángel came along with the whole gang. Ayer había mucha peña en el bar (*) There were a load of people in the bar yesterday. El pariente/La parienta (*) Lit. The relative. The old man/The missus. Mi pareja Lit. My partner. Applies to both members of an unmarried couple. Es/son buena gente (*) Lit. He/She's/They're good people. He/She's/They're good trustworthy. Es un poco coñazo (**) pero buena gente (*) He's a bit of a pain but a good guy. Legal (*) Lit. Legal, but applied to people it means you can really trust them. Es un tío legal (*) Lit. He's a legal uncle. He's a good bloke. Al final se portó como una tía legal (*) Lit. In the end she behaved like a top sport. Ser un cachondo/una cachonda (mental) (*) Applies to people with a good sense of fun. No paramos de reír en toda la tarde, es que es un cachondo mental... (*) We did not stop laughing the whole evening, he is bonkers ... Warning - don't confuse with estar cachondo/cachonda (***) which means "to be on heat/horny"!

Girls & boys

Una tía, un tío (*) Lit. An aunt, an uncle. These are the generic slang terms for girl/woman and boy/man. Used without un/una, it refers to a mate. Me lo dio esa tía de ahí (*) That bird over there gave it to me. ¿Qué tal, tío? ¿Cómo andamos? (*) What's up, mate? How are you? Una tía buena, un tío bueno (*) Lit. A good aunt, a good uncle. Slang for a fit girl or boy - drop un/una to use it as an exclamation. Estar bueno/a (*) To be fit (gorgeous). Not to be confused with ser bueno/a, to be good. ¡Hay que ver lo buenísimo que está Enrique!(*) Enrique is really fit! Estar potable (*) Potable means drinkable, but used with estar this means to be fit (gorgeous). Not to be confused with ser potable, to be drinkable. Un chorbo, una chorba (*) Although it can mean fit (attractive), it is specifically used to refer to somebody's boyfriend/girlfriend. Esa tipa es la chorba de Jorge (*) That chick is Jorge's bird. Éste es el chorbo de Marta (*) This is Marta's bloke. Una piba, un pibe (*) A young girl, boy - especially used amongst younger people. The term is in general use in Argentina and Uruguay, where it originated before crossing the Atlantic to become a cool word in Spain.

Ir/Salir de marcha (*) Lit. To go out on a martial parade. To go out and party and have a good time. Other words you can use in its place include juerga, movida, farra (*). ¡Menuda marcha hay en Ibiza! (*) There's some night life in Ibiza! El fin de semana me voy de juerga a Madrid (*) This weekend I'm going out partying in Madrid. Pasarlo bomba/en grande (*) To have a great time. Lo pasaron en grande con Anita (*) They had a ball with Anita. Un chiringo/chiringuito (*) Although it literally means a beach stall selling drinks and tapas, it also refers to most drinking bars/pubs. Ir de chiringos is a common expression that means to go out drinking. Un garito (*) Una garita is a sentry box, but this slang masculine version refers to any drinking venue. Esta es la zona de garitos (*) This is the bar area. El/La de la vergüenza (*) This is the name given to the last bit of food left in a shared platter. Literally, it means "the one that brings shame" because everybody feels a bit guilty about taking it. ¿Alguien quiere la de la vergüenza? (*) Anyone want the last one? No, cómetela tú. No, you can have it. La Dolorosa (*) is Our Lady of Sorrows. It literally means "the painful one" and is used to refer to the restaurant bill in a sarcastic way. Pide la dolorosa, veremos cuánto nos clavan (*) Ask for the bill, let's see how much they rip us off for.

GOING OUT

Ir/Salir de marcha (*) Lit. To go out on a martial parade. To go out and party and have a good time. Other words you can use in its place include juerga, movida, farra (*). ¡Menuda marcha hay en Ibiza! (*) There's some night life in Ibiza! El fin de semana me voy de juerga a Madrid (*) This weekend I'm going out partying in Madrid. Pasarlo bomba/en grande (*) To have a great time. Lo pasaron en grande con Anita (*) They had a ball with Anita. Un chiringo/chiringuito (*) Although it literally means a beach stall selling drinks and tapas, it also refers to most drinking bars/pubs. Ir de chiringos is a common expression that means to go out drinking. Un garito (*) Una garita is a sentry box, but this slang masculine version refers to any drinking venue. Esta es la zona de garitos (*) This is the bar area. El/La de la vergüenza (*) This is the name given to the last bit of food left in a shared platter. Literally, it means "the one that brings shame" because everybody feels a bit guilty about taking it. ¿Alguien quiere la de la vergüenza? (*) Anyone want the last one? No, cómetela tú. No, you can have it. La Dolorosa (*) is Our Lady of Sorrows. It literally means "the painful one" and is used to refer to the restaurant bill in a sarcastic way. Pide la dolorosa, veremos cuánto nos clavan (*) Ask for the bill, let's see how much they rip us off for.

GOOD & BAD

Good

Una gozada (*) This noun applies to anything that's a very pleasant experience. Es una gozada verle jugar (*) It's really great to see him play. Guay (*) Cool. This is a catch-all adjective to describe anything that's cool. ¡Mira qué zapatos más guays! (*) Look! Such cool shoes Guay del Paraguay (*) Lit. Cool from Paraguay. As cool as it gets - a silly rhyme that reinforces the idea of cool. El móvil que se compró está guay del Paraguay (*) The mobile he bought is really, really cool. Alucinar (*) Lit. To hallucinate or make hallucinate. To trip. It assumes the object you're praising has had such an impact it is comparable to an hallucinogenic drug. Se compró un coche de alucina (*) Lit. He bought a car that makes you trip. He bought an incredible car.

Bad

¡Mierda! (**) Shit! As in so many other languages, when something goes wrong there's an immediate cry announcing excrement. ¡Mierda, he vuelto a perder las llaves! (*) Shit, I've lost the keys again ...de mierda (**) Lit. ...of shit. From that follows that whatever's gone wrong is made of excrement. ¿Dónde están las llaves de mierda? (*) Lit. Where are the keys of shit? Where are the damn keys? Una mierda (**) Lit. A piece of shit. In Spanish you actually quantify it. No me acuerdo porque tengo una memoria de mierda (*) I can't remember because my memory's rubbish. Chungo/a (*) Dodgy. Es una tía un poco chunga (*) She's a bit of a dodgy bird. Hortero/a (*) Naff and corny. You may also hear hortera, ending in -a, even when talking in the masculine. Also: una horterada, something as naff and camp as "knickers". No te pongas esa chaqueta tan hortera (*) Don't wear that naff jacket.

HEALTH

Poor health

Estar pachucho (*) Lit. To be overripe. To be poorly. Estar hecho polvo (*) Lit. To have turned into dust. To be knackered/poorly. Warning - don't confuse with echar un polvo (***), literally to throw a piece of dust, which means to have sexual intercourse. Estar achacoso (*) To suffer ailments of old age but it can also be used in a more general sense to indicate you're not feeling your best. Está muy achacoso con sólo 25 años (*) He has so many aches and pains and he's just 25. El/La matasanos (*) Lit. The one who kills the healthy. A derogative or humorous way to refer to a doctor. Son las pastillas que me recetó el matasanos (*) They're the pills the doctor prescribed me.