Good health

Estar como un cañón (*) Lit. To be like a canon, i.e. in great health and full of energy. Desde la operación está como un cañón (*) Since the operation he's as good as new. Ser mano de santo (*) Lit. To be a saint's hand. You can use this expression to refer to something that has done you a lot of good. El anís es mano de santo para el estómago (*) Aniseed is a miracle cure for the stomach. Estar vivo/a y coleando To be alive and kicking. In Spanish, instead of kicking, you wag your tail. Sano/a como una manzana (*) Lit. To be as healthy as an apple, i.e. to have very good health.

The human body

El tarro, el coco (*) Lit. The jar, the coconut. Both mean the head. Me duele el tarro (*) I have a headache. Comerse el tarro/el coco (*) Lit. To eat away at the jar/coconut. Figuratively speaking it means worrying thoughts are eating away at your brain. No me comas el tarro con tus historias (*) Don't bug me with your tales. En pelotas/En pelota picada (*) Literally "in balls". Butt naked. Abrió la puerta en pelotas, ¡imagínate! (*) He opened the door butt naked, can you imagine! La jeta (*) Literally, the nose of some animals, but in human slang, the full face. Also used to indicate that someone is cheeky: Y no ha vuelto a pagar, ¡qué jeta tiene! (*) Yet again she hasn't paid, what a cheek! Las patas (*) Lit. Legs of an animal or a thing. However, for comic effect it can refer to a person's legs. Llevo todo el día andando. ¡Tengo las patas rotas! (*) I've been walking around all day. My legs are broken! La panza (*) Lit. An animal's belly. Used to refer to the well-rounded human variety, hence Sancho Panza's name in Don Quixote.

Interjection

They do play an important part in every language. Sometimes whole words are just too much and then interjections come in handy. The good thing about them is that they are very often international and from the intonation you know exactly if you should stay or run. Here is a little list of interjections you should know for getting around.

¡Ah!/¡Ajá! (*) I understand. ¡Anda! (*) Good heavens! Surprise. ¡Noo! (*) No! I don't believe it. Mmm ... (*) I'm thinking. ¡Ojalá! (*) I wish Ojalá haga sol. I wish it would be sunny. Or someone may say 'I hope you win the lottery', and you reply ¡Ojalá! The etymology is quite interesting as it comes from the Arabic law šá lláh, meaning 'If Allah wishes'. ¡Guau! (*) Wow! That's great! ¡Cuidado! / ¡Ojo! (*) Watch out! ¿Qué?/¿Eh? (*) I don't understand. ¡Ay! (*) Ouch! That hurts. ¡Pufff...!/¡Uf! (**) Yuck, yuck (smell). ¡Puag! (**) Yuck, yuck (taste). ¡Caray!/¡Caramba! (*) Blimey!

MONEY

La pasta, la plata (*) Dosh. The literal meaning of pasta is the same as in English (from Italian). Plata is literally "silver" and it's also the generic term for money in Argentina and Uruguay. ¿Te queda pasta? Have you got any dosh left? Costar una pasta (gansa) (*) To cost a lot. Ese Ferrari le debe haber costado una pasta gansa (*) That Ferrari must have cost him some dosh. Pagar un ojo de la cara/un riñón (y la mitad del otro)/un huevo/dos huevos (**) Lit. To spend an eye in your face/a kidney (and half the other), or one, or even two, testicles (eggs). To spend "an arm and a leg". Tuve que pagar un huevo por el viaje (**) I had to pay through the roof for the trip. Clavar (*) To charge excessively, to rip off. Lit. To hammer in - imagine the feeling you get when having to pay over the odds! Me clavaron 10 euros por una botella de agua (*) I had to pay 10 euros for a bottle of water. Una clavada (*) A rip-off. ¿20 euros? ¡Vaya clavada! 20 euros? What a rip-off! Ser (un/a) agarrado/a (*) To be tightfisted. Agarrar means to clutch, so when you're clinging on to money that's what you become. Nunca paga una ronda, es un agarrado (*) He never pays for a round, he is so tightfisted.

MOODS

Embarrassment

Quedarse/estar cortado/a (*) Lit. To be left cut/To be cut. To lose one's nerve/tongue (out of embarrassment). Intenté hablar con ella pero me quedé cortado (*) I tried talking to her, but embarrassment stopped me. Ser un/a cortado/a (*) To be a very shy and embarrassed person. Para esas cosas soy muy cortada (*) I'm very shy about that sort of thing.

Fear

(No) tener cojones/huevos (**) Lit. To (not) have the testicles/eggs. To (not) have the balls. ¿A qué no tienes huevos para decírselo? (**) I bet you don't have the balls to tell him. Acojonarse (**) To get/have your balls in your throat (from fear). El examen de conducir me acojona mogollón (**) The driving test scares me to death. See also: cojones

Happiness

Estar como unas castañuelas (*) Lit. To be like some castanets. To be very happy. María está como unas castañuelas con su nuevo novio (*) María is as happy as a clam with her new boyfriend. Estar loco/a de contento (*) Lit. To be crazy with happiness. Están locos de contento con el bebé (*) They are delighted with the baby.

Sadness

Un bajón (*) Lit. A big drop, for example when travelling on a plane. Figuratively, a downer. Le ha entrado un bajón desde que rompieron (*) He's been on a downer since they split up. Depre (*) Short for depresión. Used when you're heading for depression but not quite there yet. Ser (un/a) depre (*) is to be a pessimist. Es un tío depre - siempre contando sus penas (*) He's a pessimistic bloke - always talking about his problems. Estar depre (*) To be down.

Confusion

Estar zombi (*) Lit. To be like a zombie. To be scatterbrained, to think or act aimlessly. Hoy no puedo concentrarme, estoy zombi total (*) I can't concentrate today - I'm completely scatterbrained. Estar en Babia (*) To have your head in the clouds. Babia was the retreat of early Castilian kings in the Middle Ages: when they were there, they didn't have a clue what was going on. Es un incompetente total, siempre está en Babia (*) He's completely incompetent, his head's always in the clouds.

Madness

Tener un cacao mental (*) Lit. To have cocoa in your mind. To have your mind in a mess. Cocoa needs a lot of stirring, hence the feeling in your head. Estar como una cabra (*) Lit. Like a goat. Figuratively, mad as a hatter. Se quiere ir a vivir a Siberia - está como una cabra (*) He wants to go and live in Siberia - he's mad as a hatter. Faltarle un tornillo (*) Lit. To be missing a screw. To have a screw loose. ¿Para eso llamas a las dos de la madrugada? ¿Y a ti qué tornillo te falta? (*) Is that why you're ringing at 2am? You got a screw loose or something?

PLAY UP/PLAY DOWN

Un pelín (*) Lit. a tiny hair, meaning a very little bit, often used to soften your statement. ¿Puedes bajar la tele un pelín? Can you turn the telly down a wee bit? Un mogollón de... (*) In Spanish, this word evokes abundance, chaos, lots of things or people. Había (un) mogollón de tráfico (*) There was heavy, chaotic traffic. una pasada (de...) (*) When something goes past its limit (whether time or quantity) you say se ha pasado, "it's gone over". Hence una pasada means "a lot". Esos pantalones me gustan una pasada (*) I like those trousers a lot. cantidad (de...) (*) Used with either la or una, cantidad means "quantity". On its own however, it's slang for "a lot" as above. Cantidad de... is also used with adjectives to mean "very". Había cantidad de gente en el concierto (*) There were loads of people at the gig. Tela (*) Lit. "fabric" or "cloth". It's used in the following expressions to indicate there are lots of things to do or something is excessive: ¡Tela! ¡Manda tela! ¡Tela marinera! Hace tela de frío (*) It's freezing cold.

RELIGIOUS TERMS

Many general expressions can be traced back to Catholic themes. Although religious people frown upon them, they're in general use and you can even hear them on prime-time TV shows. Here are some of them.

Hostia

Hostia (**) Lit. Host. Colloquially used to mean several things: Dar/pegar una hostia (**) To hit, slap or smack. Como no te calles, te voy a dar una hostia (**) If you don't shut up, I'm going to smack you. ... de la hostia (**) Lit. ... of the host This expression is added to nouns to indicate if something's very good, very big or very intense: Tengo un frío de la hostia (**) I am absolutely freezing. Se compró una casa de la hostia (**) She bought a massive house. Es la hostia (**) Lit. It's the host It's amazing, funny, cool or incredible; it can be applied to people and things: Su nuevo coche es la hostia, tiene de todo (**) His new car is amazing, it has the lot.

La Virgen

La Virgen María (*) is Mother Mary, but la virgen is used colloquially to mean the following: ... de la virgen is added to nouns to indicate if something's very good, very big or very intense. ¡Virgen Santa! ¡Virgen Santísima! (*) Oh my God! Goodness me! ¡Virgen Santa! ¿Qué te ha pasado? (*) Oh my God! What happened to you?

Dichoso

dichoso/a (*) Lit. full of happiness, usually of a religious nature. However, it's mostly used to curse something that's gone wrong: Ya se ha vuelto a estropear el dichoso ordenador (*) The damned PC has broken down again.

SPECIAL MEANINGS

Some common words acquire a different meaning in slang:

Madre Un rollo Leche (* = familiar, ** = very familiar, *** = vulgar, R = plain rude, Lit. = Literally) Madre

Madre, "Mother" appears very often in colloquial Spanish. Ciento y la madre (*) Lit. A hundred and the mother. Too many people. No pudimos entrar porque éramos ciento y la madre (*) We were not allowed in because there were too many of us. ¡La madre que te/lo/la/os parió!(**) Lit. The mother who gave birth to you/him/her ... This expression denotes anger or annoyance with someone. ¡Madre mía! ¡Mi madre! ¡Madre! (*) Lit. My mother! Mother! A common exclamation showing fear, surprise, etc. ¡Madre mía! ¡Qué perro más enorme! My God! What a huge dog! See also: ¡Virgen! See also: ... de puta madre