When you come to Puerto Rico,the first things which hits you,if you are as well spanish speaker, the sweetness how the people speak spanish and how many slang or too different expressions from the orinal castellano they are using (as I always get impressed by this when I come to some other spanish speaking country or portuguese speaking country,how the language differs and how people doesn't understeand the original castellano - comming from spain).
Here I picked up some words which stayed in my mind and you can hear it every day being here in Puerto Rico,it's very probable that I forgot a lot of them or I just take them as natural as one can do after being here almost 2 months ;)
And here are some videos for you to practice and hear it real:
Rules how to speak with good Boriqua accent :)
1. In Puerto Rico they don't say almost never the R, so for example when you have the verbes, as every spanish word in infinitive ends up in R - Bailar,
Termination of all the verbs in spanish or anything which would haveAl al al Bailal,hangeal, Peldon, Pol favol
2. They don't pronounce much the letter S either - so for example in the word Espejo (mirror) - they would say Ehpeho. But still you have respirated h. When you compare it with people from Dominican Republic they just simply omit it.
3. They don't pronouce much the termination ado - like terminado,limpiado (finished,cleaned) - they just shorten it to ao - terminao, limpiao
These 2 rules sounds bit like if these islands were colonised by people from Andalusia - where they simply don't pronounce these things either.
4. There is no problem over here with word Coger - to catch - as in many others latin american countries where it means to f..ck, so don't worry,here in Puerto Rico you can coger whatever you want ;)
5. Speak with afection and like half singing, making the vowels to sound longer (it could be different silab - this u have to listen to get to it). Daale maami :)Pero entooonce?
6. End every phrase with ai papi - if u are talking to man,or Ai mami/ai mi amol - if u are talking to woman with enough affection and you could be considerate real boriqua ;)
7. Many times they use after every statement which would need some afirmation question - Oiste? (Did you hear?) or Aham (after any question or statement you made). You will notice this quite a lot.
7. At the end I would like to say after being a bit while out of Puerto Rico and getting to know a lot of people from Dominican Republic, los boriquas speak much slower than dominicans,maybe that would be one of the things to recognize the accents from these 2 islands.
P.S. IMPORTANT: This is for sure not the list of every special boriqua word - as there are so many, as in every variation of Spanish in every Spanish speaking world,but these are which you would hear mostly and these are some which stayed in my mind while writing this article. I hope you enjoyed it ;)
To see more boriqua word and exceptions :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Puerto_Rican_slang_words_and_phrases
http://www.proz.com/?sp=mt&eid_s=16813&glossary=10498&nresults=62&float=y&mt_term=&start=0
And many others :) I am sure that if you look for them google will help you to find them ;)
Here I picked up some words which stayed in my mind and you can hear it every day being here in Puerto Rico,it's very probable that I forgot a lot of them or I just take them as natural as one can do after being here almost 2 months ;)
Boriqua Spanish | Castellano Spanish | English | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Chamaco | Chico, Muchacho | The boy | Viste ese chamaco ai el la calle? |
Jeba | Mujer | Woman/Girl |
Siempre consigo alguna jeva.
I always get laid somehow.
(I heard it actually a lot in
the island of Vieques,where
is used for any woman)
|
Conseguir una Jeba | Liarse | Get Laid | Explained on a frase above |
Pon | Viajar a dedo | Ride | Conseguir un pon - Find someone who will give you a ride. |
Pedir el pon | Viajar a dedo | Hitchhike | Me da un pon? - Can I go with you? |
Habichuelas | Aluvias/frijoles | Beans | Aroz con habichuelas - tipical supplement of puertorican food |
Lechon |
Chancho/Cerdo asado
|
Roasted pig
| One of tipical foods in Puerto Rico |
Guagua/carro |
Coche
|
Car
| Cojo mi guagua y vengo recogerte - I will take my car and come to pick you up. |
Pato |
Marica
|
Gay man
| Es un pato - He is a gay |
Puñeta!
|
Hostia!
|
Damn it!
| |
Chavos/Pesos |
Dolares
|
Dolars
| Cuesta cinco chavos. - It costs 5 dolars |
Pillo |
Ladron
|
Robber/pickpocket
| This word could be used for someone who is as well trying to cheat people for money. - Es un pillo |
Papo/Pana |
Tio
|
Mate/Pal
| El es muy panita mia - He is my good friend |
Tostones | Another tipical caribbean food suplement to main dish | ||
Guineos |
Bananas
|
Sweet Bananas
| If you are here in Puerto Rico I definitelty recommend to try the baby guineos :) |
China |
Naranja
|
Orange
| Jugo de China = Zumo de Naranja = Orange juice (Do not confuse China from Spain - which means Marihuana) |
Nítido |
De puta madre
|
Great
| |
Bocina |
Speaker
| Esa Bocina es Nítida! - This speaker is Great! | |
Bregar |
Tratar
|
Deal with
| Todo el dia estaba bregando con mi carro. - He was trying to fix my car all day long. |
Hangear |
Salir/Liarse
| Ayer hangeamos por la noche con ella - We went out with her yesterday night | |
Snorklear |
Snorkeling
| Another word which comes from english using just the spanish ending | |
Chabaletas | Aletas |
Flippers
| Flippers/Fins for snorkeling |
Trastes | Platos |
Dishes
| Quien dejo los trastes sucios? Who didn't clean up the dishes? |
Chota | Soplón |
Snitch
| Ella es muy chota - She is picking nose in everything |
Garage | Gasolinera | ||
Mai | Madre | Mother | I would guess that this is something like the rest after some Portuguese who lived on island |
Pai | Padre | Father |
I would guess that this
is something like the rest after
some Portuguese who lived on island
|
De veras? | De verdad? | Really? | They always ask it with big surprise and affection :) |
Ya mismo | En un rato | In a while | Well - it means translated exactly - right now,but it means in a while |
Mazeta | Tacaño | Mean | El es un mazeta,el no te va ayudar. - He is very mean,he won't help you |
Zafacón | Basura | Trash Can | Botalo al zafacón! Throw it to the bin! |
Minoco | Cosa | Thing | They use this word if they don't know what is the name of the word. Que es ese minoco? What's that thing? |
Trigueño | Negro | Tanned/Black African color of the skin | Su novio es trigueño. Her boyfriend is black. |
Chapucero | The person who does the work of low quality,or as well cheats in bussiness | ||
Embustero/Paquetero | Mentiroso | Liar | Es un embustero. He is trying to cheat people. |
Frisa | Sabana | Sheet/Cover/Blanket | Trigamos una frisa con nosotros a la playa - Let's take some blanket to the beach. |
A la orden (olden) | De nada |
You are welcome
| It's a response when you thank to someone. Gracias - A la orden ;) |
Revolú | Lio |
Mess
| Es un Revolú grande. It's a big mess |
Virar | Girar |
To turn
| Vira aqui a la izquierda. Turn here to the left. |
Guiar | Conducir |
To drive
| El guia mal. He drives really bad. |
Enfogonado | Enfadado |
Being angry
| Estoy bien enfogonado en ella. I am very angry with her. |
Abanico | Ventilador |
Fan
| The word Abanico in Spanish from Spain it's used in general for the fan you have in the hand,like have the Framenco dancers. Here in Puerto Rico abanico are all the airconditioning ventilators and fans. |
De cachete | Gratis |
For free
| |
Yerna | Nuera |
The daughter-in law
| |
Preñada/Estar en cinta | Embarazada |
Pregnant
| Esta en cinta ya segunda vez. She is already second time pregnant. |
Pa donde cogió? | Donde fue? |
Where did he go?
| Pa donde cogió Carmelito? Where did Carmelito go? |
Dar una pela | Pegar alguien |
To hit someone
| Me dió una pela. He hit me! |
Cantazo | Golpe |
Hit
| Me dió un cantazo. I hit myself. |
Mantecado | Helado |
Ice-cream
| |
Marquesina | garage | Parking place | |
Chocha | Coño | Vagina | Chupa me el bicho - Suck my dick |
Pelao |
Being Broke
| Toy Pelao - I don't have any money | |
Bicho | Polla |
Dick
| Chupa me el bicho - Suck my dick |
Perico |
Farlopa
|
Cocaine
| Fue preso federal por vender perico. I was in federal prison for dealing with cocaine |
Tostao |
Loco
|
Crazy
| Ta tostao - He is crazy |
And here are some videos for you to practice and hear it real:
Rules how to speak with good Boriqua accent :)
1. In Puerto Rico they don't say almost never the R, so for example when you have the verbes, as every spanish word in infinitive ends up in R - Bailar,
Termination of all the verbs in spanish or anything which would haveAl al al Bailal,hangeal, Peldon, Pol favol
2. They don't pronounce much the letter S either - so for example in the word Espejo (mirror) - they would say Ehpeho. But still you have respirated h. When you compare it with people from Dominican Republic they just simply omit it.
3. They don't pronouce much the termination ado - like terminado,limpiado (finished,cleaned) - they just shorten it to ao - terminao, limpiao
These 2 rules sounds bit like if these islands were colonised by people from Andalusia - where they simply don't pronounce these things either.
4. There is no problem over here with word Coger - to catch - as in many others latin american countries where it means to f..ck, so don't worry,here in Puerto Rico you can coger whatever you want ;)
5. Speak with afection and like half singing, making the vowels to sound longer (it could be different silab - this u have to listen to get to it). Daale maami :)Pero entooonce?
6. End every phrase with ai papi - if u are talking to man,or Ai mami/ai mi amol - if u are talking to woman with enough affection and you could be considerate real boriqua ;)
7. Many times they use after every statement which would need some afirmation question - Oiste? (Did you hear?) or Aham (after any question or statement you made). You will notice this quite a lot.
7. At the end I would like to say after being a bit while out of Puerto Rico and getting to know a lot of people from Dominican Republic, los boriquas speak much slower than dominicans,maybe that would be one of the things to recognize the accents from these 2 islands.
P.S. IMPORTANT: This is for sure not the list of every special boriqua word - as there are so many, as in every variation of Spanish in every Spanish speaking world,but these are which you would hear mostly and these are some which stayed in my mind while writing this article. I hope you enjoyed it ;)
To see more boriqua word and exceptions :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Puerto_Rican_slang_words_and_phrases
http://www.proz.com/?sp=mt&eid_s=16813&glossary=10498&nresults=62&float=y&mt_term=&start=0
And many others :) I am sure that if you look for them google will help you to find them ;)
Very interesting Suzann! There are words which I'd never heard before like jeba or pon! :D
ReplyDeleteJust for completion purposes, there are words in the list that are also perfectly understood and used every day in Spain or in other Spanish-speaking countries too!! My mother and relatives from Andalucia could never name beans other than "habichuelas", "lechón" is a young pig here, "guagua" is a bus in the Canary Islands, "de veras", "chapucero", "preñada/encinta" and "embustero" are standard everywhere, and we Spanish also say "no tengo un chavo" or "estoy pelao" for being broke. Amusingly "perico" is too one of the many names of cocaine in Spain :D
Suzzan! This is so coooool! I am from Puerto Rico and I have to tell you that you really made an excellent collection that I think represent our local Spanish! There are some words that we spell different, but catching the slang is hard! My husband is a gringo and when he moved to Puerto Rico he started his list just like this one and after a couple of years it end up being the book called Speaking Boricua. I really liked that you compare the words/phrases with the Spanish from Spain. We also have a blog about Spanish Slang I will definitely share this post with our readers!
ReplyDelete