The Boriquas language - or better said special expressions in Spanish from Puerto Rico

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 ;)

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		Small Platano Pancakes	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	Hang around/Have fun	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	Petrol Station
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 ;)

Common expressions and not that common in Guarani (or whatever my libreta - small notebook) was able to write down in Paraguay

When I arrived after long run trough Argentinian nowhere land crossing from Bolivia to Formosa,Clorinda,where the number of people in the small settlements dont rise up to 800 or 1000 inhabitants in several hundered kilometers or in brazil it would be called cachinga vegetation. I arrived after one day and night to Capital of Paraguay - Asuncion. (I will write about the travel later on - it was quite interesting and I made some videos as well).


I knew that someone is going to be waiting for me over there and I managed to contact the person at the end.
Without any guaranis in my pocket I managed to get to the city to the spot I was indicated to stay and wait.
Well,asking me how I got there for free was - I walked,try to hitch - as I was already in the city and the place seemed to be hell far far away. So I stopped the public transport bus and the driver on my beggings plz plz I dont have any guaranis,can I still go with u? Just vawed with his hand I we went.


As I got to the spot,I managed to call and had to wait for about one hour for the person to appear. At that moment I met the controllers of the busses,who were sitting there where I have put my bag and were making the lines in their small cuadernillos ;) when the bus came and if :)
I got an invitattion for Terere,which I had to courtesly refuse,as I am alergic to matein (anyway,though all my alergies,my curiosity was always stronger and I took a sip later on)
Terere is typical drink from this area and its cold Mate. U just put cold water on Mate and normaly Mate over in Paraguay is mixed with different kind of herbs which should be good for health - like mint.
We got in funnyc onversation with the guys and I started to make my Guarani vocabulary (as I really love to learn new languages and I used to know several people who spoke fluent Guarani and loved this language- which gave me much more curiosity).


If u would be interested how the Guarani sounds here comes the video

Its one year old,from my first trip to Foz de Iguazu and as I got translation out of one girl in Buenos Aires who was from Paraguay - The other truck driver is asking him,if he has already conquisted me. And the guy is saying Negative,negative :D


Ok, and now will come the vocabulary which I managed to write down from our conversation with bus controlers:) So dont take this serious,but could be useful for u later on. Anyway,paraguayos are one of the nicest people I have ever met,being even very funny,caring and helpful :)
Please the pronounciation read in Spanish not in English like E is E not I,Sh is like in englis, ö is like hungarian ö,ü is read like russian strong y, h - like in english,ch like in english or spanish cha cha cha :)


Hola - Hi - Baile Porte!
Q tal - How are u? - Pa ete go?
Como se llamas? What's your name? - Pa eisha de leera?
Me llamo - My name is ... She sherera ...
A donde va? - Where are u going? - Poore ho?
Quiero ir contigo - I want to go with u - Che a ha sendive
lejos - far - Mömbürü 
No hablo Guaraní - I don´t speak Guaraní - Che nañi  ei guaraní
No entiendo Guaraní - I dont understeand Guaraní - Che natendei Guaraní 
Cuanto cuesta? - How much is it? - Pou o vale?

agua - water - ü
comida - food - tembiu
hambre - hunger - varea
Tengo sed - I am thirsty - ü ei
Quiero comprar comida - I want to buy food - Che ato guase tembiu


Me duele ojo - I have an eye ache - Asy se cheresa
diente - tooth - tai  
dedo - finger - ünlsa
nariz - nose - hí
cuelho - neck - ayura
mano - hand - po
boca - mouth - yurú

Yo voy -  I am going  - Che a ha

Yo - I - Che 

Vos - U - Nde

El/ella - he/she - ha'e

Nosotros - we - ñande
Vosotros -You plural - peẽ
Ellos - They - ha'e kuéra


mio - mine - chembae
de el - his - imbae
nuestro - ours - orembae
de ellos - theirs - imbaecuera


1 - petú
2 - mokeí
3 - pohapö
4 - inundü
5 - potü
Seems that noone can count over there higher then till 5 
(they especially in Praguay speak with mixture of spanish and Guarani - especially the generation which was living during the despotic dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner in Paraguay from 1954 till 1989)


mujer - woman - kuña
hombre - man - ardiero
niño - boy - mitai
niña - girl - mitacuia
un hombre mayor - older man - karaí
una mujer mayor - older woman - uñakaraí
joven - youngster - mitakaraí
novio - boyfriend - menarâ

Señor - Mr. - Karaí 

Señora - Mrs - kuñakaraí 

Señorita - Miss - kuñataî 

bebe - baby - mita

gato - cat - parakuya
perro - dog - takua


tarde - evening - ka’aru
manana - morning - Ko’ê
Noche - night - pyhare


Este - this - pea
arriba - up - ihuate
abajo,piso,suelo - down/ground - ühuipe


piedra - rock - ita  (lot of places in brazil has name starting with Ita - close to rio there is a place called itacarai - means old's man rock as we already know ;)
doblado - doubled - caré (like Itacare - the doubled stone)
cobijar - walk with a limp - icaré
grand - big - guasu  (Do u know the huge waterfalls of Iguacu? - Its just ü - like water and guacu - big - Bigwater ;)


Paraguayos are in the things of asking the questions on relationships and how many kids or boyfriends u have the same as brazilians ;) I have been though wondering where do they have these questions from and which culture is it from,in Pragauay I found out!


Here are some Personal and sex related frases in Guarani with some coloquial bad words expressions:
No hay nada - There is nothing - En dö 
Que haces? - What are u doing? - De yapo?
Sois fea - U are ugly - Sin Deai
Como es tu hombre? - How is your man? - Pa echa delera?
Me gustas - I like u - Che utai
No me gustas - I dont like u  - Da Che utai
Te amo - I love u - Rohayhu
Eres casada? - Are u married?  -De ere mendava?
Tienes hijo ? - Do u have a child? - De ere ko membü?
Te quiero comer - I want to have sex with u - Che ro use
Cuantos novios tienes? - How many boyfriends do u have? - Bo ünde chico?
Quiero besar tus labios  - I want to kiss your lips - Ausen de derembe
Quiero comer tu boca - I want to eay your mouth - Hausende yuru
follar - to have sex with - tongo
pene - penis - tembo
concha - vagina - itatu
estupido - idiot - plaga, pachito 


Anyway the last package of words I got even without asking :D
Please take this vocabulary as the result of one hour talk with bus controllers waiting for someone to come.
But at least it was fun and in further links u can find out on your own if it was truth or not;)


For more frases:
http://www.e-portalsur.com.ar/guarani/conversacion.htm
For more things from fonetics (how to read what):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guarani_language


* I like more pronouciacion of Me/Yo Še - She - like the people were speaking,
not the english written version which is Che - Če 
So in this text u can find it in both variants Che and She is the same thing

Paraguay is the only country in the world where almost everybody speaks Guarani and Spanish (means about 90 percent both of the languages). Guarani is taught on schools and talked on the streets.U can find books written in Guarani and even the learning texts. For sure u will find more Guarani online if u would be looking for it :) Tupi-Guarani was the basic native language of indians living in Brazil. Nowadays there stayed just the names of the cities and places in this language in Brazil and almost noone understeands. Its a pity :(
** Read r like omething between l and r almost like english r. Thats why in my opinion in the states where were lot of guaranis in Brazil use english R in portuguese,which distiguish them from other regions - like Sao Paolo or Goiais