Tico Expressions

by Karl Kahler

by Karl Kahler

agarrado — cheapskate, miserly.

agüevado — bored, bummed out, sad, dissatisfied, driven to distraction.

agüevazón — a situation that makes you feel agüevado, like waiting in line at the bank for two hours: ¡Qué agüevazón!

A eso voy — “That’s what I’m getting at,” “That’s what I’m saying.” agarrar de maje — to trick someone. Me dijo que su hermana era bonita, pero me agarró de maje porque no tiene hermana. — “He told me his sister was pretty, but he tricked me because he doesn’t have a sister.” al chile — literally “to the chile.” Usually this means fast, right now, right away, but it’s also used to mean “really.” ¿Al chile? — really? ¡Al chile! — really! al final de cuentas — “at the end of the day,” in summation, to sum it all up, end of story. arroz con mango — literally “rice with mango,” this means a tangle, a mess, un enredo. bulla — noise, racket, uproar. Los vecinos estaban haciendo bulla hasta las 3 de la mañana — “The neighbors were making a racket until 3 a.m.” chiva — cool, neat, great. Qué chiva — “How cool.” chunche — thingamajig, whatchamallit, any little object you don’t know comehuevos — egg eaters. Refers families who take cheap vacations bringing boiled eggs to eat so restaurants. descarado — someone with no care what anyone thinks about person, un sinvergüenza. desmadre — a chaotic disaster, despiche — same as desmadre ¡Güácala! — Yuck! hediondo — stinky. le patina el coco — literally “her/his this means someone is crazy. madrear — to insult someone manda huevo — literally “send easy, just do it, what’s the problem?” dólares y quieres comprar un huevo! — “You have $10,000 used car? Just do it!”