The only thing my oldest daughter (13) seems to be concerned about so far regarding our future transfer to Madrid is the teenage slang. 5 years in Mexico has made her bilingual and she wants to know all the slang of her age group and what the words mean. For now, let's stick to the clean ones, the dirty ones will surely come up when she starts school. Groan. The "acthent" and vosotros don't seem to faze her yet.

Well, it's been a while, but a few words I remember are guay=cool; majo='dude' (young man); super is used as a prefix for Spanish just like we use it in English...it's early in the morning, so I'll need to give this some more thought...I'll try to rememeber some more and post.

Trust me, though, I'm sure that after a short stay in Spain she'll be "jerga-indoctrinated" in no time. A word to the cautious, it's very difficult to speak slang without being a cus in Spain. It's woven into the language, no matter what age...and it's not looked upon too disdainfully.

Hey Gail, jer here. You asked for it!

Euskaldun is sooooo right, speaking slang is not looked upon poorly here in Spain these days rather it is the norm lately.

In fact, the "Real Academia Espa�ola" (the ultimate authority on the Spanish language here in Spain) short for "Real Academia de la Lengua Espa�ola" came out with a new edition of their dictionary last month which broke all molds and contains loads of "jerga" ("slang"). It took many by surprise that such a traditional and prestigious institution would do this. But as many academics themselves say, language is what is popular amongst the masses.

The Academia has a newly renovated website online at www.rae.es and it is a huge improvement over the initial version. You can even look up any word you like in the current edition of the official dictionary.

So, have your kids spend some time on the dictionary there and they will learn loads

An example of one of the newly admitted words:

* "currante" = "persona que trabaja" ("someone who works" - comes from the other slang word "currar" which is used universally by the youth here in Spain and means "trabajar", "to work"). We also see the derivative "curro" which means "job" or "work" depending on the context.

"Curro" is also slang for the name "Paco" which is short for "Francisco", but I digress

I often use this myself telling a friend that "Tengo que currar" = "I have to work".

Some other teenager talk:

Euskaldun, one addition on your "majo/a". While it can indeed be used to refer to a nice person as explained in the dictionary of the RAE:

* adj. p. us. Dicho de una persona: Que en su porte, acciones y vestidos afecta un poco de libertad y guapeza, m�s propia de la gente ordinaria. U. t. c. s. ("said of a person who, due to his/her behavior, actions, and manerisms puts out an air of freedom and attractiveness, used most often by the middle and lower classes).

It also has the following meanings:

1. adj. coloq. Que gusta por su simpat�a, belleza u otra cualidad. ("pleasing due to its kindness, beauty or other quality).

2. adj. coloq. Lindo, hermoso, vistoso. (pretty, beautiful, visually pleasing).

3. adj. coloq. Ataviado, compuesto, lujoso. (well put together, luxurious).

Gail, this word is big in the teenage world

As Euskaldu said, "super" is used as a prefix and added to just about every word (adjectives and nouns) these days.

* Superguay
* Supertrabajo
* Supersexy
etc...

* "chaval"/"chavala" = youth in general.
* "tronco"/"tronca" = almost like the coolest way to say "buddy".
* "colega" or the even more slang and not recognized by the Real Academia --> "colegui" = classmate, buddy, pal.
* "flipar" = This word used to only mean "to use drugs" or "be under the effect of a drug" but it has now come to be used as an every day word meaning: to flip out, to freak out, to go nuts or halucinate (all figuratively).

You also get many forms of most of the slang words, for example, from the verb "flipar" above we can get:

1) the adjective "flipante" which means cool, amazing, unbelievable, freaky, surprising, shocking, etc... (ie. if I like a movie that I have just seen, I can say "�Qu� peli m�s flip�nte!" = "What an amazing movie!". "Peli" is short for "pel�cula" which means "movie".

Just because someone calls somehting "flipante" does not necessarily mean that he/she likes it, it depends on the tone of voice they use as well as the context.

2) the noun "flipe" used to describe something that is "flipante". (ie. "Ese coche es un flipe" = "That car is a ???"). This would have positive or negative connotations depending on the tone of voice and context. If I am describing a Porsche, it would mean "That car is amazing", since I love Porsches.

3) we can even stretch it out and get the adverb "flipantemente" which, although highly illegal in the eyes of the RAE, in slang could mean "amazingly", "freakishly", "surprisingly", etc... depending again on the context in which it is used.

More to come (if this one did not bore you to death ),
jer...

Absolutely not bored. Going to get a small notebook in a teenager friendly color and start a list so she will be ahead of the game. Been married 17 years so I knew some of them like majo, but others were new. There's a Paco in the family in Barcelona. Will I make him laugh or insult him if I call him curro?

Hey Gail, nah, you can call him "curro" without offending him as it is pretty normal here.

Hmmmm... "teenager friendly color" huh? What colors are those?

Saludos,
jer...

In our house those would be purple or florescent green or maybe bright turquoise. Outgrew pink when all the Barbie dolls went to live with another family.

Hello.

I've read your question about slang in Spain. I hope my english is good enough to explain some more words. I won�t write derogatory words.

1/ pijo: It's used to describe a kind of people, generally young people. They like just the best clothes (the best brands), they like to buy expensive things. Did you see the serial "Belair's Prince"?. Then, Hillary, the elder daugther was a "pija".
2/ Es chachi: It's the same as "I like it a lot", "It's very pretty".
3/ Me mola: It's like "I like it".
4/ estar como una cabra / estar chiflado: (I don't know if it is a slang or an expresion). This means that you are a little crazy.
5/flipas en colores: Jer has told you about "flipar". It's normally followed by "en colores". It means the same than just "tu flipas".
6/t�o: It's used constantly. It means "uncle", but I think that in english you use "guy" the same as we use "t�o". �Hey, t�o, ven aqu�!. Hola t�o, �c�mo te va?...
7/No me ralles: Now, has turned up this expresion. It means something like: stop disturbing me, leave alone!
8/ pinta: It simmilar to appearance but it usually is derogatory. I mean, If you say "Mira qu� pinta tiene ese" you are saying that he/she is wearing bad or is dirty or something like that. When you say it about food I think that is the contrary, you are saying that it looks a very good food.
8/un mini: It is 1 litre of beer in Madrid.
9/botell�n: It is a big bottle, but when you say "hacer un botell�n" you want to join with your friends in a park and buy beer and drink with them. Young people do that every saturday afternoon in Madrid.


I hope I have explained well in english.

Bye!

totx, AMAZING additions, I love it

I was told that "chachi" meaning "cool" or "neat" came from the Scott Baio character named "Chachi" on the American TV series "Happy Days" and the spin off series called "Joanie Loves Chachi" since he was sooooooo coooooool, the Spanish adopted the term "chachi" to express that, can anyone confirm or deny this rumor?

If you do not remember the series or the character, go to www.sitcomsonline.com/joanielchachi.html

Saludos,
jer...

tio for dude and pijo/a for someone who has a lot of money.

Thanks ojal�, nice additional meanings for those words.

I always liked to think as the word "pijo" meaning "snob" more than anything else basically becasue there are a lot of people with loads of money but who are not snobby "pijos". Pijos are those with the dough but a snobby, stuck up attitude to go along with it.

Saludos,
jer...

Some more:

-peluco [slang]: reloj [regular Spanish] (watch)

-birra: cerveza (beer) -I guess it comes from Italy-

-gamba: pierna (leg) -definitely, from Italian origin; usually in "meter la gamba", i.e. doing something wrong (or "meter la pata" -"pata" is an animal leg: never "meter la pierna" in this idiom)

-madero: polic�a (policeman); la madera: la polic�a (the police)

-viejo, vieja: padre, madre (father, mother) -from Mexico, sure-

-parida: tonter�a, idiotez (nonsense thing or saying) -it has something to do with giving birth, but the link would be difficult to explain-

-joder: ? (****) -it's usual to say that, even on TV, as an expression of surprise, like "�joder!, al final has venido" (oh! you finally got to come), or of regret, like "�joder!, he hecho mal el examen" (damm! I did bad on the exam); it's so right that you can find it in the official dictionary from the Real Academia Espa�ola (RAE); if you don't like it, you may say "jol�n". You can't find it in the dictionary, and lot of people would look at you if you are a guy over 12.

-mazo: mont�n, mucho (a great amount) i.e. Este peluco mola mazo (Este reloj est� muy bien, Este reloj me gusta mucho) This watch looks great

-loro: radio (radio set)

This is enough for today. I hope I can come back here to help with this.

I must say times have changed for "joder"! Of course, 40 years have passed(what a confession!) since I first stepped foot in Madrid. Now, what on earth do kids say to shock their parents?? If you feel this improper for a public forum, feel free to answer privately. Of course, I couldn't shock MY mother, as she is monolingual. One thing I always thought "interestingly profane" was the use of "hostia" I suppose in a sense, much the way the British use "bloody"---as a casual reference to the components of the Mass. Any clarification on that?

Hey MAX, I love it man! Some great new additions there Ya even tought me a few like "peluco" and "parida". I won't touch that one since it is probably meant to make fun of women in its meaning and I love women

Let's not forget "pollo" for cop or policeman, I love that one!

The killer is "pitufo" which is used for "Polic�a Municipal (Municipal Cop) since "pitufo" is "smurf" in Spanish and the Municipal Cops wear blue.

How about "talego", it was used (I say "was" because with the Euro and death of the peseta, it is on its way out) as slang for "a 1,000 peseta bill" and also means "c�rcel" (jail).

Viejo/a is a good one and very often used here. Interestingly enough we also say that in American English but:

* "my old man" = my father

and if I recall correctly

* "my old lady" = wife

That says something huh

I would like confirmation from an American who has not dropped out of that society please!

MAX, that "loro" for radio is a good one since as you know "loro" means "parrot".

Sue, I am sure the teenieboppers here have their ways of shocking their parents, after all, that's their job!

As for the nasty use of "hostia", I hear ya. I was shocked when I first moved here when I head a guy say "Me cago en la hostia" = "I shit on the host". Funny, i alwways thought host was something you took on your tongue at mass. Leave it up to the Spaniards to find a new and creative use for that little slice of the body of christ

I am pretty much used to it all by now, even "Me cago en la leche". "Leche" means "milk", and to think that I have just been drinking it all these years

Oh, and how about the expression "co�o" shouted by the average Spaniard 50 times a day.

Man do I love this topic! I could go on forever.

Saludos,
jer...

Yeah, co�o is very versatile, all right, but dare I suggest the "Me cago en la leche" is somewhat akin to "hostia"---unless one is passing judgment(not to mention fecal matter) on a particular bottle of milk---I gotta hunch that this is another way of thumbing one's nose at Holy Mother Church---and especially Our Lady. That is to say, I defile the milk which nourished God!! The Spanish can be devout or the most creative opposite, I think. And no wonder, considering some of the excesses of the church, both during the Inquisition and Franco's reign.

In any case, as usual, street language weighs in heavily on the side of insulting women. I'd like to know what the equivalent of the ever-popular "dickhead" is in Spanish, if such exists.

By the way, I pretty much have a clean mouth, as befits a woman of my age
You never know when some of this might come in handy, though.

Found a culinary dictionary at www.gourmetvasco.com or www.gourmentvasco.es It's quite a site for those who have the reasonable wish to eat their way through the Basque country. Anyone going there who wants a list of the best "pintxos" bars, it's there.

I've never thought about the origin of the milk in "me cago en la leche", but I read that the quite "polite" "me cago en la mar" (I mean this is not so rude, like "jol�n" for "joder") comes from religious origin. I think L�zaro Carreter (former president of the RAE) said that this "mar" is not the sea, but an abbreviation of Mar�a, being Jesus' Mother. If you don't like this religious explanation as far as milk is concerned, you may go to the longer "me cago en la leche que te han dado" (usually, "me cago en la leche que te han da'o" -I shit on the milk you were given!-, or even elapsed? "la leche que te han da'o"). Here we find this milk to be the milk you got from your mother when you were a baby. This leads me to think that, when someone says that, he or she is shitting on your nourishing when you were a baby -> he or she doesn't you to be alive.

I've just thought about this, so it may be a "parida" (nonsense).

I don't have too much time today, but there are a couple of more words:

-rulo: vuelta (walk -in "go for a walk"). E.g.: "Me voy a dar un rulo por el barrio" (I'm going for a walk in the neighbourhood)

-chungo: malo (sick, bad). E.g.: "Pepe est� chungo" (Joe is sick); "La cosa est� chunga" (literally, "The thing is bad", but the real meaning "Life is going wrong" -especially with money-)