They say that Costa Rica is “The World’s Happiest Country,” and it\u00a0does seem like people who visit Costa Rica return to their home countries with a stellar\u00a0impression of this Central American country.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the reason for your visit, you’ll want to know some good, authentic words that you’ll\u00a0hear the locals say\u00a0so you can better understand the conversations and the culture.<\/p>\n
[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n
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A tico<\/em> is a Costa Rican man and a tica<\/em> is a Costa Rican woman.<\/p>\n This comes from a tendency to make things diminutive by adding the suffix -tico.<\/em><\/p>\n For example, the word for small is chico<\/em>. In other Spanish-speaking countries, people may say chiquito<\/em><\/strong>, or literally “little small,” I guess. The point is that, in most places, the suffixes for small things are -ito<\/em>\u00a0and -ita.<\/em><\/p>\n You’ll hear them in Costa Rica, and you’ll also hear things like chiquitico<\/em><\/strong>, which is just another way to describe\u00a0something that’s apparently incredibly tiny.\u00a0Anyhow, it seems that people in Costa Rica did that so much that this tendency\u00a0gave them a national nickname.<\/p>\n You’ll hear pura vida<\/em>\u00a0used as a greeting, a goodbye or a way to say “thank you” or “you’re welcome.” It’s basically like the Costa Rican “aloha.”<\/p>\n It’s a positive phrase about seizing the moment and enjoying life. It can be said as a greeting, in the middle of a conversation, after you’ve said or heard someone say something exciting\u2026 it’s basically a one-size-fits-all phrase! Every Costa Rican will be delighted to hear you say this.<\/p>\n Still, it can be a bit confusing if you’re looking for a business\u00a0named Pura Vida, since seemingly every second store in the country is named something like Pura Vida Surf Shop, Pura Vida Pet Supplies or Pura Vida Schoolbook Depository.<\/p>\n Mae\u00a0<\/em>is generally used by men referring to other men, but it can occasionally be used to refer to a woman. If used to talk about a woman, though, it’s not usually a flattering reference.<\/p>\n Note that, if you call a male a mae<\/em>, it’s also not terribly flattering. At best, it’s neutral, but it can often be negative, like the words schlub<\/a>\u00a0or schmo<\/a>\u00a0in English. Friends may use it as a jokingly-insulting term of endearment, but if you say it to someone else, it might cause trouble.<\/p>\n The short-lived online satirical newspaper\u00a0El Pejibaye<\/em>\u00a0even had a column\u00a0called “Mae<\/em> of the Week,”<\/a> which featured fictional mediocre guys who were generally unemployed and living with their grandmothers or sisters.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that meaning of the word only accounts for maybe 20% of the times you’ll hear mae\u00a0<\/em>in Costa Rica. For the other 80%, it’s used mostly by young men as linguistic filler<\/strong>. For many of them, it’s like the Costa Rican version of the word “like,” “uh” or “um.”<\/p>\n If you don’t believe me, just eavesdrop on a conversation between two Costa Rican guys in their early 20s. No matter what the topic, you’ll likely hear\u00a0mae<\/em> more than you’ll hear words like “the.”<\/p>\n Another very popular Costa Rican slang word is tuanis <\/em>which is often used to say “cool” or “good.”\u00a0<\/p>\n There’s an interesting theory<\/a> that tuanis<\/em> is actually a weird variation on the word bueno<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(good) that was passed through a process to make it a kind of code word, but it’s also a slightly confusing theory.<\/p>\n Tuanis<\/em> can be used in a similar way to another Costa Rican slang expression on this list: \u00a1Qu\u00e9<\/strong> chiva!<\/strong><\/em> (#33) which means “How cool!” or “Awesome!”\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a1Qu\u00e9 tuanis<\/strong>!<\/em> (How cool!)<\/p>\n Diay\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0idiay\u00a0<\/em>are common Costa Rican slang words that are derived from de ah\u00ed<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(therefore\/hence) and y de ah\u00ed<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(and from there\/and hence), respectively.<\/p>\n These terms are both versatile<\/strong> and can be used in an array of situations, such as a<\/strong> pause<\/strong> in a conversation, a greeting<\/strong> and a prompt for someone to continue speaking<\/strong>.<\/p>\n You can almost get a sense of the different meanings in the following exchange between Ana and Mar\u00eda:<\/p>\n Ana:<\/strong> \u00a1Diay!<\/strong> \u00bfC\u00f3mo est\u00e1?<\/em> (Hey! How are you?)<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda:<\/strong> Estoy bien, gracias.<\/em>\u00a0(I’m good, thanks.)<\/p>\n Ana:<\/strong> Diay<\/strong>… \u00bfSigues viviendo en El Puerto?<\/em>\u00a0(And…? Are you still living in Puntarenas?)<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda:<\/strong> No, me acabo de mudar a Chepe.<\/em>\u00a0(No, I’ve just moved to San Jos\u00e9.)<\/p>\n Ana:<\/strong> \u00bfY su novio? \u00bfYa no est\u00e1n juntos?<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(And what about your boyfriend? Are you not together anymore?)<\/p>\n Mar\u00eda:<\/strong> Diay<\/strong>, no s\u00e9. Es que…<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>(Um, I don’t know. It’s just that…)<\/p>\n If you say this to another person in an argument, it means “calm down.” If you and a friend get into a heated exchange, you can just say \u00a1Suave<\/strong>, mae! <\/em>which means “Take it easy!”<\/p>\n This phrase expresses surprise or shock in response to what someone says. It translates to \u201cReally?\u201d or \u201cAre you serious?\u201d<\/p>\n A:<\/strong> En dos semanas voy a viajar a Italia para estudiar italiano.<\/em> (In two weeks I’m going to travel to Italy to study Italian.)<\/p>\n B:<\/strong> \u00bfAl chile?<\/strong> \u00a1Que te vaya bien!<\/em> (Really? Good luck!)<\/p>\n These are nicknames for the Costa Rican cities of San Jos\u00e9, San Ram\u00f3n and Puntarenas.<\/p>\n Of course, many cities in many countries have different nicknames, and Costa Rican cities are no exception.<\/p>\n For example, Escaz\u00fa, the suburb of San Jos\u00e9, is called la ciudad de las brujas<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(the city of witches), but these seem a bit different. El Puerto<\/em> (the port) makes sense since there’s a port in Puntarenas, but the other two are more interesting.<\/p>\n Chepe<\/em> is the nickname for the name Jos\u00e9 and Moncho<\/em> is the nickname for Ram\u00f3n. So basically, they took the nicknames for the people\u00a0and applied them\u00a0to the cities.<\/p>\n If you’re chatting with a friend and he or she invites you to his or her choza<\/em> or chante<\/em>, then he or she is inviting you to his or her house.<\/p>\n This is a word that you should be very careful with, since its root, picha<\/em><\/strong>, is a slang word for penis.<\/p>\n A\u00a0despiche<\/em> is when everything seems to fall apart or go wrong. Basically it’s a big mess.\u00a0<\/p>\n The phrase se despich\u00f3<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is used when misfortune occurs or as a way to express frustration. For example, if someone has an accident. An example for when to say it would be if you fell down skiing or surfing.<\/p>\n A similar word is pichazo<\/em><\/strong>, which could literally mean something like “a big penis.” In colloquial use, though, it means a ton of something. Un pichazo<\/strong> de gente<\/em>\u00a0would be “a bunch of people.”<\/p>\n It can also mean a “hit,” but we’ll get to that near the end of this article.<\/p>\n I wouldn’t recommend using these unless you’re really comfortable with Costa Rican slang\u2014and with the people you’re talking to!\u00a0<\/p>\n I’ve heard that the phrase nos juimos<\/em>, in which a j<\/em>\u00a0is substituted for the f<\/em>\u00a0in fuimos<\/em>, is common in other countries, but the Costa Rican twist is that here they also just say the two letters to abbreviate it: N.J.<\/em><\/p>\n Remember to pronounce the letters in Spanish (like “en-ay hota”).<\/p>\n The above phrase is another way to say \u201csee you there.\u201d For example, if someone asks you to meet him or her at the movie theater at five, you could say Ah\u00ed los vidrios <\/em>to confirm.<\/p>\n A:<\/strong> \u00bfEntonces nos vemos en el cine a las 5 de la tarde?<\/em>\u00a0(So we’ll meet at the movie theater at 5 p.m.?)<\/p>\n B:<\/strong> Ah\u00ed los vidrios.<\/em><\/strong> (See you there.)<\/p>\n Mejenga<\/em>\u00a0means a pick-up soccer game or informal soccer game among friends.<\/p>\n Nearly every weekend or weeknight evening, you’ll see many ticos<\/em>\u2014both\u00a0maes<\/em> and non-maes<\/em> alike\u2014getting together for a mejenga<\/em>, either at an outdoor field or, if it’s during the September-December rainy season, indoors on artificial turf.<\/p>\n This is a term that means “head.” If someone is stubborn, that person may be called jup\u00f3n<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(big head).<\/p>\n Since you remember your Spanish pronunciation, this is pronounced “hoopa,” and you may hear it in a phrase like me golpe\u00e9 la<\/em> jupa<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(I banged my head).<\/p>\n Another example for when to use this would be if you went out for a long night of clubbing and had a throbbing headache. You could say \u00a1tuve un dolor de jupa<\/strong> enorme anoche!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n This is a Costa Rican word for “horse.” It can also be used to refer to an old man, especially an old bachelor.<\/p>\n To be honest, I had never heard this word until I asked around for good slang words, and I even live in a place where people still ride horses. But a few people I interviewed insisted that I include this word in the list, so here you go!<\/p>\n Cabra <\/em>literally means “goat” in Spanish, but it’s also a slang term that some men in Costa Rica use to refer to their girlfriends or young women.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you pronounce this slowly, it sounds a bit like “watchy-man,” right?<\/p>\n Well, that’s exactly what this word means, and it’s even a bit of a deviation from an “Englishy” phrase.<\/p>\n If you go to any city or even medium-sized town in Costa Rica, you’re likely to come across a guachim\u00e1n<\/em> or two. They’re the guys who watch parked cars in exchange for some spare change. Some are more formal about it, even wearing a reflective chaleco<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(vest), and others may have just shown up right before you got back to your car, since they saw you coming.<\/p>\n I believe this word, or a variation of it, may be used in other parts of Latin America, but I still wanted to leave it in because it’s just such a great word. Plus, if you rent a car here, you’ll likely come across more than one\u00a0guachim\u00e1n<\/em>.<\/p>\n In Costa Rica, tata<\/em> means “father.” Presumably, it’s easy for even infants and toddlers to say, but it’s still used by grown adults to refer to their fathers.<\/p>\n Literally, this phrase means “pull a torte” or “pull a cake,” but it’s an idiom that means to do something dumb or regrettable. It’s basically like “mess up” or “screw up.”<\/p>\n If you hear ellos <\/em>se jalaron una torta <\/em><\/strong>y ella qued\u00f3 embarazada<\/em>,\u00a0<\/em>then you’ll be able to\u00a0catch the figurative\u00a0meaning of this phrase.<\/p>\n This verb is another way to say \u201cto sleep” and can directly replace dormir.<\/em><\/p>\n Estoy muy cansada. Quiero rulear<\/strong> pero solo son las 7 de la tarde.<\/em> (I’m very tired. I want to sleep but it’s only 7 p.m.)\u00a0<\/p>\n Jamar can directly replace comer<\/em> to say “to eat.”<\/p>\n \u00bfQuiere algo para jamar<\/strong>? Voy a ir a comprar un caf\u00e9 y un arreglado.<\/em> (Do you want something to eat? I’m going to go buy a coffee and a sandwich.)\u00a0<\/p>\n This word usually denotes alcohol made from sugar cane<\/a>, but it can also be used to refer to any kind of alcohol, kind of like the word “booze” in English.<\/p>\n A typical type of guaro<\/i> in Costa Rica is the brand Cacique<\/em><\/a>, a word which actually means “chief.” But Costa Rica also makes its share of rum, another kind of booze made from sugar cane.<\/p>\n2. Pura vida<\/em>\u2014 Hello\/Goodbye\/Thank you\/You’re welcome (lit. “pure life”)<\/h2>\n
3. Mae<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Dude\/Guy\/\u201cUm”<\/h2>\n
4. Tuanis<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Cool<\/h2>\n
5. Diay<\/em> \/<\/em> Idiay<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 “Um”\/Hey\/And…?<\/h2>\n
6. Suave<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Calm down<\/h2>\n
7. \u00bfAl chile?<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Really?\/Are you serious?<\/h2>\n
8. Chepe<\/em>, <\/em>Moncho<\/em> and El Puerto<\/em>\u00a0\u2014<\/em> San Jos\u00e9, San Ram\u00f3n and Puntarenas (cities)<\/h2>\n
9. Choza<\/em>\u00a0\/ Chante<\/em> \u2014 House<\/h2>\n
10. Despiche<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 A big mess<\/h2>\n
11. N.J.<\/em> (Nos Juimos) <\/em>\u2014 We’re outta here!<\/h2>\n
12. Ah\u00ed los vidrios<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 See you there<\/h2>\n
13. Mejenga<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Pick-up soccer game<\/h2>\n
14. Jupa<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Head<\/h2>\n
15. Ruco<\/em> \u2014 Horse\/Old man<\/h2>\n
16. Cabra<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Young woman\/Girlfriend<\/h2>\n
17. Guachim\u00e1n<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Watchman\/Guard<\/h2>\n
18. Tata<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Dad<\/h2>\n
19. Jalarse una torta<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>\u2014 To mess up\/To screw up<\/h2>\n
20. Rulear<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 To sleep<\/h2>\n
21. Jamar<\/em> \u2014 To eat<\/h2>\n
22. Guaro<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 Booze<\/h2>\n
23. Una teja<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>\u2014 100-colones coins<\/h2>\n