Free Spanish Grammar
Frases coloquiales y Guatemaltequismos
121Spanish staff have collected some colloquial Spanish phrases used in some parts of the Spanish-speaking world, particularly in Guatemala. We hope you find these colloquialisms interesting and useful.
- Regalar: to give something
Ex: ¿Me regala la cuenta? (Can you bring me the bill?)
- Chela: beer poporopos: popcorn
Ex: Consumí una chela y unos poporopos (I had beer and popcorn.)
- Cachar: to understand. To get the hidden idea
Ex: Perdone, no había cachado. (I am sorry, I didn`t get the idea.)
- Clavo: shame, embarrasment
Ex: Qué clavo (Shame on me. How embarrassing!)
- La onda: the idea, the situation, the mood
Ex: Se me fue la onda (I didn't pay attention, I was distracted.)
- Simón: to say Si, Yes
Ex: -Me regalas un beso…? –Simón (-Would you kiss me?... -Yes)
- Casaca: a lie, loquacity
Ex: Ese chico tiene mucha casaca. (That guy has the gift of the gab.)
- Bajar libros: remember about something that was long time ago.
Ex: Cuando vi su cara empecé a bajar libros y recordé su nombre.
(When I saw his face, I remembered his name.)
- Patojo, patoja: boy, girl
Ex: Este patojo está muy malcriado. (This boy is too spoilt.)
- Güiro, güira: immature boy or girl
Ex: Daniel se comporta como un güiro. (Daniel behaves like a baby.)
- Chilero: nice, beautiful, cool
Ex: ¡Qué chilero! (That`s cool!) Qué chilero tu pantalón. (Your jeans are nice.)
- Chulo: beautiful, nice, pretty, cute
Ex: ¡Qué chulo tu chucho! (Your dog is so cute!)
- Chuchos: dogs
Ex: Mi chucho se enfermó. (My dog got sick.)
- Canche: blonde, blond
Ex: Me gustan los canches. (I like blond guys.)
- Chirmol: a mix-up, disaster. To get yourself comfused.
Ex: Nuestra charla se convirtió en un chirmol. (Our talk was a disaster.)
- Correr la bola: to spread gossip around.
Ex: ¡Se corre la bola que te casas! (The gossip of you`re getting married is being spread!)
- Dos que tres: so-so, more or lesss
Ex: Esto está dos que tres (This is so-so.)
- Cuajarse: to sleep like a log. A good nap.
Nos cuajamos por la tarde. (We slept in the afternoon.)
- Ser bien sheca: to be a very intelligent and clever person. Bright, smart.
Ex: Mi hermano es bien sheca para la manejar la computadora.
(My brother is very clever with the computer.)
- Shola: head
Ex: Me duele horrible la shola. (I have a terrible headache.)
- Shucos: hot-dogs
Ex. Estos shucos están deliciosos. (These hot-dogs are delicious.)
- Gacho: bad things or situations, bad quality.
Ex: Que gacho tu televisor que se arruinó. (Your TV that´s broken is poor quality.)
- Licas: movies
Ex: Me gustan las licas de terror. (I like horror movies.)
- A puro tubo (a PT): something that you MUST do. It is an obligation.
Ex: Mañana tengo que ir a puro tubo a la universidad. (I must go to college tomorrow.)
- Sholco: without teeth.
Ex: Mi pobre chuco ya está tan ruco que está sholco. (My poor dog is so old that he has no teeth.)
- Ruco: old person
Ex: Mi ruco me prestó su carro. (My old dad lent me his car.)
- Amishado: shy, timid, insecure
Ex: Tu hermanito es amishado cuando te visito. (Your little brother is kind of timid when I visit you.)
- Shute: nosy, snoopy, curious
Ex: Mis primos son shutes, siempre se meten en mi vida. (My cousins are nosy and they always get into my life.)
- Shuco: dirty, lousy
Ex: Ese vagabundo es un shuco. (That beggar is such a lousy person.)
- Chiviado, chiviada: embarrased, blushing, shy person.
Ex: Mi novio estaba chiviado frente a mis padres. (My boyfriend was kind of embarrassed in front of my parents.)
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