Tiquismos - Idioms from Costa Rica

Expresiones Idiomáticas en Costa Rica: "Tiquismos" con ejemplos.

• Ahora - although ahora means “now” it is generally used to mean “in a while” or “later”. There is another word, ahorita, which is nearer in the future.
• Ahorita - similar to ahora, but nearer in the future.
  - ¿A qué hora termina el programa de televisión? / What time does the TV program finish?
  - Ahorita, ¿me esperas? / Right now. Will you wait for me?
• Pura Vida - the first idiom you will learn. It means great, OK, fine, very well or excellent.
  - ¿Cómo estás? / How are you?
  - ¡Pura vida! / Excellent!
• Achará - to be a pity.
  - Achará que no hayamos podido ir a la fiesta./ It's a pity that we could not go to the party.
• Agarrado - a person that does not like to spend money.
  - Mario es un agarrado, nunca gasta ni un centavo. / Mario is mean, he never spends a cent.
• Agarrar de mono o chanco a alguien - to take someone as a fool.
  ¡No me agarres de mono! / Don’t take me as a fool
• Amarrar el perro - not to pay something to a person, be in a debt.
  - Pedro me debe dinero y no responde mis llamadas, ya veo que amarró el perro. / Pedro owes me money and does not answer my phone calls, I think he is not going to pay me.
• ¿Al chile? - Really?
  - Escuché que los García se van de vacaciones a Europa. / I’ve heard that the García are going on vacation in Europe.
  - ¿Al chile? / Really?
• Bañazo - foolish, ridiculous.
  ¡Qué bañazo no aprobar el examen de conducir! / What a shame I didn’t pass the driving exam!
• Boca - an appetizer or snack similar to tapas in Spanish cuisine ('boca' is literally 'mouth').
  - Mozo, ¿nos sirve unas bocas y una cerveza? / Waiter, could you bring some snacks and a beer?
• Cien metros / una cuadra - "one block", or the distance from one side road to the next. This may be far less or far more than the actual 100 meters that you would expect.
  - ¿Dónde hay una farmacia?
  - Allí, a cien metros.
• Chunche - stuff, thing.
  - ¿Qué es ese chunche? / What's that thing?
• Con toda la pata - to be healthy.
  - Desde que comencé mis clases de gimnasia estoy con toda la pata /Since I started my gym lessons I feel very healthy.
• ¡Qué ahuevado! - How boring! How bad!
  ¡Qué ahuevada es esta película! / How boring is this film!
• Compa - buddy or friend.
  - Mamá, voy a la plaza con mis compas / Mum, I’m going to the square with my friends.
• Chema - shirt.
  - ¡Qué color tan bonito de chema! ¿Dónde la compraste? / What a nice colour for a shirt! Where did you buy it?
• Mae - dude, man or woman
  - Ese mae es muy simpático / That dude is really nice.
• Manzana - a land measure in Costa Rica. About 7000 square meters.
  - El nuevo edificio ocupa toda la manzana / The new building occupies the entire block.
• Mañana - "not today" and possibly "never".
  - ¿Vamos a hacer un viaje este verano?
  - Sí, mañana.
• Playada - treachery.
  - El esposo de María se fue de su casa con otra mujer, ¡qué playada! / María’s husband left her for another woman, what a betrayal!
• ¡Qué chiva! - How cool!
  - Mira, este es mi nuevo teléfono celular. / Take a look at my new mobile phone.
  - ¡Qué chiva! / How cool!
• Rata - a self-centered person.
  - No esperes recibir ayuda de Raúl, él es una rata. / Don’t wait for Raul to help you, he is a self-centered person.
• Lacra - a thief or person with a bad reputation.
  - Nunca confíes en una persona como él, es una lacra. / Don’t ever trust someone like him, he is a thief.
• Usted - the use of "usted" in Costa Rica is very important and a characteristic of their culture. Costa Rican people use it a lot, and in some cases they use it even to speak to members of the family, or to young people.
• Vos - used to address someone informally, used instead of tú.

 

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