Spanish – more useful nouns
Learning Spanish can be fun. It takes lots of practice and getting corrected as you enunciate. Be sure to learn the pronunciations as clearly as possible. Here are some more useful nouns for you to learn.
abanico — fan (for cooling); in many other countries, “ventilador”
baboso — fool, dummy
chante/choza — house
chozón — big, beautiful house
escobillas — “little brooms,” meaning windshield wipers.
gana/ganas — wish, desire. “Tengo ganas de comer helados” — “I feel like eating ice cream.” “Haz lo que te dé la gana” — “Do whatever you want.”
harina — literally “flour,” this is used to mean money, dough
jacha — “face,” typically used of an ugly face, or a face that droops because someone is so drunk. “¡Qué jacha!” — “What a face!”
jeta — mouth. “Ay, que jeta” — “What a big-mouth, what a liar.”
jupa — head. “Ay, me pegué la jupa” — “Ow, I hit my head.”
lenguón — “person with big tongue,” a liar or a person with a big mouth who talks a lot of crap
muchacha — “girl,” also meaning a domestic employee, a cleaning woman
ñata — nose
ñato — someone with a short nose
palabrota — “big word,” meaning a vulgar word
paracaidista — “skydiver,” meaning party crasher, someone who shows up uninvited to a private party
plata — “silver,” meaning money
polvazal — from the word “polvo,” dust, this means a place with lots of dust in the air. “Por falta de pavimento, Nosara es un polvazal” — “For lack of pavement, Nosara is a dust bowl.”
presa — traffic jam
rojo — “red,” meaning 1,000 colones, after the color of the bill. “Me cobró tres rojos para reparar la llanta” — “He charged me 3,000 colones to fix the tire.”
sangrón — an annoying person, a nuisance. “Ese mae es un sangrón que me cae mal” — “That guy is a pain in the ass and I don’t like him.”
soplón — “blowhard,” a person who can’t keep secrets, who talks too much about other people’s business
teja — “tile,” 100 colones
tembeleque — a person who trembles or is weak
tucán — “toucan,” 5,000 colones
vacilón — a funny person, or a place where a group can enjoy itself, or a place where things aren’t taken seriously. “Nos reímos mucho con Juan Carlos porque es bien vacilón” — “We laugh a lot with Juan Carlos because he’s a real joker.” “Cuando ese bar tiene karaoke, es todo un vacilón” — “When that bar has karaoke, it’s a great time.”
zopilote — literally a vulture; used to mean a priest