I’m curious as to how Spaniards swear, given that they use obscenities all the time anyway. You hear words like co?o and joder even in fairly polite and formal contexts, and on family-oriented TV. So when I heard some words bleeped out in a Spanish programme recently I wondered just what they might be. What do Spaniards say when they really want to let rip, and what would a Spanish-speaker come out with if they were suffering from Tourette?s syndrome? Any thoughts? I’m sorry if this is a bit flippant, but I think it’s interesting…..
We got a great little book called Pardon My Spanish….. a guide to Spanish slang, and its very good…...http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pardon-My-Spanish-Harrap/dp/0245607218
Generally, the worst insults/curse words are “me cago en tus muertos/dios/el copon”. My husband, a Venezuelan, found out the hard way that certain acceptable phrases in Venezuela like “co?o de tu madre” or “marico” sound awful in Spain. And he felt insulted when his friends would chummily call him “cabr?n”.
If you’ve ever been in the middle of a
But if you think about it, its like that in English too.
It is all in the intonation.
I reckoned I had got it about right when after 4 years of an excellent relationship with my first landlord, I told him I was moving out and after a few exchanges he gave me a great hug and called me a co?o in the nicest possible way.
In Spanish you also turn a statement into a question simply with intonation in speech or the question marks in writing.
[quote author=“El Capitan” date=“1212777625”
I reckoned I had got it about right when after 4 years of an excellent relationship with my first landlord, I told him I was moving out and after a few exchanges he gave me a great hug and called me a co?o in the nicest possible way.
Um, are you sure it was an excellent relationship if he called you a co?o? 😉 haha
As it was “in the nicest possible way”, albeit I was a bit taken aback but it was all in the delivery.
I was lucky, tenant paid the rent, landlord fixed any problem which came up.
Thats it Capit?n, it all depends on the intonation. The stronger might be ‘Me cago en tu puta madre’. But you can use it with your friend as well. I. E. when you want to congratulate your friend about any issue, you can say: ‘Qu? cabr?n!’ (intonate like: It is really handsome!) or for your worst enemy you can say: Cabr?n!... and prepare for fighting.
I met some Canarios last night at a restaurant and at the bar, later, one of them was able to list over 15 different ways of saying pene and co?o each (to the embarassment of the rest of us). Mejillones anyone?
Anyone ever made the mistake of asking for a “pene” instead of a peine to comb your hair with?
Once I was in a discussion about breast feeding vs. formula and bottles, and I asked a guy, “Tu madre te mam??”
I’ve heard people who say co?o without batting an eyelid apologise and look sheepish if they let “hostia” slip out by accident. Seems taking “communion wafer” in vain is unacceptable. I think the French have a similar attitude - they say “con” all the time and are careful about anything which refers to the church. Is that true of Ireland too, Jurdy?
