My favorite curse words in Spanish

some colorful language to add to your spanish vocab

Before we dive into the cussing…HELLO, I’m back in the USA! 🇺🇸

I got back from a writer’s retreat in Greece with Write & Flow Retreats. It was lovely, and I highly recommend it if you’re into yoga and writing (you don’t have to be great at either of those things to enjoy it). I’m working on a pilot and spent some time rewriting and restructuring a script that I can’t wait to get out of my brain.

Greece was beautiful, and I’ll write about that so soon. I did not successfully learn the language, but I did successfully learn and utilize these two Greek words:

Kalimera (good morning), and efcharistó (thank you).

After Greece I went to London with my partner. And I’ll definitely be writing about that in more detail soon, after I unpack that a little more with my therapist 🙃

Long story short, 🇬🇧✨racism✨🇬🇧

Then when I finally got back to America, I booked a commercial and was sent off to Mexico City for a few days. I really missed Mexican food in LA so when I got to Mexico City I ate SO much food and on the day of the shoot I was super bloated and uncomfy. So I won’t be doing that again. Here’s a strawberry tres leches I ate at the hotel.

The commercial was in English for an American app with a German director, and a Mexican crew. Working with an all Latino crew reminded me how fun it is to speak Spanish, and how important it is to fully immerse yourself in a language if you really want to learn. It was a fun challenge.

Ok on with the insults. FYI: I’ve copied and pasted a few of these and have linked sources.

3 Spanish Insults (mostly Puerto Rican Spanish)

Cabrón

dumbass, asshole.

In Spanish, “cabrón” is male goat. But in most Latin countries “cabrón” can be an insult. “Cabrón” can also translate to a man who knows that his wife is cheating on him; kinda like a cuck! In Puerto Rico the word “cabrón” can be used in a friendly or offensive way, just as in English you could use “dumbass” to mock a friend.

Example:

“¡Cabrooón hace cuento tiempo no te veía! Desde la escuela ¿Cómo te ha ido? Me dijeron que te casaste.”
“You asshole long time I ain’t see you! Since school, how have you been? They told me you got married.”

Puñeta

punch

This word is used as an expression of anger or frustration similar to using “fuck” in English to express the same.

Example:

Estoy harto de que cojan mis cosas sin pedirme permiso, ¡puñeta!”
“I’m sick of you taking my stuff without my permission, fuck!”

Cojones

Balles, testicles

This is another curse word shared by several Latin American nations, basically it changes the tone and accent but it means the same thing. It is used to award courage and bravery to a person or, in an ironic tone, to complain about someone else’s unfair action.

Example:

“Pedro sí que tiene cojones, fue capaz de enfrentarse solo a 5 cabrones la otra noche en el bar y a todos les partió la cara.”

“Pedro, he’s got balls, he was able to face 5 bastards last night alone at the bar and he broke the faces of all of them.”

Some Spanish Slang…

Chévere

This means cool, very good, fantastic, or phenomenal. You can use it as a stand-in for any time you would use "cool" in English.

I personally use chevere because I grew up with that word, and I’ve been told this sounds like y2k slang which makes me feel old but I LIKE THE WORD.

Pichear

It means to ignore something or to let something go. Use it when something happens and there’s pretty much nothing you can do about it. ¡Pichéalo! - Let it go!

Zafacón

This exotic looking word is used both in the Dominican Republic and in Puerto Rico and it refers to a garbage can or wastebasket. The origins are uncertain, but some claim that this term comes from a campaign during WWII to “save a can” or “safety can.” Others believe this term comes from the Arabic word zafa or zafaca which means a clay container or vasija.

¡Ay bendito!

This one is like, "Oh my God!" in Puerto Rican Spanish. People use it all the time to show surprise or relief after a bad situation. Often an expression of pity, empathy or surprise.

Brutal

This means cool or awesome. In Mexican Spanish, this would be like chido or padre. Another way to say this in Puerto Rico would be chévere. Which I’ve been told is kind of outdates, but I like it!

Bochinche

Bochinche is often used to describe a fuss, commotion, or gossip. It can be used to talk about rumor-spreading or idle chatter. In Mexican slang, this would be chisme.

Embuste

This means mentira, which in English is a lie. If someone is telling you something that is kind of hard to believe, you can say, "Embuste..." Like, "That's not true. / That's a lie. / I don’t believe you."

Janguear / Jangueal

This word comes from the English expression to hang out. Spanglish and code switching being so common in Puerto Rico has given people from the island many interesting and fun words like this one. In this case, the word has also changed its spelling with a J instead of an H.

Perrear

This means to dirty dance, to grind or to dance fiercely with or without someone. It is something you'll hear all the time in reggaeton music. Some may also describe it as to twerk.

Thats all for now folks!

I hope you cabrónes have una semana brutal and get lots of perreando in!

Besos!