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Spanish Swear Words.

For those of our followers who have already watched or listened to our previous podcast on Spanish swear words, then you will know that the Spanish are very good at cursing. In fact, swearing is as much a part of their life as is tortilla española or la paella.

It’s important to add the disclaimer that the Spanish swear words we cover in this podcast only apply to Spain and are NOT something we recommend you to use carelessly. In other Spanish speaking countries they could be considered very offensive.

A tomar por culo.

Let’s focus on this particular expression in the blog. The reason for this is that it’s probably one of the most common and interesting Spanish insults.

In English we have something similar in our expression, “Shove it up your arse.”

The Spanish are very frequently telling people to “¡Vete a tomar por culo!” which, literally is “Go and take it up the bum.”

The thing is, just like the English expression, “Bugger off.” the original meaning is no longer appropriate nor current and so, “Vete a tomar por culo.” really means, “P…s off, F…k off”, or “Bugger off”.

What happened in 2005.

The fact is that in Spain, the word “culo” and the phrase “por el culo” appear everywhere. I recall that in the lead up to the 2005 “noche vieja” (New Year’s Eve) everyone was talking about the suggestion made by a famous TV celebrity. He had suggested that everyone in the country should wish each other a Happy New Year in this fashion:

Feliz año 2005, por el culo te la hinco.

And, effectively, that’s what everyone did.

Being a curious person, I had to ask about the expression as I was unfamiliar with the verb HINCAR, which I was informed meant to plunge, stab or thrust.

Then, continuing with my line of questioning, I asked what, to me, was the more intriguing question:

“And what does the ‘LA’ signify?”

There then followed a moment of extreme embarrassment in which everyone in my Spanish family went red in the face.  Finally, after a long pause, Cynthia said to me: “Bueno, ¿qué crees que será, Gordon?”

It was then that I realised that the ‘LA’ referred to that infamous word that so many students get mixed up with ‘pollo’ and that is, “polla”, which means ‘cock’ or ‘dick’.

It was then that I really understood the relaxed and groovy attitude that Spanish people have toward Spanish swear words and profanities.

I don’t need to translate the sentence for you, for I’m sure you can work out what virtually the entire Spanish nation was saying to one another as a New Year greeting. je je

Enjoy the podcast. And don’t take it personally. We really did it for a bit of fun and and education. After all, if you are going to Spain, you are going to hear these words, like it or not!

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:47 — 24.7MB)

Very strong Spanish swear words

This is the third in the series of Spanish swear words and general profanities.  Please ensure that before you watch this video that you are 18 years of age or more. It contains strong language.

The poor mums.

In Mexico, when something is really good  it is described as being ‘PADRE’  (father) and when something is bad, it is ‘UNA MADRE’. (a mother)

If someone is not a particularly good person, then you would be well within your rights to say: “Qué poca madre.” which probably translates along the lines of: “What a shit.”

When I asked why mums should have such ‘mala fama’ in Mexico, I was told that it stemmed back to the conquest of Mexico.

Cortés and Doña Marina

Hemán Cortés, the man who orchestrated the conquest of the Aztec people became involved with a Mexican woman called Doña Marina. As well as having children with her, Cortés used her in his overthrow of Mexico and since then she has become known as La Malinche, the woman who is seen as the treacherous mother of Mexico.

Since then, mothers have had a bad rap in Mexico. (You make one mistake..!)

Whatever the case,  it seems the case that throughout the Spanish speaking world, if you really want to insult someone then you bring into question the good standing of their mother.

In Spain, to express exasperation or to say something like: “What a guy!” in surprised way, they often say:

“LA MADRE QUE TE PARIÓ.”

Which, translated directly is, “The mother that gave birth to you.”

By saying this you are questioning what on earth the mother of that person was thinking of bringing them into the world.

Stronger than that, however, is the reference to someone’s mum as a prostitute.

This is also one of the very common Spanish swear words.

The exclamation, ¡Su puta madre! (His/Her/Its/You formal bitch mother.) really just means something like: “For f…ks sake!”

However, to make it more personal, you might bring in the big poo guns and mix then with an insult about their mum.

“Me cago en tu puta madre.” Which literally means: “I poo on your bitch mother.”

This this is a very strong insult which can be used in a joking way, but only by those very skilled in its use. It is NOT recommended that you use this unless:

a, You are ready to run away at high speed.

b, You are alone in your bedroom.

c, You are with very good, life long Spanish friends who use that kind of language normally.

Please enjoy the podcast and take it all with a pinch of salt. We do.

Gordon 🙂

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 12:55 — 29.6MB)

Spanish Spanish?

Let me start by saying that this subject is a highly polemic and controversial one. Making a blog and a podcast on this is like throwing a lighted match into a powder keg.

Already, we have a small battle waging in the comments area in Youtube about what we say in the video.  It seems that for every person who has something to say on this issue, there is a different opinion.

History doesn’t help.

Maybe I’m misreading the situation a little, but as far as I can see, there exists a fairly deep seated grudge held by the people of Central and South America against the Spanish which dates back to the Spanish conquest of their continents.

An interesting glimpse into how the Spanish behaved themselves during their overthrow of the indigenous people can be seen in the excellent film, “La lluvia también.”  (Not for a moment am I suggesting that the English or the French, or the Portuguese did a more sensitive job during their brutal campaigns either.)

Of course, the Spanish that committed those atrocities are long gone, yet the negative sentiment toward them still persists and perhaps always will.

Is there much difference between the continents?

The answer to that is yes and no. In essence they all use the same language as a basis for their communication. What differs are the accents, some grammatical features and the most important factor of all and one that truly divides each country, the idiomatic expressions and slang.

I sat with Cynthia one time to watch a film called “Maríia llena de gracia.” a story of a Colombian girl who gets drawn into drug smuggling.  I have to say that I struggled terribly to understand the dialogue and a number of times I had to ask Cynthia for help with what they were saying.

What was surprising to me was that most times she said that she didn’t have a clue!

The reason she struggled, too, was because of the expressions and slang they were using. (When we watch American films with street slang, Cynthia asks me what they are saying and I tell her that I haven’t a clue either! jeje)

The accent.

Of course, above all, the main difference in accent between Spanish Spanish and Latin American Spanish is the use of the CECEO vs the SESEO. (That’s whether you say THERVETHA or SERVESA.)

I initially began learning Spanish in Mexico and liked very much the SESEO sound that they used. The Spanish CECEO seemed brutal and coarse at the time and I wasn’t a great fan of it. Yet, after meeting Cynthia and immersing myself into the Spanish culture I soon adopted their accent and grew to really like the expressive tonality of Spanish Spanish.

It’s sad that so many people can become so obsessed with the correctness of one accent over another and allow it, when taken to the extreme, to create barriers and prejudices between people. When we made this podcast, we really thought that we were being very fair and comprehensive in our approach to the subject. However, there have been some that have criticised what we’ve said, claiming that we are supporters of the Spanish Spanish and that our podcast is pro-mainland Spanish, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Listen in and decide for yourself if the advice we offer is balanced or not.  Have fun!

Gordon 🙂

Video for This Spanish Lesson

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:00 — 9.2MB)