# Tell me how to curse in Spanish! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2013, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908 "2013-04-17T03:58:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/21 "2013-04-17T19:36:16Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > But he keeps saying “concha tu madre” all the time. > > So also, cursing varies with region. “Concha” (seashell; in some places = pussy) is OK in Panama. Here one of the most frequent words for pussy is “chucha” (the basis for the common euphemism “Chuleta!”). However in Colombia this means “armpit sweat” or “body odor.” Once a female Colombian friend came back from a walk all sweaty, sniffed her armpit, and said “Creo que tengo chucha.” I raised my eyebrow and she smacked me when she realized what she had said in Panamanian. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/22 "2013-04-17T19:46:56Z")
Yup. Concha to me is nothing, but I do know what it means elsewhere. There was a Peruvian restaurant here named “Las conchitas calientes”. I never went, sorry, I’m not going to a restaurant with that name… Also, everyone else at work doesn’t like when I said coño, but they don’t realize that the Chilean insult is as bad. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/23 "2013-04-17T20:59:12Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Also, everyone else at work doesn’t like when I said coño, but they don’t realize that the Chilean insult is as bad. Similarly “Carajo!” (prick) is a common and comparatively mild swear word compared to the English equivalent (although like chucha it has a euphemism: “Ajo!” (green pepper)). ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/24 "2013-04-17T21:07:31Z")
Does “Carajo” mean prick?, I was told (but I’m not sure I believe it) that the Carajo was a ship’s lookout. Never heard the “prick” meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/25 "2013-04-17T21:13:04Z")
I’ve heard that “Chinga tu madre” is offensive. It might be more Cuban than Mexican in origin though. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/26 "2013-04-17T21:53:47Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Does “Carajo” mean prick?, I was told (but I’m not sure I believe it) that the Carajo was a ship’s lookout. > Never heard the “prick” meaning. You either misunderstood the word, or it was along the lines of Cheech telling Chong that “pendejo” means “friend.”😃 The only meanings any of my dictionaries give for it is “prick, dick (vulgar)” or expletives (damn, shit, bloody, etc.) Unless maybe you were on [_The Good Ship Venus_.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Ship_Venus) > [@](#): > > 'Twas on the good ship Venus, > By Christ you should have seen us, > The figurehead > Was a whore in bed, > And the mast a rampant penis. [QUOTE=Ranger Jeff] I’ve heard that “Chinga tu madre” is offensive. It might be more Cuban than Mexican in origin though. [/QUOTE] “Chinga tu madre” (fuck your mother) may get you killed almost anywhere. However, “chingar” for “to fuck” is especially characteristic of Mexico and Central America. Elsewhere it is often “joder.” “Coger” (literally, “to catch”) varies; some places it means “to fuck,” elsewhere it’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/27 "2013-04-18T01:36:29Z")
**Colibrí** , you just made me look at the entry for _carajo_ in the dictionary. 😃 It definitely have most of the uses, all various forms of insults. And at the beginning it says “of uncertain origins”… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/28 "2013-04-18T02:08:27Z")
Oh, this is awesome!! I got him to say, **“Joder!”** just now, and it was just way more suave. (you must understand that he is a six-and-a-half-foot Irish-American biker type.) Thank you all!! ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/29 "2013-04-18T03:22:09Z")
I can’t find a cite, but apparently calling someone “Butthurt” in Panama will get you a knife in the ribs. ---
**Author:** ![CorneaGenii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@CorneaGenii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CorneaGenii)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/30 "2013-04-18T06:33:11Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > However, “chingar” for “to fuck” is especially characteristic of Mexico and Central America. “Chingar”, with its different conjugations, is one of the most versatile words in the lexicon of Mexican Spanish. 😉 [El Verbo Chingar](http://www.taringa.net/posts/info/2184969/El-verbo-Chingar.html) > [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Yup. Concha to me is nothing, but I do know what it means elsewhere. This is off on a tangent, but it just dawned on me. There is a pastry called a [concha](http://mexicanfood.about.com/b/a/Pandulcetacos.jpg) in Mexico. There is also a children’s variety show in Monterrey which features a popular character dancing around dressed as this pastry and singing [“Soy una concha! Soy una concha!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Nc0pZGnyM) I can’t help but wonder at the reaction of people from a region where “concha” has a vulgar meaning. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/31 "2013-04-18T06:40:47Z")
Mamon = cocksucker My Wife calls me comen mierda, which is eater of shit or shit eater. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/32 "2013-04-18T09:15:01Z")
> [@CorneaGenii](#): > > This is off on a tangent, but it just dawned on me. There is a pastry called a [concha](http://mexicanfood.about.com/b/a/Pandulcetacos.jpg) in Mexico. There is also a children’s variety show in Monterrey which features a popular character dancing around dressed as this pastry and singing [“Soy una concha! Soy una concha!”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Nc0pZGnyM) I can’t help but wonder at the reaction of people from a region where “concha” has a vulgar meaning. 😃 Hey, it’s not even my dialect, but I laughed at the idea of a restaurant (from a region where it DOES mean something) using that word as their name. And it was supposed to be a family restaurant! Comemierda is used to call snobby superficial people. A better idiom is “comen mierda y no llegan a peo”, they eat too much shit and don’t amount to a fart. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/33 "2013-04-18T12:04:44Z")
> [@chacoguy](#): > > Ed Zotti es un coño. > > Like that, or what? I’m just making an example. No, in Spanish it’s both an impolite name for a woman’s bits and a curseword, but you don’t use it to insult someone. I have a _coño_ and I’ve been known to exclaim _¡COOooooooOOOOOooooOOOO ÑO! la ostia, puta, caBRÓN_ after a close encounter with a hammer, but I’d never call someone a _coño_. Profane yes, my grandma-who-was-a-lady would never have used such a word. An insult, no. Oh, and in Spain _coña_ is unbelievably good luck, something which can get extremely confusing. Sending someone _al coño tu madre_ is extremely impolite, but I don’t think they do it in Mexico - their version is the already-mentioned _chinga tu madre_. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/34 "2013-04-18T13:49:43Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Sending someone _al coño tu madre_ is extremely impolite, but I don’t think they do it in Mexico - their version is the already-mentioned _chinga tu madre_. Or as mentioned above, in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay (at least), you send them to the “concha” of their mothers ---
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/35 "2013-04-18T14:02:49Z")
> [@gonzoron](#): > > Now that some real answers have been posted, I have a friend who enjoys exclaiming: “Sacapuntas!” It just means “pencil-sharpener,” but it sounds dirty if you don’t know that. (No, my friend is not a native Spanish speaker, and no, I don’t know if he’s ever encountered someone who knew what it meant when he used it as a curse.) My high school Spanish teacher (in an informal session) taught us the minced oath “Chinelas!” which, according to her, meant “fuzzy bathroom slippers” ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/36 "2013-04-18T14:28:20Z")
“Pantuflas!, Chinelas!, Chancletas!”! Watch your mouth young man! ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/37 "2013-04-18T16:40:19Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Does “Carajo” mean prick?, I was told (but I’m not sure I believe it) that the Carajo was a ship’s lookout. > Never heard the “prick” meaning. I learned my spanish cursing from Puerto Ricans, mostly\*, and they told me it meant “hell”. Every time I use it with that intended meaning (as in “go to hell”), it seems to be understood as I intended. \*to the immense shock of my Puerto Rican sister-in-law. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/38 "2013-04-19T02:01:55Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > “Pantuflas!, Chinelas!, Chancletas!”! > Watch your mouth young man! I always thought [Pitufos](http://azrael.es/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/los-pitufos.jpg) sounded like it might be obscene. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/39 "2013-04-19T03:07:49Z")
I’m a generation out of date, I’m sure, but Mexicans are more apt to use insults than curses. Pelon is a common one, they love to pick a physical characteristic and make fun of it, pelon being baldy, orejon big ears, narizon nose, when I had a big black beard my Mexican friends called me chongo, ape, which is also their equivalent of the n word. Then a lot of potent Mexican curses are agricultural in origin, gue or guevon being the most potent and most common. Gue is ox, so a guevon is a nutless man, very bad. Cabron, of course, is goat, and is the old european form of cuckold, having another man put the horns on you. Joto is a fascinating word, in my generation it referred to effeminate men rather than gay men generally. Back in the old days on farms and ranches the young men lived in barracks in the country far away from women and it was not considered a terrible thing if you helped a buddy out by having sex with him, so long as you remained manly. Start acting like a girl though and you lost all respect and became el joto. Working class guys say hijo de la puta at the drop of a hat, or hijole, or puta madre. Mamon is cocksucker, mamona is the good kind of cocksucker. Verga is slang for cock, as in mama la verga, or the ultimate sigh of exasperation, a la verga… Fundillo (fundido) is a good word for asshole, it refers to funnel and fundament both, less creative is culo. Rendija is crack and you can just imagine the utility of that word. Panocha is candy corn and very commonly used for vagina. Nalgas are cheeks and a woman with a nice ass is a nalgona, and often has the nickname Nacha. Bruja and ruca are both witch with a strong connotation of bitch. Bezamela is suck my dick. Hemingway used to go on about Spanish being a great language for cursing, but American English is the best, and Irish English a close second. Man, I love to drink and cuss… ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/40 "2013-04-19T06:52:45Z")
I would like to point out–perhaps not even snarkily for some non-American readers–that “the n-word” is “nigger.” Using the euphemism in the current thread is particularly hypocritical. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908.md?page=3)