# 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:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/41 "2013-04-19T09:28:16Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I always thought [Pitufos](http://azrael.es/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/los-pitufos.jpg) sounded like it might be obscene. Well, you can _pitufar a alguien al pitufo_, but if you add a few more complements it gets really [del]confusing[/del]_pitufoso_.\* ¡Me pitufo en el pitufo de la pitufa que lo pitufó, en la pitufa que le pitufaron al pitufo que lo pitufó, y en los pitufos de todos ellos!\*… blep? Oh, and _nalgas_ are buttcheeks. The other kind are _mejillas_. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/42 "2013-04-19T09:30:07Z")
In Colombia, ‘publico’ with a long ‘u’ is a whore. That’s what our spanish teacher from Bogota told us. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/43 "2013-04-19T09:34:28Z")
I know _(mujer) pública_ for whore (it’s the expression used in older versions of the Bible, for starters), but it’s the first time I hear mention of a “long u”… ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/44 "2013-04-19T10:20:29Z")
Probably a local trait? Similar to the differences in: Papa [father] Papa [the Pope] papa [potato] ---
**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 19, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/45 "2013-04-19T13:03:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I always thought [Pitufos](http://azrael.es/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/los-pitufos.jpg) sounded like it might be obscene. Especially in [this](https://www.google.com.ar/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDHbhyYcW2I8&ei=ZUBxUaLUKIbY9QSdooHAAg&usg=AFQjCNE5HtnDHXjsxecKCgOlxrs6JQ6H2w&sig2=I5YaFN9zdHjj6TLWAal-3w&bvm=bv.45373924,d.eWU) alternate spelling 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/46 "2013-04-19T13:43:44Z")
“chinga” and its derivatives sounds Mexican for other Latin Americans “coño” sounds Spanish, it is the word you use when you want to pretend you’re speaking like a Spaniard. “cabrón” always sounds foreign. In Perú “cabro” (and "chivo) , both meaning goat, mean sissy. In Chile, “cabro” means “young man” or “boy”. In Peru “Vete a la reconcha de tu madre” (lit. go back to your mother’s big cunt) “Ándate a la puta que te parió” (lit. go to the whore who gave birth to you) “Ándate a la mierda” Genreral expletive “(re) Conchatumadre” “Huevón de mierda” “Me llega a la punta del pincho” (I don’t give a fucking damn) My mother in law uses as a ,very minor insult to one’s intelligence “Anda a bañarte y tómate el agua” (go take a bath and drink the water). “Anda a bañarte” is a minor version of “go to heck” but my MIL’s version is nicer. “Miércoles” replaces “Mierda” is nicer settings. “Imbécil” or “Estúpido” (“estúpido” is a very strong word, nothing like stupid in English) “Manicero” (lit. peanut person, it means “you have a tiny dick”) ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/47 "2013-04-19T14:38:03Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > Probably a local trait? Similar to the differences in: > > Papa [father] > Papa [the Pope] > papa [potato] Only, those are either phonetically identical (all _llanas_) or the only difference is in stress (in some locations, the first one would be the _aguda papá_): Spanish doesn’t differentiate vowel lengths, there’s no “short u” and “long u”. I think it may have been more a matter of trying to put things in terms of “English phonics” (and yes, I do remember you’re from the Philippines - but I don’t imagine the teacher would have been very familiar with Tagalog or Pilipino before moving there, so (s)he wouldn’t have been aiming for those phonics). ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/48 "2013-04-19T15:20:19Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > “chinga” and its derivatives sounds Mexican for other Latin Americans > “coño” sounds Spanish, it is the word you use when you want to pretend you’re speaking like a Spaniard. > “cabrón” always sounds foreign. In Perú “cabro” (and "chivo) , both meaning goat, mean sissy. In Chile, “cabro” means “young man” or “boy”. Yea, except that the Caribbean speakers sound nothing like Spaniards, and happily say that word in their day to day lives. Oh, I was so happy to see my Cuban friend, and hear that word, and all conjugations of the word joder. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/49 "2013-04-19T17:22:15Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Yea, except that the Caribbean speakers sound nothing like Spaniards, and happily say that word in their day to day lives. > > Oh, I was so happy to see my Cuban friend, and hear that word, and all conjugations of the word joder. 🙂 I know coño is used elsewhere, but it’s the go-to word. If you want to sound Cuban you finish every sentece with “chico”. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/50 "2013-04-19T21:29:06Z")
Chupa mi verga.\* Suck my dick. \*my husband was uncertain of the spelling ---
**Author:** ![Mapache](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@Mapache](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mapache)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/51 "2013-04-19T22:09:38Z")
When people pissed me off in traffic, I usually yelled “Vete a la chingada, pendejo(a)” - go to the fucked one, asshole, more or less. Don’t do it much anymore. ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/52 "2013-04-20T01:52:24Z")
actually, the n word isn’t a curse word, it’s a racial slur, and an unforgivable one. My dad was one of the few egalitarians of his generation of Texans, which is pretty much my main inheritance. By the way I forgot punyeta (or punyada), chaqueta and pelarse, which all refer to jerking off. Pelarse means to peel or strip, and is used as the word for milking a farm animal, just as an American farmer calls it stripping milk. This usually refers to having the glorious act performed upon you by another. Punyeta I think refers to the adjective for handful, and chaqueta is just picking up on vulgar english. Obviously I haven’t spent enough time around Mexican women to know how they curse, but have been assured they do. Mapache is raccoon in Spanish, and is also used as a milder form of the n word, so watch out. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/53 "2013-04-20T04:20:51Z")
> [@Sister\_Vigilante](#): > > Chupa mi verga.\* > > Suck my dick. > > \*my husband was uncertain of the spelling Your husband’s spelling is fine. Verga can also mean a cane/rod, as in “whipping”. > [@slowlearner](#): > > …punyeta (or punyada).. Ei, we’re cussing in Catalan now! 😃 Puñeta’s clean meaning is “the cuff embroidery on the robes of lawyers”. Sending someone “a hacer puñetas” (to make puñetas) is telling them to get off your face (you’re giving them a task that would take a long time). ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/54 "2013-04-20T04:30:52Z")
Lace, sorry, not embroidery. Usually it’s the kind you make with a thin hooked needle. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/55 "2013-04-20T08:49:27Z")
The cufflinks too. The fancy ones that needed the lace. But _hacer la puñeta_ is also to masturbate. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2013, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/56 "2013-04-20T10:09:50Z")
Not reflexive? Here I’ve always heard it reflexive. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908/57 "2013-04-21T01:28:28Z")
My bad, I do usually hear it a bit reflexive when talking about someone. But I’ve heard it without it when just mentioning it as a meaning. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-how-to-curse-in-spanish/655908.md?page=2)