# Tia Chucha -- does that mean what I think it means? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886 "2011-05-31T20:04:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/1 "2011-05-31T20:04:21Z")
There was a story in the LA Times last weekend about a bookstore called Tia Chucha, which it called a Latino version of San Francisco’s City Lights. It’s been there many years, and it’s in an area where Spanish isn’t exactly a big mystery, but isn’t “chucha” a … non-family-friendly word? Does no one object to it? Does it have different meanings in different contexts? ---
**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:** [May 31, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/2 "2011-05-31T20:29:21Z")
In Peruvian Spanish at least “chucha” means vagina (or pussy). ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/3 "2011-05-31T20:31:47Z")
[del]Heh. Aunt Suck? It’s no more non-family-friendly than “suck” is. For example, lollipops are called chupachups among many other things. Of course, it _can_ be bad, as in the case of “chupa mi pinga,” which means what it sounds like. ETA: In US Southwest and Mexican Spanish, it means suck. Chocha or panocha are vagina around here.[/del] ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/4 "2011-05-31T20:36:30Z")
Whoops. I completely misread the word in the OP. Yeah, it’s Aunt Pussy. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/5 "2011-05-31T20:47:33Z")
I asked a Colombian-born friend who lived in the US for awhile - she says that it has a bunch of meanings across South America and Mexico and the US. Even in neighboring South American countries it can mean really different things. Some examples: - a mangy street dog or female dog - armpit odor - slang term for vagina (not a cutesy word - something along the lines of cunt) - oddly enough, term of endearment and sometimes a nickname - something said in anger/excitement, an interjection like “dammit!” As Lazlo pointed out, Tia means aunt. Since this place appears to be some sort of cultural center and not a bordello, I’m guessing it’s the name of an actual aunt of someone involved with the center. There’s enough dirty meanings of the word that it seems odd to use it though. ---
**Author:** ![turtledove\_river](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@turtledove\_river](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turtledove_river)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/6 "2011-05-31T22:16:34Z")
Here in Mexico, chucho is a dog, and it’s also the nickname for Jesus (but Chuy is more common). So I guess the bookstore was named after Aunt Jesusa. Not a slang term for vagina, to my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/7 "2011-06-01T11:01:40Z")
> [@turtledove\_river](#): > > Here in Mexico, chucho is a dog, and it’s also the nickname for Jesus (but Chuy is more common). So I guess the bookstore was named after Aunt Jesusa. Not a slang term for vagina, to my knowledge. Vectoring Fannie Flagg ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/8 "2011-06-01T14:52:12Z")
Weird names bordering on profanity just aren’t that big a deal, except to teenagers. Phuc, Fannie, Butte/Buttes/Butts come immediately to mind. ---
**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:** [June 1, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/9 "2011-06-01T15:00:41Z")
> [@beartato](#): > > I asked a Colombian-born friend who lived in the US for awhile - she says that it has a bunch of meanings across South America and Mexico and the US. Even in neighboring South American countries it can mean really different things. Some examples: > > - a mangy street dog or female dog > - armpit odor > - slang term for vagina (not a cutesy word - something along the lines of cunt) > - oddly enough, term of endearment and sometimes a nickname > - something said in anger/excitement, an interjection like “dammit!” In Colombia, it typically means armpit odor, while here in Panama the more usual meaning is female genitalia. (And people frequently use _Chu-leta!_ - pork chop - as a joke swear word, as we would say _Sugar!_ as a substitute for “shit!”) Once a female Colombian acquaintance of mine returned from a sweaty hike and said _Creo que tenga chucha!_ (I think I might have B.O.). I laughed and she smacked me when she realized what she had said in Panamanian Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/10 "2011-06-01T18:08:08Z")
Wait, _Creo que tenga chucha_? Why wouldn’t it be “tengo”? Man, languages are hard! OK, so summing up what I’ve learned: depending where you are in the Spanish-speaking Americas, chucha could mean: 1. nickname for Jesusa or Maria de Jesus 2. female or possibly just mangy dog (though without the connotations of “bitch”) 3. body odor, or specifically armpit odor 4. vagina (vulgar euphemism) 5. vagina (cute euphemism) Now, that’s what I call a landmine of a word! And they say the U.S. and England are countries divided by a common language. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/11 "2011-06-01T18:15:12Z")
Creer often takes the subjunctive because it’s expressing an opinion rather than a fact. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/12 "2011-06-02T06:11:09Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Wait, _Creo que tenga chucha_? Why wouldn’t it be “tengo”? Man, languages are hard! Subjunctive. “I think I might have…” ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tia-chucha-does-that-mean-what-i-think-it-means/583886/13 "2011-06-02T09:49:15Z")
Hmm, I learned with the “o” instead of the “u”. That is, chocha is the vulgar name for female genitalia, while Chucha is the nickname for a woman named Jesusa.