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in Culture, Mexico, Vocabulary
¡Bájale Dos Rayitas!
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A playful but direct Mexican expression for someone who is being arrogant, bossy, aggressive, or too intense. When someone is acting as if they are in charge of everyone, getting unnecessarily angry, talking down to people, or turning a small problem into a huge drama, you might hear: ¡Bájale dos rayitas! Literally, this means “lower […] More
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in Culture, Mexico, Spanish, Translation
Harto in some Latin American countries
Harto in some Latin American countries: Fed Up, Full, or A Whole Lot Note: The important point is that harto is not only used in estar harto (“to be fed up”). In this regional colloquial use, it means mucho, abundante, or “more than a normal amount.” The Diccionario de americanismos records this meaning in Mexico, […] More
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in Culture, Funny, Mexico, Spanish, Vocabulary
Chorrocientos, Chorrocientos Mil: Spanish for “A Zillion”
Chorrocientos, Chorrocientos Mil: Spanish for “A Zillion” A playful Mexican Spanish word for an enormous, completely made-up number. You are telling your friend about a terrible Monday. You had emails, messages, errands, work, traffic, and three people asking you the same question at once. You could say: Tenía muchísimas cosas que hacer. I had so […] More
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in Culture, Mexico, Spanish, Vocabulary
Taquillero and Taquilla
“`html Taquillero and Taquilla: Fun Spanish Words for What Draw a Crowd Learn how to use taquillero, ser taquillero, and la taquilla in everyday Spanish. You know when a movie comes out and suddenly everyone has seen it? Or when an actor is so popular that people buy a ticket just because their name appears […] More
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in Culture, Grammar, Mexico, Spanish, Translation, Vocabulary
Igual e Igualito, and even igualititito
Igual e Igualito Why Mexican Spanish speakers say igualito (igualita, igualitos, and igualitas.) Someone shows you an old family photo and says: “Eras igualito a tu papá.” You may already know that igual means “same,” but why do people add -ito? In Mexico, people say igualito all the time when they see a strong […] More
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How to Say “Excuse Me” in Spanish: More Than One Useful Phrase
How to Say “Excuse Me” in Spanish Con permiso, perdón, disculpe, lo siento, dispense and other ways to sound polite in Spanish. English uses excuse me for many different situations: getting someone’s attention, moving through a crowd, apologizing for a small accident, asking someone to repeat something, or politely interrupting. Spanish does not rely on […] More
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in Culture, Mexico, News, Spanish, Vocabulary
World Cup Spanish: Fútbol Vocabulary for Fans
The FIFA World Cup is a perfect excuse to learn Spanish soccer vocabulary. In English you see both “football” and “soccer”; in Spanish you hear fútbol, sometimes written “futbol” in Mexico, and a long list of words that commentators and fans use during the matches. This guide puts key World Cup terms in one table, […] More
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in Culture, Mexico, Spanish, Vocabulary
Bolsa in Spanish: Bags, Pockets, the Stock Market, and More
Spanish loves words that do many jobs. One of them is bolsa. In English, you usually need several different words – bag, purse, plastic bag, pocket, stock exchange – but in Spanish, bolsa covers a lot of that territory. It is a classic polysemic word: one form, many related meanings. In this post we […] More
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Three Typical Spanish Jokes Explained in English
Some Spanish jokes are tricky for English speakers, not because the grammar is hard, but because they depend on a small cultural detail, a hidden assumption, or a little misunderstanding in the dialogue. Here are three short jokes, with translations and explanations in English so you can see what is going on. Spanish joke […] More
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10 mostly Mexican Spanish expressions that are hard to figure out
10 Mexican Spanish expressions that are hard to figure out These expressions are common in Mexican Spanish, and probably in other Latin American Spanish varieties but they are very hard to understand if you only translate the words one by one. In this table you can see the natural English idea, a literal meaning, and […] More
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in Culture, Spanish, Translation
✨ “Estrenar”: A Spanish Verb with No Exact English counterpart
“`html ✨ “Estrenar”: A Spanish Verb with No Exact English counterpart Wearing, using or showing something for the first time… all in one word Spanish has a very special verb that English doesn’t really have: estrenar. We use it all the time, but it’s hard to translate with just one neat word in English. At […] More
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Spanish Last Names revisited: Why Spanish, Italian, Korean and Russian Last Name Systems Are So Different
Why Spanish, Italian, Korean and Russian Last Names Look So Different We usually think a “last name” is something simple: one family name, one family. But if you compare Spanish, Italian, Korean and Russian names, you see very different systems and very different numbers. Spoiler: different cultures found very different ways to answer the same […] More
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