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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Ten Spanish slang phrases you never learn at school

There is so much more to learning Spanish than simply mastering the grammar and pronunciation. To really sound like a local you have to pepper your everyday speak with bizarre, hilarious and often down right insulting turns of phrase. Here's 10 of the best.

Published: 8 January 2020 15:16 CET
Updated: 15 September 2020 09:16 CEST
Ten Spanish slang phrases you never learn at school
Photo: nito103/Depositphotos

Me cago en la leche

Photo: stetsik/Depositphotos

Translation: I crap in the milk

Spaniards metaphorically crap on all kinds of things when they want to express anger or frustration; from God Almighty (Dios), to 'your' mother (tu madre) and the salty sea (la mar salada). Perhaps the most bizarre thing they choose to mentally defecate on is 'the milk'. All these expressions sound very vulgar in English but in Spanish they're so common most recipients would barely bat an eyelid.

READ MORE: Five ways that 'leche' means more than just 'milk' in Spain

Manda huevos!


Photo: wavebreakmedia/Depositphotos

Translation: Send eggs

Unless you’re actually in the business of delivering groceries then this is bound to sound a little peculiar. But 'Manda huevos!', which means something like 'Give me a break!', is the perfect expression for when you're fed up or frustrated by something. 

Llevar los huevos de corbata


Photo: ikostudio/Depositphotos

Translation: Wear ones balls as a tie

Another use of huevos but this time not talking about the shell variety but rather male genitalia. To wear your balls as a tie translates as being tense or nervous. In fact, Spaniards will often hold their throat and say 'this is where I have my balls'- con los huevos aquí– when they want to express nervousness or fear.

Que te la pique un pollo

Translation: “I hope a chicken pecks at your dick”

Pretty self explanatory this one. Best reserved for someone who has really wronged you. 

Vete a freir espárragos

Photo: sukr13/Depositphotos

Translation: Go and fry asparagus

This is a polite way of telling someone to fuck off in Spanish. 'Vete a freir espárragos' is a step down from ¡vete por ahí! (get lost) and three down from ¡que te folle un pez! ('May a fish make love to you').

Mojar el churro

Photo: joannawnuk/Depositphotos

Translation: to wet the churro

Yes, churros: those long, thick doughnut sticks we all love to dunk in chocolate and put in our mouths. Like most stick-shaped food, churros are euphemistically used to described a man's privates. 'Mojar el churro' means to have sex.

De puta madre

Translation: Of the whore's mother.

Best translated in English as It’s the shi*/ the best thing ever!

There are somethings so great that you can only describe them as de puta madre.  “I can’t believe how good that tastes! De puta madre!”

Matar el gusanillo

Translation: To kill the worm

Photo: sdenness/Depositphotos

To kill the worm is to take the edge off your hunger. “A ver si con esta tapa matas el gusanillo.” – Let's see if you take the edge off your hunger with this tapa.

Pollas en vinagre

 

Translation:“Dicks in vinegar”

Use this phrase to call out those who are telling porkies.  It's the Spanish equivalent of saying “bullshit.” 

No seas tan pendejo 

Translation: Don’t be such a pube

Use this when telling someone not to be such an asshole.

READ MORE: Getting explicit: Your guide to how to swear like a Spaniard 

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SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Spanish Words of the Day: Top Manta

If you've spent time in any major Spanish city or tourist spot, you'll have no doubt seen 'top manta' happening.

Published: 3 May 2024 11:12 CEST
Spanish Words of the Day: Top Manta

Top manta is a Spanish expression used to refer to the illegal sale of fake and counterfeit goods on bedsheets and blankets in the street.

Known as manteros in Spanish, these street hawkers are usually from sub-Saharan African countries, and they sell fake and copied products such as CDs, DVDs and phone cases, as well as imitation clothes (often football shirts), handbags, watches and shoes.

Selling in this way is illegal in Spain, and the idea behind using bedsheets is that they can quickly wrap up their stuff in a sack (there’s often a string attached) and disappear whenever the police pass through the area.

The phrase is pretty simple: manta means bedsheet, blanket, or throw. Top is the English adjective (as in best), used to refer to the supposed quality of the goods on sale.

Many manteros are undocumented migrants, so street selling is often the only form of income they can find in Spain.

However, that hasn’t stopped a group of migrants in Barcelona forming a clothing collective and launching their own clothing brand ‘Top Manta’ that sells its own brand of shoes with the slogan: ‘True clothes for a fake system.’

READ ALSO: In Spain, migrant-designed trainers kick against system

Top manta is illegal but still a common sight in Spanish city centres. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP)

Though top manta sellers are a familiar sight on streets around Spain, manteros have gained traction in the Spanish media in recent years.

Amadou Diouf, a Senegalese mantero, told El Diario that “a person who dedicates himself to top manta does so because the law on foreigners forces him to do so”, despite the fact that one “arrives in Spain with a desire to work and integrate into society.”

READ ALSO: Spain to debate blanket legalisation of its 500,000 undocumented migrants

If the laws were changed, Diouf said, manteros “would dedicate themselves to their own trade”, and he stressed that he and many others were not street sellers in Senegal or their home countries, but started to do so in Spain because they had no other option.

Top Manta used in the Spanish press.

Some years ago a top manta seller who goes by Lory Money went viral on Spanish social media for his song in which he talks about ‘doing a Santa Claus’ (hago el santa claus) referring to the way street sellers quickly turn their manta into a sack, like Santa Claus, before running away.

Examples of top manta in speech

Aunque el top manta sea ilegal, los que lo dedican a ello lo hacen para sobrevivir (Even though street hawking is illegal, the guys who do it for a living need it to survive).

Creo que la policía ha pillado a algunos de los manteros, (I think they caught some of the street vendors).

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