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LEARNING SPANISH

More than ‘loco’: The many ways to say crazy in Spanish

Even people who don’t speak Spanish know that 'loco' means crazy, but there are plenty of other amusing ways to describe madness in Spain.

More than 'loco': The many ways to say crazy in Spanish
'To be like a goat' is one of the Spanish expressions used to describe someone that's mad. Photo: Son Bom/Pexels

Loco/a is the Spanish adjective for mad or crazy, in the sense of someone who is insane or mentally unstable. 

It can also be used as a noun to name a mad person, un loco or una loca

If you want to say that someone has gone mad, you say se ha vuelto loco/a

English has a wide array of expressions and words to describe craziness, and as we’re about to see, Spanish is no different. 

Estar como una cabra – To be like a goat

Example: 

Este tío está como una cabra.

This guy is barking mad.

Estar como una regadera – To be like a watering can

Example:

¡Madre mía! ¡Estás como una regadera!

Oh my! You’re bananas!

Estar mal de la olla – To not be well of the pot

Example: 

¿Pero qué te pasa? ¿Estás mal de la olla?

¿What’s wrong with you? Have you gone mad?

Faltarle un tornillo – To lack a screw

Example: 

Le falta un tornillo, por eso vive en un árbol.

He’s got a screw loose, that’s why he lives in a tree.

Estar mal de la cabeza – To not be right in the head

Example: 

Marcos está mal de la cabeza, yo que tú lo evitaría.

Marcos isn’t right in the head, if I were you I’d avoid him. 

Faltarle un agua/hervor – To be lacking some water/boiling 

Example: 

A mi abuela le falta un hervor, es muy mayor ya. 

My gran’s lost her marbles, she’s very old now. 

Estar colgado/a – To be hanging

Está colgado, va por la calle desnudo.

He’s batshit crazy, he walks around naked outdoors.

Irse a alguien la pinza/la olla – To lose one’s clothes peg/pot

Example:

¡Se te ha ido la pinza! ¿Por qué has hecho eso?

You’ve gone mad! Why did you do that?

Estar chiflado/chalado 

Example:

Es el típico profesor chiflado.

He’s the typical mad professor.

Estar majareta/majara

Example: 

Cuidado con la chica esa, está majara.

Careful with that girl, she’s not all there.

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For members

LEARNING SPANISH

Spanish Words of the Day: En plan 

Saying ‘en plan’ in Spanish is a bit like…

Spanish Words of the Day: En plan 

En plan is used all the time in spoken Spanish when you want to express intention, mode and attitude.

For example, salimos en plan amigos, ‘we went out as friends’. 

Or estamos en plan fiesta, ‘we’re in party mode’. 

Va vestida en plan militar, ‘she’s wearing military-style clothing’.

In essence, it’s a fast and easier way of setting the scene, a versatile means of describing which is like saying ‘like’, or ‘as’, ‘-mode’ or ‘-style’ in English. 

However, the meanings of en plan have expanded recently thanks to young people, who have adopted it a bit like their filler word or pet phrase (what Spaniards call una muletilla). 

En plan is now used similarly to o sea, used to explain in another way or exemplifies what is being said.

READ MORE: What does ‘o sea’ mean in Spanish?

For example, María está desaparecida, en plan no la veo desde hace más de un año.

‘María has completely disappeared, I mean, I haven’t seen her in more than a year’.

It’s also used when you want to express something as if it were a quote. 

El policía me dijo en plan te voy a multar, ‘the police officer was like ‘I’m going to fine you’’.

Therefore, en plan has become a bit like saying ‘like’ when talking in English and joining ideas together or emphasising something. 

It can be a bit exasperating to hear teens use it all the time, as in:

Hablé con Julia en plan buen rollo, y me dijo en plan eres una cabrona, que ya no quiere ser mi amiga, en plan que no quiere quedar más. 

‘I spoke to Julia on like good terms, and she was like ‘you’re a bitch’, she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore, like she doesn’t want to meet up anymore’.

If you don’t believe us, take Robert De Niro’s and Jack Nicholson’s word for it. 

However, en plan can be a very useful tool to get to the point quickly and avoid more complicated sentence constructions in Spanish.

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