List of Spanish expressions in common English

From Free net encyclopedia

Here are some words or phrases from the Spanish that are sometimes used in English slang, but have not entered the standard lexicon. There is also a list of English words of Spanish origin.

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A

• Adiós – bye
• Agua – water
• Amigo/a – friend
• Asi es la vida – that's life!

B

• Buenas noches – good night
• Buenas tardes – good afternoon
• Bueno/a – nice, good
• Buenos días – good day
• Buen viaje – have a good trip

C

• Cañón – canyon
• Cantina – bar
• Caramelo – caramel
• Carne – meat (as in carne asada)
• Casa – house (as in Mi casa es su casa, ="My house is yours")
• Chica – girl
• Chico – boy
• Cinco – five
• Con – with
• Costa (lit. "coast") – a resort specialized in sun and beach tourism.
• Cuatro – four (as in cuatro, a musical instrument with four strings)
• Cerveza – Beer

D

• De – of
• Del – of the
• Dinero – money
• Dos – two
• Dulce de leche – caramel sauce
• Desperado – outlaw (note: not a true Spanish word, but it has likely been derived from desesperado, which means desperate)

E

• El Dorado (lit. the golden one) – a mythical golden city
• El Niño (lit. the boy child - referring to the Christ child) – a major temperature fluctuation in the tropical Pacific Ocean, so named because it often started around Christmas time near Peru

F

• Fiesta – party (the meanings of fiesta festival and holiday are standard English)
• Flan – spanish dessert custard

G

• Gracias – thank you
• Grande – large

H

• Hacienda – a ranch-style country home
• Hasta la vista – see you later
• Hasta mañana – see you tomorrow
• Hola – hello

J

• Juzgado (cf. "hoosegow") – a place of confinement, literally "judge's court"

L

• Loco – crazy
• Lo hicimos – we made this; we did it

M

• Machete – a large broad-bladed knife used as a cutting tool or weapon
• Madre – mother
• Mañana (lit. "tomorrow") – I'll do it later.
• Mano – hand, but in English it is mostly used in reference to a fight (see mano-a-mano)
• Mano a mano (lit. "hand to hand") – a confrontation with cooperation
• Mi casa es su casa – (lit: my house is your house) – make yourself welcome
• Muchacho – young man, but also male help
• Mucho – a lot, a lot of (as in Bésame Mucho)
• Muy – very

N

• No comprende – Do(es) not understand (but in Spanish it corresponds to the 3rd person of the verb comprender)
• No problema – Okay (no hay problema in Spanish), often misspoken by English speakers as "No problemo"
• Número uno – Number one

O

• Ocho – eight

P

• Padre – Roman Catholic priest (its main meaning in Spanish is "father")
• Piñata – a game using a colorful suspended candy-and-toy-filled container that children try to break open with a stick
• Pícaro – hardened rogue; star of the picaresque novel
• Piñón – pine nuts
• Plaza (lit. "square") – a public square
• Poncho – a garment made of cloth or other material that has a hole in the middle for the head
• Pronto (lit. "soon") – immediately
• Pueblo (lit. "village" or "people"/"populus") – the distinctive towns of the Pueblo people, tribes of Native Americans.
• Puerto – port as in a harbor, not the wine

Q

• ¿Qué? – "What?"
• ¿Qué pasa? – "What's going on?"
• ¿Qué tal? – "What's up?" (literally: how are things?)
• Queso – cheese
• ¿Quiubo? – "What's up?" (very informal)

R

• Rodeo (lit. "surrounding") – a spectacle of cowboys and wild cattle.

S

• Salsa – a spicy Mexican-style usually tomato-based sauce (in Spanish, any kind of sauce or gravy), also a style of Latin music or dancing
• Sangría – a wine cooler drink.
• Señorita – ("Miss", dim. of Señora – "Mrs.") unmarried girl or woman
• Sierra (lit. "saw") – a mountain range
• Siesta – a nap
• Sombrero – a very large-brimmed hat (in Spanish, it refers to any kind of hat)
• Suave (lit. "soft") – smooth
• Supremo (lit. "supreme") – the top man
• ¡Salud!- "Cheers"(a toast) or "Bless you"(after a sneeze)

T

• Tamal – mixture of meat, peppers, and spices, wrapped in corn meal dough and corn husks, then steamed
• Taco – A shell made of cornmeal fill with meat, cheese and/or vegetables
• Tapas (lit. "covers") – finger food
• Toreador or torero – bullfighter
• Tres – three (as in the Cuban instrument of three strings)

U

• uno – one

V

• Vamos – let's go
• Vámonos – let's go
• Vaquero – cowboy (cf. "buckaroo")

W

• Wop – insult for olive-skinned people (from guapo – goodlooking, from Latin vappa vagabond, through Italian guappone, "bravado man")

Y

• Yo quiero – I want (popularized by the "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" campaign)

Z

• Zarzuela – Spanish lyrical opera

See also

• List of English words of Spanish origin
• Spanglish
• List of French phrases
• List of French proverbs
• List of Latin words with English derivatives
• List of Latin phrases
• List of Greek phrases
• List of German expressions in English
• List of German words and phrases
• French phrases used by English speakers

External links

• Spanish Words Become Our Own