The Spanish Words You Should Absolutely Never Say

You’ve been studying Spanish a while and decide to take the next step: You’re going to a Spanish speaking country. Just make sure that you have researched the country well and I am not talking necessarily about safety and the hotspots but the vocabulary! That’s right, the vocabulary. Crazy?!? I don’t think so.

Many countries do not use the same exact vocabulary that we learn in the classroom. That seems obvious, but even the vocabulary we use in class may have a different connotation depending on the country you choose to visit. Two classic cases of miscommunication are local terminology and interpretation...

Case 1: Local Terminology

If you are traveling in Puerto Rico, someone may ask you "Adónde va esta guagua?" Qué??? What in the world is a guagua? It’s a bus! In the Caribbean most Spanish speakers say guagua instead of bús or autobús, and in Argentina the people say colectivo. Of course, Spanish speakers from all around the world will understand you when you say bús but be prepared to hear different vocabulary depending on the region where you will be staying.

Another example is fiaco. Most Argentineans will express how fiaco they are. What does that mean? Is he happy, sad, mad, late, early? No he’s perezoso or lazy! Every country has there own set of daily vocabulary that may seem frustrating at first, but you’ll catch on and after a while you will have a wider vocabulary and a new Spanish flavor complementing your new speech.

Case 2: Interpretation

Case 1 wasn’t so bad but case 2 can range from being embarrassed to bar fights, and the latter I’m sure you would like to avoid while being on vacation. There are certain words that are almost universal in all Spanish speaking countries but there are instances where these words do not mean what you think and are actually vulgar. For instance, the word coger. Coger means normally to catch or grasp but in the southern cone (Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay) in particular, the use of coger is extremely vulgar, usually meaning to screw or to fuck, putting it frankly. You can say “Che, cogé esto” while throwing a bottle of water and before your friend catches that bottle he’ll be giving you a good smack in the head.

Don’t worry, the majority of the words that you use will be safe but you should be aware. Most travel books will even identify these "sensitive words" for the country in wish you want to travel. Just remember the most important part of practicing Spanish is to do a little research and learn some local vocabulary before traveling and learn words that you absolutely should never say.