Some fun - Dominican SLANG

Something a little more fun to lighten things up.


DOMINICAN SLANG


We joke here often that we do not speak  Spanish, we speak Dominican.  It's true. 


One of the hardest things to get a handle on is slang.  After  more than 19 years here, I still get surprised.  Like many countries we have regional  variances and variances by city. There are variances by age groups or generations, by lifestyle and it goes on.   


I will start us off. On another thread I mentioned "Fulano".    My first  6 months or so, well maybe  2 years, I kept hearing about Fulano. Fulano did this, fulano said that etc etc. I thought wow either  Fulano is a popular name or he is on very busy guy.


Nope, neither. Fulano is that  Non- name to refer to in generalities.  Kinda like  John Doe you know. 


One day I finally asked a Dominican friend, who  the hell is Fulano?  AND the laughter started.   Yes I was the butt of that joke for many many months. I was the gringa who did not understand Fulano.



Add to this, what is the slang that gets you? 

Although we don't yet live in the DR, my husband and most of our friends are Dominican so we speak "Dominican" here constantly. There is so much slang that it amazes me all the time. Some of my favorites and the ones I hear constantly:


chillaxing: relaxing/chilling


Vivaporú: Vicks Vapor Rub. This is the cure for EVERYTHING! Oh my gosh, my MIL should have bought Vicks stock years ago. She'd be a multimillionaire with the way they use it to cure all ailments. LOL


Conflé: Corn Flakes


Vaina which is another "general" term for, it seems, anything: que es esa vaina, por favor pásame esa vaina, etc.


Un chin: just a little


Que lo que: what's up


And, I've always liked "un medio pollo" when ordering a coffee with milk, although I've only heard this in the capital.  My husband never believed me until he saw it on the menu at a coffee shop.

How about...

Tato -  which means like OK or thats it.

Dime tigere - which like whats going on? or how are you?

Eso si esta feo! - Which means thats not good or that is ugly which means not good!

Just a few, I have millions lol

@planner Good to know, thanks.

Nitido !!

How about...
Tato - which means like OK or thats it.
Dime tigere - which like whats going on? or how are you?
Eso si esta feo! - Which means thats not good or that is ugly which means not good!
Just a few, I have millions lol
-@polo1club


Digeme tigre.....

apparently guapo=means grumpy?? in Dominican

@brodies2013 Perhaps a good looking grump? 🤡

Guapo/guapa has different meanings according to how it is being used.


1) Beautiful : una mujer guapa ; a beautiful woman


2) Getting angry : ponerse guapo ; "Mi padre se puso guapo" => " My father got angry"


3) Ugly/Criminal/Bad guy ... : un guapo : "Un barrio de guapos" => "a bad neighborhood" like in Willie Colón and Hector Lavoe 's song "Calle Luna Calle Sol"


Calle Luna Calle Sol min 2:00 to min 2:12 :


"En los barrios de guapos no se vive tranquilo

Mide bien tus palabras o no vales ni un kilo."

Let me add a few more. I love Dominican slangs…

  • un montón- part of the dominican metric system that refers to a big amount
  • Toy rulay- I'm feeling relax, happy
  • Mai or pai - mom or dad ( pai as in padre)
  • chercha.  Americanism that refers to cheers and church. Means having a good time. “ estamos en chercha- we are having a good time or party

Love these!  I speak fairly fluent Spanish, but some of them are new (Toy Rulay, etc.).  Using them I get my Dominican friends laughing.  Any more are welcome ...

Sangano - means being goofy, in a "sucker" kind of way, like you are gullible.. something along that line lol

e.g :

Tu si eres sangano!  You sure are gullible

More.....


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