#NOTA PUERTO RICO SLANG HOW TO#

Instead, they’ll likely use the Puerto Rican slang words of nene and nena, to describe a little boy or a little girl. Whilst this is grammatically correct, chances are you’ll never hear Puerto Ricans use it.

#NOTA PUERTO RICO SLANG HOW TO#

Likely, one of the first things you were taught in Spanish, was how to say “boy” and “girl” those being niño and niña. This latter interpretation is naturally more commonly used with small children, rather than with adults. Instead, it’s more like when you’re with a close friend and you recount a really embarrassing story, that makes your friend look incredibly stupid.Īlternatively, tirar can also be used in a related albeit different, way: To tease. Generally speaking tirar isn’t used to mean something akin to bullying. Whilst this way is still common, most Puerto Ricans will use it to mean something like “to make fun of” instead!

When you were learning Spanish, chances are that you learned that tirar is the Spanish verb meaning “To throw away”. “Isabel es muy dura cantando, ¿La has escuchado?” 13. If you’re describing how good a guy is at something, you’d use duro, whilst if you’re describing a woman, you’d use dura! The difference between duro and dura is dependent on gender. However, Puerto Ricans generally use it to describe how good someone is at a particular thing. When you were learning Spanish, you probably learned that duro means “hard”. Out of all the Puerto Rican slang words, duro and/or dura is potentially one of the hardest to get your head around, especially if you aren’t a native Spanish speaker! Over time, they began to refer to themselves as Boricua, meaning “From Boriquín” in Spanish, to remember their history. When the Spanish conquered Puerto Rico, it brought settlers of its own, many of whom interbred with the native Taínos. The term itself derives from what the native Taíno people used to call the island itself: Boriken or as the Spanish wrote it, Boriquín. Whilst in Canada, it’s Canuck.įor Puerto Ricans? The term they often use to describe themselves is boricua. In several other languages’ slang, there is a slang way of describing what nationality you are.

Of that 580 million, six million speak Puerto Rican Spanish, mostly in Puerto Rico. It is also one of the most widely used, being used not only on the island of Puerto Rico, but also all throughout the US!Īs of the time of writing, Spanish is one of the world’s most spoken languages, being spoken by around 580 million. Puerto Rican slang is some of the most diverse, original and interesting slang on the planet.

Nota puerto rico slang