Now that I have been here for over 2 months I think it is safe to say that Puerto Ricans have their own unique dialect for sure- completely unlike any of Latin America or Spain, or even their neighbors in the Dominican Republic. They have a lot of random words they use, that I think of as "slang" that you would never find in a dictionary, probably derived from the languages once used by their Taino Indian ancesters who ruled the island before Christopher Colombus and the Spanish settlers took over in 1492. Also, some things they say are pretty much, legitamently Spanglish- they will take english verbs and make them Spanish by just adding -er, -ir, or -ar to the end of them (which makes something a verb in Spanish). It is kind of funny actually. So here is my short guide of interpretations for anyone thinking of visiting Puerto Rico, this may be useful!- First thing first, Puerto Ricans refer to themselves as being "Boricua". This is derived from the fact that when the Taino Indians ruled the island they named the island Borikén.
Spanglish...- Chillear = to chill
- Tripear = to trip (but used to mean "he/she is trippin" (ha) ), o Estas tripeando- You're trippin'
- Janguear = to hang out (pronounced haungear)
- Gufear = to goof off
- Mai, o Pai- mami o papi = term of endearment
- Zafacón = Garbage can
- ¿Qué es la qué hay? = Used constantly here. Puerto Rican slang for "What's Up?"
- Pichea = My favorite Puerto Rican Word. It means "Forget about it!"
- Nena = Term of endearment
- Wepaa = My second favorite Puerto Rican word. Term of excitement which can mean, All Right! Congratulations! Yeah! Woo Hooo!
- Guagua = A city bus
- Chavos = money, change
- Cafre = Puerto Rican saying; meaning low-class or really tacky behavior. Often displayed by trailer trash. Some of our friends have referred to it meaning "ghetto"
- Cabron = Bad word. Not exactly unique to Puerto Rico, but I had never heard it before I came here and it is used a looooot by young people. It has a million meanings too:
-Hey cabron! (Hey dude!)
-That damn cabron (insulting)
-That new CD is cabron (nice)
English words they use constantly thrown right in the mix of a spanish sentence...
- Dame un break = Give me a break!
- Que cool = How cool! (My roommate says this one all the time!)
- Anyways = Mid-sentence in Spanish it is just funny to hear even my professors say "Tendran el primer examen el lunes pero Anyways, vamos a continuar con capitulo 4 hoy en clase."
- Relax = They just really like this english word I think! I hear it all the time!
- Estas Brutal! = They use the word Brutal all the time to mean "cool" basically here!
