{"id":29501,"date":"2023-12-01T11:56:48","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T11:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/?p=29501"},"modified":"2025-08-17T11:55:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T11:55:19","slug":"costa-rican-spanish-phrases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/2023\/12\/01\/costa-rican-spanish-phrases\/","title":{"rendered":"Costa Rican Spanish Phrases"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every country has its phrases and slang. Costa Rica is no exception, with the most famous example being <a href=\"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/2021\/04\/19\/why-do-they-always-say-pura-vida\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"17102\">Pura Vida<\/a>. Below are phrases that are unique to Ticos and Costa Rica. Did we miss any? Add them below in the comments section.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image29501_91ae70-08 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image29501_91ae70-08\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"412\" src=\"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1000-colones-rojo-copy-768x412.webp\" alt=\"1000 colones un rojo\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-29556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1000-colones-rojo-copy-768x412.webp 768w, https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1000-colones-rojo-copy-300x161.webp 300w, https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1000-colones-rojo-copy-1024x550.webp 1024w, https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1000-colones-rojo-copy.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption><em>Everyone gets confused the first time they step on a bus in Costa Rica and the driver asks for &#8220;un Rojo&#8221;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Most Common Costa Rican Words &amp; Phrases<\/h2>\n\n\n<style>.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id29501_d97b01-c6 .kb-table-of-content-wrap{padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id29501_d97b01-c6 .kb-table-of-contents-title-wrap{padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id29501_d97b01-c6 .kb-table-of-contents-title{font-weight:regular;font-style:normal;}.kb-table-of-content-nav.kb-table-of-content-id29501_d97b01-c6 .kb-table-of-content-wrap .kb-table-of-content-list{font-weight:regular;font-style:normal;margin-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;}<\/style>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Ticos\/Ticas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A tico is a native Costa Rican. The nickname comes from Costa Ricans adding &#8220;ito&#8221; and &#8220;ita&#8221; (making something small) to the end of words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pronunciation:<\/strong> Pronounced as &#8220;TEE-kos\/TEE-kas&#8221;. The emphasis is on the first syllable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Los Ticos son conocidos por su hospitalidad.<\/em><\/p>\n<cite>Translation: The Ticos are known for their hospitality.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mae<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is similar to &#8220;dude&#8221; in the US, but used much more frequently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pronunciation:<\/strong> Pronounced as &#8220;mah-AY&#8221;. The sound is similar to saying &#8220;my&#8221; with a slight &#8216;ah&#8217; sound at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u00a1Hola, mae! \u00bfC\u00f3mo est\u00e1s?<\/em><\/p>\n<cite>Translation: Hey dude! How are you?<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pura Vida<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We wrote a blogpost on this <a href=\"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/2021\/04\/19\/why-do-they-always-say-pura-vida\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"17102\">which you can read here<\/a> in short it means pure life and can be used as a greeting or farewell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Used as a greeting or farewell, &#8220;\u00a1Pura vida, amigo!&#8221; (Pure life, my friend!) or as a response to &#8220;\u00bfC\u00f3mo est\u00e1s?&#8221; (How are you?), &#8220;\u00a1Pura vida!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rojo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a fun one. With our colorful currency, in laid-back settings, the price of something can be quoted by the color of the bill. A good comparison of this is in the US calling a $100 bill a Benjamin. Un Rojo is 1,000 colones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pronunciation:<\/strong> Pronounced as &#8220;ROH-ho&#8221;. The &#8216;j&#8217; is pronounced like the &#8216;h&#8217; in &#8220;hello&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Eso cuesta un rojo<\/em>.<\/p>\n<cite>Translation: That costs a thousand colones.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Teja<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is also about money, and is slang for 100 colones. However, unlike un rojo, the history of the nickname isn&#8217;t as clear. A &#8220;teja&#8221; translates to a roof tile. It&#8217;s said that way back, a single roof tile was 100 colones, and was so commonly bought that eventually una teja simply meant 100 colones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pronunciation:<\/strong> Pronounced as &#8220;TEH-hah&#8221;. Like &#8216;Rojo&#8217;, the &#8216;j&#8217; is soft, similar to the &#8216;h&#8217; in &#8220;hello&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Me dio una teja de vuelto.<\/em><\/p>\n<cite>Translation: He gave me 100 colones in change.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tuanis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This is a phrase that means cool or when you want to let somebody know that everything is good or awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pronunciation:<\/strong> Pronounced as &#8220;twah-NEES&#8221;. The first part is like &#8216;twa&#8217; from &#8216;twang&#8217;, and the second part is like &#8216;knees&#8217; without the &#8216;k&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Este lugar es tuanis.<\/em><\/p>\n<cite>Translation: This place is cool.<\/cite><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every country has its phrases and slang. Costa Rica is no exception, with the most famous example being Pura Vida. Below are phrases that are&#8230;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-10","category-costa-rica"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":10,"label":"2023"},{"value":16,"label":"Costa Rica"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/1000-colones-rojo-copy-1024x550.webp",1024,550,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Matt","author_link":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/author\/admin\/"},"comment_info":7,"category_info":[{"term_id":10,"name":"2023","slug":"2023","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":10,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":10,"category_count":7,"category_description":"","cat_name":"2023","category_nicename":"2023","category_parent":0},{"term_id":16,"name":"Costa Rica","slug":"costa-rica","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":28,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":16,"category_count":28,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Costa Rica","category_nicename":"costa-rica","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29501"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33441,"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29501\/revisions\/33441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pacuareoutdoorcenter.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}