A list of the words, frases, and dichos from the La Vecina recaps. Thanks to everyone who contributed!
ABCDEFGHLMNOPRSTVDICHOSFRASES
- adelantito – (a little) deposit/advance
- agallas – guts, audacity, daring
- alcahuete – pimp
- amante – lover
- arnica – a plant in the daisy family with pain relief properties
- atolondrada – flighty
- atrabancada – always getting into scrapes
- aventón – ride
- avistamiento – sighting
- axilas – underarms
- balas de salva – blanks
- balneario – spa/resort
- berrinchudo – cranky, tantrum-y, hot tempered
- bitácora – flight book, flight plan
- bizco – cross-eyed
- brecha – hole
- brete – fix, jam, difficulty
- brincar la barda – jump the fence
- capullito de alelí – little sweet pea bud
- cara de bobo – dumbstruck face
- casa chica – small house, presumably where one has stashed one’s amante
- casero – homemade
- centro comercial – mall
- chal – shawl, wrap
- chamacona – hot babe
- chaparro – shorty
- chilpachole – a seafood soup
- chinampina – a small firecracker
- chiquita, pero picosa – small, but mighty; literally small, but spicy
- chismean – they gossip
- chismear – gossip
- chivo expiatorio – scapegoat
- chupetones – hickeys
- circuito resonador – resonating circuit
- club de buceo – diving club
- coartada(la) – alibi, excuse
- con los pies por delante – feet first; in a coffin
- convenio – contract; agreement
- cuerda – sane
- del nabo – it’s awful
- desbaratada – she throws things into confusion
- descuidar – to neglect
- desprecios – contempt, insults
- destornillada – kinda nutty
- engreida – vain
- envenenamiento – poisoning
- es de confianza – can be trusted
- fallar – fail
- fiera – wild animal
- formación – formal education
- francotirador – sniper
- fuego – fever blister
- fuegos artificiales – fireworks
- fuga – leak
- gato – lackey
- gaveta – drawer
- gis – chalk
- globo sonda – weather balloon
- hojas de guayaba – guava leaves
- lío – problem
- liofilizado – freeze dried
- mala espina – a bad feeling
- maldita vieja – damn bitch
- mascada – silk handkerchief
- medio ambiente – environment
- memoria – jump drive
- merodear – prowl; lurk
- meter en cintura – keep under control
- meterle en cintura – rein him in
- milpa – corn field
- motín(el) – uprising, mutiny, rebellion
- mucha cola que pisen – “a lot of tail to be stepped on”; he’s a shady dude
- multimetro – multimeter, it measures various things, hence “multi,” like voltage, current, and resistance
- necio – cross between “stubborn” and “dumb”
- nefasta – terrible
- ni los zapatos entran – by force you can’t even get shoes on you; can’t make a square peg fit in a round hole.
- ni que fuera para tanto – What’s the big deal?
- O.V.N.I. (ovni) – “objeto volador no identificado”
- olímpico – a goal scored from the corner
- El Pambolero – the footballer
- papel cuadriculado – graph paper
- pedante – pretentious
- el pepinillo del diablo – the squirting cucumber
- perito – expert; specialist
- perro – figuratively, “tenacious”
- pipa – tanker truck
- piscadores – pickers
- poco hombre – not man enough
- poner changuitos – cross your fingers
- por revoltosa – for being disorderly
- prenda azul – blue article of clothing
- prision preventiva – in custody; imprisionment without bail
- pueblerina – small town hick
- puente – bypass
- racimo – bunch
- rencilla – quarrel
- retrato hablado – composite sketch
- sandez(la) [often in the plural “sandeces”] – nonsense
- segundones – lit. second-class citizens
- tío político – uncle-in-law, uncle by marriage
- titipuchal – buttload
- trillado – trite
- vil – vile
- voz de mando – authority
- El león cree que todos son de su condición. – the lion thinks eveyone is a lion; you’re projecting your own guilt
- El que nada debe, nada teme. – one who owes nothing, fears nothing; I’m innocent, so I have nothing to fear
- Entre gitanos, no nos leemos la suerte. – among gypsies, we don’t read each other’s fortunes; let’s not pretend we don’t both know what’s going on here
- Las penas con pan son menos. – “troubles, with bread, are lessened”; your troubles are easier to deal with when you’re not hungry
- Muerto el perro, se acaba la rabia. – Dead dogs don’t bite
- Piensa mal y acertarás. – Think the worst and you’ll be right.
- una de cal y otra de arena – “one good and one bad”, “the bitter with the sweet” , “life has its ups and downs”
- Amor is ser feliz. – Love is being happy.
- Eso te lo crea tú abuela. – Go tell your grandmother that BS story.
- Ganas no me faltan. – I am not lacking in the desire.
- Me desocupé. – I got un-busy; I freed up my schedule
- Ni modo, ma. Es por una buena causa. – Oh well, mom. It’s for a good cause.
- No me queda de otra. – I have no other choice
- ¡No se vale! – No fair!
- Por mi, no hay ningun problema de que este cohete despegue. – As far as I’m concerned there is no problem with getting this rocket to launch.
- ¿Qué te traes? – What’s up with you? What are you up to?
- Vas a saber quien soy. – “you’ll find out who I am”; I’ll beat your face in
- ¿Ya qué? – Wadda ya gonna do?
awww just reading some of the words and phrases reminds me of episodes or incidents in the show. ex del nabo – Vladimir getting scolded for using it, and then Fidel uses it, and all the fun descriptions of Sara *sigh* Some words I had learned and remembered and some I needed reminders of. Thanks so much for compiling and posting this!
It was a nice walk down memory lane *sob*