Examples of typical Puerto Rican vocabulary

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See Puerto Rican Spanish

• Achocao (a)= when someone is deep asleep, "out cold".
• Ay, Bendito= an oft-heard classic expression meaning "dear lord!","oh dear","that's too bad, what a shame" "that's the way things go" etc. An all-purpose phrase that can express pity, sarcasm, dismay, etc.
• Aleluya(s), es(son)= mockery towards Protestant Christians
• Amapola= the red hibiscus flower
• Arranca= get with it, leave, accelerate, let's roll!
• Arrancao= lacking of money or in financial problems
• Areyto= a Taíno dance and ceremony
• Babilla= street slang for bravery, boldness.
• Batey= the front yard of the compound, but with packed earth, not grass; a Taíno word. Originally it referred to a sport played by the tainos, not unlike soccer, which was played on such a ground.
• Bembé= A party; an Africanism.
• Bodrogos= Big, ugly, or worn out shoes.
• Boricua, Borinca, Borinquen All three words are claimed to be derived from the Indian name for Puerto Rico and are used with equal frequency on the island. Puerto Ricans living in the US almost always use Boricua (bohr-REE-kwa), most likely due to it being the only one not specifically gendered when used to refer to people, thus making it more like English in its usuage.
• Brisca= the Spanish card game (Like Black Jack) from Naipe Briscia. Rules of Brisca
• Burundanga= a big mixed-up dish of different things; an Africanism
• Caco= A juvenile delinquent or a cheap hoodlum. Commonly used, almost pejoratively, towards fans or musicians of reggaeton music. It is similar to the British English word, chav. Also commonly spelled as kako.
• Caculo= A type of big brown or black beetle
• Cangrimanes= the Big Shots, the big talkers, the blow hards, derived from the English "congressman". It is the origin of the modern slang word cangri commonly used by reggaeton artists and fans, which is roughly equivalent to the American hip-hop slang word "tight"(i.e. excellent, of high quality).
• Capicú= from the word Capicúa, a palindrome: a killer final move in a domino game, where the last bone played could fit on either end of the layout; if not once-in-a-lifetime, it's close. Rules of Puerto Rican Dominoes
• Cemi= stone idols carved by the Taínos
• Chavao= in a bad state or condition
• Chavo= a penny or money in general; comes from octavo the 8th part of a Spanish real coin
• Chequeré= a percussion instrument, made of a large gourd surrounded by a network of beads, that is shaken to produce a rattly rhythm
• China= a sweet orange, called naranja in other Spanish-speaking countries
• Chilear= an Anglicism from the English slang "to chill out" or "calm down/relax". Chileate, mano would be "calm down, bro." Similarly, the word "chilin" in the sense of "cool", which incidentally has also made its way into Puerto Rican vocabularly, along with "nice".
• Chonkear= an Anglicism from the English word "to chunk ". Means someone who wants to vomit.
• Chota= Person who Gossips Constantly
• Colmados= country stores, the corner store, usually small mom and pop type businesses. They are often used in diminutive form, colmaditos.
• Comai= a contraction of comadre, godmother. A close woman friend.
• Compai= a contraction of compadre, godfather. A very close male friend.
• Coquí= a small light brown tree frog, about the size of a nickel, native to the Island. Their loud bird-like two-note singing fills the tropical night air, and their songs fill the Puerto Rican heart with homesickness.
• Cuatro= a typical stringed instrument, smaller than a guitar, and larger than a mandolin, with five sets of doubled strings. Essential for traditional Puerto Rican Christmas music.
• Cucubano= firefly; a Taíno word
• Dame un break= (or breakicito) an Anglicism which roughly means "give me a moment", but without the negative connotation of its possibly American slang phrase ancestor, "give me a break".
• Desto= expression meaning "thing" which is used at a loss of words. Alternatively, the word "este" is also used in certain parts of the island. Roughly equivalent to the English "Uh" or "Um" speech disfluencies.
• Dujo= the stone stool, the throne of the Taíno caciques
• Espares= spark plugs, from English. (compare bujías in Spanish elsewhere)
• Eñangotar= to duck or to bend, compare to agachar in other countries
• Ficha= in south and central areas, the U.S. 5 cents coin
• Fotuto= a conch shell trumpet of the Taínos, also used in slavery times. In modern times it is used to refer to a megaphone, or any other contraption, especially when the person doesn't know, or forgot the name of the device (Compare the English "thing" when used to refer to an object).
• Franfura= Regionalism for hot dog.
• Fresa , Fresita= Spanish word for strawberry. Means someone who likes pop-oriented light music or lifestyle. Also used to refer to comedicaly light movies.
• Fufú= a juju or spell; an Africanism
• Gandinga= a stew with pork tripe, kidneys, liver; an Africanism
• Gomas= Tires, as in those used by a vehicle. It literally means rubbers.
• Guagua= a large passenger bus, a van or a light truck(i.e. a pick-up truck or an SUV), a Guanche word, also used in the Canary Islands and in Cuba. Basically, almost any large multi-passenger motor vehicle can be called a guagua.
• Guaraguao= Red-tailed Hawk; a Taíno word
• Guille= a local way of referring to "pride". Example, "El camina con un guille." Translated: "He walks with so much pride."
• Guineo= a sweet banana, so named because they came from Africa
• Güiro= a traditional Caribbean rhythm instrument, made of a gourd with striations cut into its hard skin, scratched with long metal tines called puas set into a small wooden handle
• Hojaldre= popular local spice cake. Not to be confused with hojaldre in other countries, which means puff pastry, hoja = leaf which is like flake.
• Janguear= from English slang meaning to "hang out"
• Jueyes= sea crabs
• Juyilanga= to get away; escape
• Limber= frozen treat made of juice or coconut milk. usually sold for 50 cents to a dollar per cup.
• Mahones= Jeans. This is the plural form. The singular form is mahón which is used to mean denim.
• Maví= semi-fermented sweet tea made from a tropical tree bark, like home-made root beer on steroids
• Maceta= a cheapskate, skinflint
• Magdalena, es una= a slang used in several idioms, maybe translated closely to cry-baby or a person that complains much
• Maldeamor= lovesickness, but literally "the badness of love", which is also a connotation. Recently, it has been the title of a recent Puerto Rican.
• Mano= derived from "hermano", brother
• Me cago en tu mai (pai)= one of many boricua daily driving quotes literally meaning "I shit on your mom (dad)".
• Na' ma'(also ma' na') = No more, that's all (nada más )
• Pa' ca= over here (para aca)
• Pa' lla= over there (para alla)
• Parselero(a)= a very loud person. Originates from the loud way of one person talking at far distance, from one "parcela", or parcel, to another.
• Pasto= literally means grass, local term used for Marihuana
• Pava= the distinctive palm straw hat used by jíbaros and sugarcane workers in the early 20th century; now a symbol of the PPD Popular Party
• Pegao= the rice that sticks to the very bottom of the cauldron and gets crunchy; considered the best part by many boricuas
• Pelao= flat, stone broke (1), it may mean with no money (2), also wounded (3)
• Perra= a penny, 1 cent, derived from the Spanish Perra, a mid-19th century 5-pesetas coin (similar in color and size to an American penny) that featured the (poorly sketched) profile of a lion, which reminded Spaniards of a dog. However, this can also be a severely insulting term equivalent of the English word "bitch."
• Perreo = A controversial, sexual dance often performed to reggaeton music. Roughly equivalent of the English slang for "doggystyle".
• Peseta= a quarter, 25 cents, which is similar in size and color to a Spanish peseta coin of the late 19th century.
• Peso= a dollar
• Playera= a sleeveless T-shirt, popular at the beach (playa ). It's also the name given to the mullet hairstyle.
• Pon= a ride/lift (usually by car). Example: ¿Me das pon?' ("would you give me a ride?").
• Publico= a van which drives a set route between the main plazas of towns, taking passengers for a set fee; reasonable transportation (but slow.)
• Quora or Cuora= 25 cents U.S. money (Called Quarter Dollar): however, this is hardly used anymore, and is more commonly seen as how some Puerto Ricans mispronounce "quarter" when speaking English.
• Quesito= a pastry with cream cheese inside a flakey crispy crust with sugar frosting, syrup or honey on it. Literally translates as "little cheese"
• Revolú= A mess. Comes from the Spanish revolcar which means to scramble or to disarrange.
• Sencillo= a dime, ten cents, it also means easy, like for example El examen estaba sencillo. (The test was easy)
• Sato= stray dogs that wander the street or the beach.
• Socio= refer to someone, guy or other person.
• Teca= from the Cuban slang word for heroin, "manteca" (lard)
• Tecato (a)= drug addict, usually homeless. Usually used as a casual insult in various situations, such as when someone is being cheap.
• Tenis= Sneakers. Running/walking shoes. Also spelled as 'tennis'.
• Temporal= a hurricane
• Tráfala= of low quality(1), doesn't reaches expecation(2), junk(3), a wasted person(4)
• Tumbao= that highly desirable African sexiness, the impossible to describe "It" factor. A confident, "pimpin'" attitude; to walk or strut with a defiant or insolent air. Equivalent to the English word "swagger". Not to be confused with tumbe, which is sexual slang for "scoring" a chick; i.e. Me la tumbe (I made her fall [for me]).
• Vacilón= hanging out, chillin'. it also means a noisy racket.
• Vaguada= a spell of rainy weather when a cold air mass from the continent comes down into the Caribbean basin on its way to Africa
• Vellón= a dime, 10 cents (although in some areas vellón is a nickel, math books established the vellón as the dime)
• Vellonera= a jukebox, from the old days when they operated on nickels
• Wepa= Whoa, yo, hey, go for it, yeah, cool
• Wikén= an Anglicism, the weekend
• Y tu abuela…= literally, "And your grandmother?" but not as aggressive as "Yo'Mama" in present-day English. Closer to "Who's Your Daddy?" meaning don't forget where you came from. Comes from a famous Negroide poem ¿Y tu agüela aonde ejtá? where somebody hid their grandmother because she looks too African.
• Zafacón= trash can; the theory that it comes from the English words "safety can," supposedly an old military expression, is unsupported by fact