Foul language (Advanced): Common swear words and phrases

🇪🇸 In Spain coño is a common filler for surprise or annoyance, often tacked onto the end of a sentence. In much of Latin America it's a lot more offensive, so be careful outside Spain.

💬 Putting coño right after a question word adds "the hell". It works with others: ¿dónde coño está? "where the hell is it?".

💬 Literally hostia is the communion wafer used in church, which is why it works as a curse.

🇪🇸 It's very typically Spanish and hardly used in Latin America. ¡Hostia! is everyday surprise among friends, but it can offend religious listeners.

💬 Without una, it describes someone's character: tiene mala hostia "he's got a nasty temper".

💬 me cago en "I shit on" can take almost anything after it. la leche "the milk" is a softened version that's fine in mixed company.

💬 The word never changes: un gilipollas, una gilipollas, unos gilipollas.

🇪🇸 This is Spain's go-to insult and is largely unknown in Latin America. It's rude, but not the worst thing you can call someone.

💬 no seas is "don't be", the form ser takes after no in commands. Swap the word: no seas tonto "don't be silly".

🇪🇸 It's a milder, very Spanish insult. Friends often use it half-jokingly.

🇪🇸 Between close friends, ¡qué cabrón! can be almost admiring, like "you crafty sod!". Said to a stranger, it's a real insult.

💬 Literally zorra means "female fox". The male form zorro just means "sly".

🇪🇸 Aimed at a woman, it's a seriously offensive insult.

💬 It goes before the noun and changes to match it: puto coche "fucking car", puta lluvia "fucking rain".

🇪🇸 This is one of the strongest insults in Spanish. Only use it if you mean real trouble.

💬 ordenador is the Spain-only word for computer. In Latin America people say computadora.

💬 Despite the crude words, it means something is excellent. Lo pasamos de puta madre means "we had a fantastic time".

💬 tener cojones means "to have guts". On its own, ¡cojones! is an exclamation of annoyance.

💬 You can swap in a polite word and keep the same meaning: me importa un pimiento "I couldn't care less" is safe anywhere.

💬 The -azo ending turns coño into "a huge drag". The clean equivalent is es un rollo "it's a drag".

💬 This is calla "be quiet" with te stuck on the end, which is why the written accent appears. The same pattern gives siéntate "sit down".

💬 a tomar por culo can also mean "miles from anywhere": vive a tomar por culo "he lives in the middle of nowhere".

💬 The -ota ending makes palabra "word" bigger and uglier, giving "swear word".

💬 After no in a command, decir becomes digas. Another example: no digas eso "don't say that".