Captivating Cuba

¡Hola!

¿Qué tal, compadres?

Today I thought to give you a lesson in jerga Cubana, that is to say Cuban Slang.

I have not yet met a Cuban who does not love to talk, but for a character flaw, this is a good one, no? You know that in Cuba we are very famous for our accent, but what I want to tell you of today is how we express ourselves. When I think of the things we say in our Cuban castellano I see how strange they appear to my ears in English! Maybe some of these will make you smile, I don't know...

Es un arroz con mango (It is a 'Rice with Mango') - It is a very complicated thing.

Este huevo quiere sal (This egg wants salt) - What does he / she want?

Pedro cantó el manicero (Peter 'sang the peanut-vendor') - Peter died.

Strange, no? But in English you say that 'the fat lady sings' when something is finished, so maybe it is not so different!

If you want to be witty about your friends, and every Cuban does, here are my favourite phrases that we use:

Tiene la cabeza llena de humo (He / She has a head full of smoke) - He / She is an airhead.

Es bueno cuando esta dormiendo (He / She is good when they are sleeping) - He / She is only good when they're sleeping.

Me importa tres pepinos (I care three cucumbers) - I don't care at all.

No tiene dos dedos de frente (He / She doesn't have two fingers of forehead) - He/she has no intelligence at all.

Es la pata del diablo (He / She is the leg of the devil) - He / She likes to play pranks.

Sigue dormiendo de ese lado (Keep sleeping on that side) - Keep on waiting?

Ok, unless you are a very charming person I would recommend waiting until you are good friends with somebody before telling them these things!

¡Mucha suerte!

Hector Gonzales

posted at: 16:20 | path: /hector | permanent link to this entry | 0 comments