List of Spanish expressions in common English

Categories: Incomplete lists

Here are some words or phrases from the Spanish that are sometimes used in English slang, but have not entered the standard lexicon. There is also a list of English words of Spanish origin.

Contents
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Top of page — See also — External links

A

• Agua – water

B

• Buenas noches – good night
• Buenas tardes – good afternoon
• Bueno – nice, good
• Buenos días – good day

C

• Cañón – canyon
• Carne – meat (as in carne asada)
• Casa – house (as in Mi casa es su casa, ="My house is yours")
• Chica – girl
• Chico – boy
• Cinco – five
• Con – with
• Costa (lit. "coast") – a resort specialized in sun and beach tourism.
• Cuatro – four (as in cuatro, a musical instrument with four strings)
• Cerveza – Beer

D

• De – of
• Del – of the
• Dinero – money
• Dos – two
• Dulce de leche – caramel sauce

E

• El Dorado (lit. the golden one) – a mythical golden city
• El Niño (lit. the boy child - referring to the Christ child) – a major temperature fluctuation in the tropical Pacific Ocean, so named because it often started around Christmas time near Peru

F

• Fiesta – party (the meanings of fiesta festival and holiday are standard English)

G

• Gracias – thank you
• Grande – large

H

• Hasta la vista – see you later
• Hasta mañana – see you tomorrow
• Hola – hello

J

• Juzgado (cf. "hoosegow") – a place of confinement, literally "judge's court"

M

• Machete – a large broad-bladed knife used as a cutting tool or weapon
• Madre – mother
• Mañana (lit. "tomorrow") – I'll do it later.
• Mano – hand, but in English it is mostly used in reference to a fight (see mano-a-mano)
• Mano a mano (lit. "hand to hand") – a confrontation with cooperation
• Mi casa es su casa – (lit: my house is your house) – make yourself welcome
• Muchacho – young man, but also male help
• Mucho – a lot, a lot of (as in Bésame Mucho)
• Muy – very

N

• No comprende – Do(es) not understand (but in Spanish it corresponds to the 3rd person of the verb comprender)
• No problema – Okay (no hay problema in Spanish), often misspoken by English speakers as "No problemo"
• Número uno – Number one

O

• Ocho – eight

P

• Padre – Roman Catholic priest (its main meaning in Spanish is "father")
• Piñata – a game using a colorful suspended candy-and-toy-filled container that children try to break open with a stick
• Pícaro – hardened rogue; star of the picaresque novel
• Piñón – pine nuts
• Plaza (lit. "place") – a public square
• Poncho – a garment made of cloth or other material that has a hole in the middle for the head
• Pronto – immediately
• Pueblo (lit. "village" or "people"/"populus") – the distinctive towns of the Pueblo people, tribes of Native Americans.

Q

• ¿Qué? – "What?"
• ¿Qué pasa? – "What's going on?"
• Queso – cheese

R

• Rodeo (lit. "surrounding") – a spectacle of cowboys and wild cattle.

S

• Salsa – a spicy Mexican-style usually tomato-based sauce (in Spanish, any kind of sauce or gravy), also a style of Latin music or dancing
• Sangría – a wine cooler drink.
• Señorita – ("Miss", dim. of Señora – "Mrs.") unmarried girl or woman
• Sierra (lit. "saw") – a mountain range
• Siesta – a nap
• Sombrero – a very large-brimmed hat (in Spanish, it refers to any kind of hat)
• Suave – smooth
• Supremo (lit. "supreme") – the top man

T

• Tapas (lit. "covers") – finger food
• Toreador or torero – bullfighter
• Taco – A shell made of cornmeal fill with meat, cheese and/or vegetables
• Tres – three (as in the Cuban instrument of three strings)

U

• uno – one

V

• Vamos – let's go
• Vaquero – cowboy (cf. "buckaroo")

W

• Wop – insult for olive-skinned people (from guapo – goodlooking, from Latin vappa vagabond, through Italian guappone, "bravado man")

Y

• Yo quiero – I want (popularized by the "Yo Quiero Taco Bell" campaign)

Z

Zarzuela – Spanish lyrical opera

See also

• List of English words of Spanish origin
• Spanglish
• List of French phrases
• List of French proverbs
• List of Latin words with English derivatives
• List of Latin phrases
• List of Latin proverbs
• List of Greek phrases
• List of German expressions in English
• List of German words and phrases
• French phrases used by English speakers

External links

• Spanish Words Become Our Own