Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Word of the Day: Salado

Salado, meaning 'salty' in most situations, is used in Costa Rica to mean 'unlucky' or 'unfortunate'. Costa Ricans will use salado(a) to lightly tease someone who missed out on a good opportunity. In this sense, it's sort of like saying "too bad" or "tough luck" in a sarcastic way.

The concept of luck is very strong in Costa Rican culture. Ticos will not only employ salado(a) for bad luck, but will also employ the word dichoso(a) for good fortune. (The noun 'dicha' means 'joy', but when put in adjective form in Costa Rica it effectively means 'lucky'.) "Qué dichoso", someone might say when you tell him you're going on vacation.

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