Rapu Davi

El estilo pachuco, the way Costa Ricans describe a very "ordinario" way of speaking, has a different way to say just about anything. If you ever meet a hopeless pachuco, someone who makes a point of using the slang version of EVERYTHING, he might even give you a different variation of Costa Rica's signature 'pura vida'. "Rapu davi, jema," he might say to you. Please note that this utterance is simply the juxtaposition of syllables in the words 'pura vida, maje'. (Note that 'maje' is now popularly pronounced and spelled 'mae' and is often used in the same way and with the same frequency as 'dude' in English.)

Rapu davi, goami. :::wink:::

By the way, I just Googled 'rapu davi' and one of the top web results was a page about Chile's Easter Island, or 'Rapa Nui' in the local tongue. (That is, Easter Island's natives' language, not Spanish.) I don't really care to research that one much more, but every time I had previously thought of 'rapu davi', Easter Island had come to mind. Maybe I'm not the only one...

Holy Smokes!!!

In Costa Rica, you might hear an old woman exclaim "diantres!" I used to always wonder why one of my neighbors would always say that when she was shocked by something. Good ol' Mailí, an Evangelical Christian, eventually explained to me that it is an acceptable way to avoid saying 'diablos', which means 'devils'. It seems that it's not only English that has those loopholes for saying quite nearly what you mean, but without the negative stigma of actually doing it.

Interesante, ¿es o no es?

Pura Vida,

;)

You'll Enjoy this Post (God Willing)

The use of 'God' in Costa Rican Spanish can be quite perplexing to the lay observer. Costa Ricans, whether particularly religious or not, will invoke 'Dios' for all sorts of circumstances. Below are a few of the most common expressions that use the lord's name:

Gracias a Dios - Meaning 'thanks to God', this expression follows the telling of good news. "My son got into the University of his choice, gracias a Dios", a Costa Rican might say. "I'm doing great today, gracias a Dios". You get the point.

Si Dios quiere - Costa Ricans can hardly ever make any sort of future projection without putting 'God willing' before or after it. Even things that seem largely within the control of the speaker are accompanied by 'si Dios quiere'. This expression often causes confusion between Costa Ricans and foreigners. Gringos often wonder, "will this person actually attend the 4 o'clock meeting, or will he just pray for it to be so?" Very often, ONLY GOD KNOWS!!! ***For an entertaining little parody that exemplifies this cultural phenomenon, although in an exaggerated manner, visit http://www.ruralcostarica.com/si-dios-quiere.asp.

There are several more references to God that I'll touch on in the next post.

Dios me los bendiga ;)

Futbol vs. Fútbol

Soccer in Costa Rica is pronounced futbol, with the accent over the last syllable. This is different from the standard Spanish fútbol that people say in other parts of the Spanish-speaking world. Interestingly enough, though, Costa Ricans will still spell soccer with the standard 'fútbol' orthography.

Ir v. Irse

In Costa Rica use irse only when someone is going away for good. Anything that is only temporary only warrants the verb ir. So, if you're going to the United States to visit your family, say "Voy a los Estados Unidos". Don't say "Me voy para los Estados Unidos", unless you really are moving back to the United States. I used this last sentence once, which prompted a number of mushy text messages to my cell phone. After realizing what had happened, I had to notify people that I would be back within a few weeks.

Pura Vida,

;)

¿Quién es más macho?

In Costa Rica macho doesn't mean macho. Well, it does, but it most often means blonde. Just like any other Spanish adjective, it has a masculine and feminine form, so a macha would be a blonde female. The word rubio/a is understood in Costa Rica, but the preferred term is macho/a. (You will most often hear rubia when referring to the local beer Pilsen, which is a blonde)

So, if you, as a light-haired foreigner, hear someone call you macho, don't get all weird about it. She's likely not coming onto you, but simply identifying you with respect to your hair color. (Foreigners in any Latin country should get used to commentary on physical attributes, as Latinos have no shame in telling you that you're very fat, skinny, pale, or dark-skinned) Also, don't be alarmed if someone calls you gringo, as Americans are very well-liked in Costa Rica and the word gringo does not carry the same negative connotation like in other places and time periods in Latin America.

Pura Vida...

Tico Matrimony

Ticos, although very Catholic in a number of ways, stray from traditional Catholic values in their marriages...in that they often don't exist. Many Ticos will refer to their live-in boyfriends and girlfriends as mi marido or mi mujer, respectively. This kind of pre-marital co-habitation happens all the time in Costa Rica. Instead of casados the two parties are considered juntados. They use the verb juntarse to describe formation of these uniones libres, as they call them. I found it very surprising that these arrangements are not only common, but are also widely accepted in the mainstream culture. It makes you wonder what it really means to be Catholic. Obviously it differs from one culture to another. More deep thoughts to follow...

Nicas y Ticos

In Costa Rica, Nicaraguan is almost always said "nica". The word can be both masculine and feminine, depending--of course--on the situation. Although experience in Costa Rica might sometimes indicate otherwise, nica is not necessarily a racial slur. Unfortunately, Costa Ricans often speak disparagingly of their Central American neighbors, so the term (nica) is often used in an unflattering way.

Although I hesitate to weigh in on relations between Costa Ricans and Nicaraguans, a topic that deserves much more attention than a blog entry, I will say that Nicaraguans are often treated unfairly in Costa Rica and are used as a scapegoat for social ills that Costa Rican society as a whole is reluctant to own up to. (Perhaps it's important to note here that an estimated one million+ Nicaraguans are thought to reside in Costa Rica)

Bi-curious nomenclature

On a few occasions in rural Costa Rica, I heard people referring to a homosexual as homosensual, instead of the standard homosexual. Aside from finding this very amusing, I also thought it a more flattering term. "I'm not a homosexual; I'm a homosensual," someone might say in English. I love it.

Leche de Vaca

Rural Costa Ricans say leche de vaca to distinguish farm-fresh milk from powdered milk. The first time I heard this I thought "why the hell would you have to say that it's cow milk?" It didn't help matters that the woman who first offered me leche de vaca had recently had a baby. Wow, awkward.

To be abundantly clear, Costa Ricans (adults) only drink milk from cows.

Not the King's Spanish

In Costa Rica you might hear más bueno, más malo, más mejor, and más peor (often pronounced pior). Yes, these are all incorrect superlatives, but they are quite common in Costa Rica. To all you impressionable kids out there, stick to mejor and peor when trying to saying better or best, and worse or worst, respectively.

What is it worth?

Costa Ricans rarely ask "¿cuánto cuesta?" to figure out how much something costs. They most often ask "¿cuánto vale?" I was extremely sensitive to this because of my interest in business and economics. Why should the seller alone determine what something is worth? (The seller can determine price, but not worth) I find it odd that someone would ask a stranger what value he would enjoy from buying something. I also find it strange that when bargaining with a seller, that seller will insist that something is worth more than what I'm willing to pay. Well, I understand that sometimes the buyer can be unreasonable in his offer, but in my experience Costa Ricans and gringos alike will overpay for something because they are too concerned with respecting what something vale. Similarly, they are also far too impressed with themselves when they get something for less than what it vale.

Anyway, Costa Ricans would do well to figure out that the price someone wants to charge often has very little to do with actual value. I would say the same thing goes for tourists in Costa Rica, but I think tourists who haggle too much end up being bitter about their vacations. (Yes, people try to make money off of rich gringos--deal with it)

Derogatory Suffixes

Costa Ricans use diminutive suffixes heavily in their daily lives. Although some of these suffixes, such as -illo, can be derogatory, in Costa Rica they are usually employed to place emphasis on the noun or adjective to which it's attached. Also, Costa Ricans are usually mild-mannered people and will go to great lengths to avoid verbal conflict.

With that said, Costa Ricans do sometimes use derogatory suffixes to express dissatisfaction with something. For example, a Costa Rican might refer to a group of people as 'esa gentuza', meaning 'those trashy people'. Another suffix is -ucho, which has a similarly negative connotation. "Vamos para Cartucho", as someone might say, lamenting a trip to the city of Cartago. (Just for the record, I have nothing against Cartago--it's lovely)

Go here for more information on Costa Rican suffixes

Ginger Ale

If you go to Costa Rica and want to order a ginger ale, do it like this:

"Regáleme una gin"

Gin is pronounced like the English "jean". It is feminine in this case because it is una bebida gaseosa, just like una Pilsen or una Imperial, the two most popular beers in Costa Rica, are feminine because they are cervezas.

If you say cerveza de jengibre, the waitress probably won't understand you.

Pura Vida,

Thomas

Vos Conjugations

Vos, as one might expect, is essentially the singular version of vosotros, only that it's used for the most part in Latin America (although not everywhere in Latin America). Although still not quite as accepted in formal language, vos is becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday language in many different countries.

The conjugation of vos is very similar to the conjugation of vosotros as well. Here are the few minor differences:

Verb=pagar
Vosotros pagáis
Vos pagás

Verb=tener
Vosotros tenéis
Vos tenés

Verb=decir
Vosotros decéis
Vos decís

Now that you see a few examples, I'll point out the basic rules for regular verbs. First of all, for -ar verbs, take the vosotros form and take out the 'i'. Yup, that's it! Just remember that the accent goes on the last syllable.

For -er verbs, take the vosotros form and remove out the 'i'.

For -ir verbs, take the vosotros form and remove the 'e'.

Those are the basics. More on this later.

Hasta luego,

Thomas

Second Person Singular Pronouns

Costa Rica has two main ways to say 'you'. The most common one is Ud. (Usted). Many guidebooks will tell you to use tú. Don't believe them. They only say that because they don't take the time to put in research for each country they cover. Lonely Planet, for example, publishes a book on Costa Rica whose language section is similar to that of Spanish language sections in other guidebooks.

As a blogger on regional dialects and varieties of Spanish, this does not make me happy. Then again, if Lonely Planet did have the resources to pay attention to these details (this "detail" is actually pretty important) what would do with my time?

Anyway, the second most popular second person singular pronoun is vos. This pronoun is used in Costa Rica just as it's used in Argentina (although not quite as prevalently). Vos only a few decades back had been the most common everyday pronoun for 'you', but has recently given up ground to Ud.

Please note that Costa Ricans hardly ever use tú. It is said that tú is to be used with your lover and with God. It won't be a big deal if you use it as a tourist, but if you want to fit in with the locals, just use Ud. If you get really ambitious, you can use vos.

I'll write a lesson on vos conjugations soon. If I get ambitious, I'll also speak to the history of vos as a pronoun.

Stay classy. Pura Birra,

Thomas

Costarricense vs. Costarriqueño

While I only use costarricense myself, a less common(yet still existent, term for Costa Rican is costarriqueño. This word likely comes from an erroneous association with the word puertorriqueño, the Spanish word for Puerto Rican.

Someone recently e-mailed the website about this issue because I put costarriqueño in the "tags*" section for the dictionary entry for tico, which also means Costa Rican. I put it with the tags because it is not the standard accepted usage, but it is used. So, if someone searched for costarriqueño, she will find my entry for costarricense and learn the proper way.

*-Tags are short bits of text separated by commas that list the words associated with a particular topic.

¡Suave, mae!

'Suave', normally meaning smooth in Spanish is often employed in Costa Rica to mean 'slow down'. You'll often hear this on a bus when the bus driver misses someone's stop. "Suave, mae", someone from the back entrance might yell.

The double 'r' in Costa Rica

This is a letter (the 'rr' or 'r-') that throws foreigners through a loop, especially if they're Spanish speakers. The Costa Rican double 'r' is indeed closer to the English 'r' than to the traditional "rolled" double 'r' in Spanish. A visitor to my Costa Rican dictionary site recently pointed out that in her phonetics studies in the lab that the Costa Rican 'rr' is closer to a fricative like in the French 'jour' than it is to the English 'r'. I, however, think it is somewhere between the two sounds, depending on who's saying it. It really does vary from one person to another and from one region to another.

I invite any comments concerning the subject. What does the 'rr' sound like to you? I welcome any answers, no matter how technical (or non-technical).

Pura Birra

Thomas

Post office in Costa Rica

Someone recently asked me a question about addresses in Costa Rica. This is a theme that pops a lot with foreigners trying to make sense of mail in Costa Rica.

The question was about the word 'Apartado'. In the following address example, think of it as a PO Box number that you'd see in the US:

John Q. Appleseed
Apartado Postal 34-1000
San José
Costa Rica

This would be the post office box number (address, although not a physical one) for Mr. Appleseed. The 34 is the number of his box and 1000 is the code for the post office in San José. This last number is the only thing used in Costa Rica that resembles a zip code.

Keep in mind, though, that Costa Ricans don't actually have physical addresses with street numbers and the like. The following is an example that you'd likely see in a small Costa Rican town:

Juan Semillero
50 mts. al norte de la Iglesia Católica
Santa Fe de Guatuso
Alajuela
Costa Rica

This is no joke. Costa Ricans simply describe the location of the residence or business with respect to nearby landmarks. This example would be for Juan Semillero, who lives 50 meters north of the Catholic Church in the town of Santa Fe, which is in the canton of Guatuso, in the province of Alajuela, and (obviously) in the country of Costa Rica. It's pretty wild, I know, and even after two years I never got used to it. People could never agree on the exact distances between two points, and often couldn't even agree on the basic cardinal directions!

Some may find this hard to believe, but take my word for it--Costa Ricans don't use addresses. Yet another thing that makes this place unique.

Pura Birra