Funny Spanish words that will make your day

In every language there are always words or expressions that make smile the foreigners. Sometimes it’s because they mean something different in their language (this phenomenon is known as false friends), sometimes because they sound hilarious and so on. The Spanish language is not an exception here. Very often I hear words that make me smile or laugh which is the best therapy against the winter and the lack of sun.

My list is based on Spanish words that sound comical if you translate them literally. Of course, these are not the only ones, so if you have your favourite hilarious Spanish words, feel free to share them with in the comment section! And in the meanwhile, take a seat, relax and smile!

Lluvia mojabobos

This fine drizzle which is not too heavy but which seems to be eternal, do you know this feeling?

In Spain you can say that there is a lluvia mojabobos. Literally the rain that soaks stupid people.

Pollaboba

In Canary Islands this is the equivalent of the word “gilipollas” (which is slighlty vulgar). Why is that funny? Grab a dictionary and check out what “polla” and “bobo” means.

Chupatintas

The Spanish equivalent of the word penpusher literally means “ink drinker”. By the way, chupatintas is a compound noun, because it’s formed by a verb (in the third person of singular) and a noun in plural. If you feel like you need more information about this subject, take a look at the grammar section and the article about Spanish compound nouns.

Cuchillo cebollero

The English chef’s knife (very big, very sharp and very professionnal) in Spanish is called “an onion knife”.

Pera limonera

Pera limonera - a lemon pear it’s a kind of pear known as Guyot pear, but hey lemon pear sounds far better!

Cero patatero

Imagine that you are writing a test but you haven’t studied at all. As a consequence you have received zero points. Now, imagine that you want to share that information with your Spanish colleague, you can say just “cero”, but in order to highlight this “achievement” you can also say “cero patatero”, in other words, “a potato zero”.

Even though this expression nowadays functions as a vital part of the Spanish language, in fact, it was a lapsus linguae committed by one of the Spanish politicians.

¡Ojo!

If you want to bring the attention of others to something or warn them about something, you can say “atención” or, even better “ojo” which means “eye”. An eye-catching phrase!

Tiquismiquis

You surely have a friend who is always hard to satisfied. Whether you’re in a restaurant or choosing furniture there is always something that bothers him. Yes, the fusspot. The Spanish equivalent tiquismiquis is easy to remember, because it sounds so funny, don’t you think?

That was my list, how is yours?

You liked the article? Share it and support my work! Thank you!

This website uses cookies

This website uses cookies. Please accept cookies that you want to enable. You will find more information in Privacy policy.