Spanish profanity

Spanish comic using the word "maldito" - equivalent to "bastard" or "prick" (lit. the "damned one")

This article is a summary of Spanish profanity, referred to in the Spanish language as lenguaje soez (low language), malas palabras (bad words), insultos (insults), vulgaridades (vulgarities), palabrotas (lit. "big words"), tacos (in Spain), garabatos (gibberish, in Chile), or groserías (impolite words). Spanish profanity varies in Spanish speaking nations, and even in regions of the same nation. Several of these words have linguistic and historical significance.

Various words in Spanish are synonyms with "fornicate," for example, coger (in Mexico and other regions only), chingar, joder etc. Many have similar meanings with other languages that are politically and geographically linked to Spanish, such as Italian, Portuguese, French and English.

To fuck

Though follar (to fuck: to have sex) and joder (to fuck: to have sex, to bother someone, to ruin something) are probably the most widely used vulgarities in the Spanish speaking countries, there are a lot of words used locally, such as Chingar in Mexico, Coger in the Southern Cone and Mexico, pisar in some parts of Central America, and tirar in Spain and northern South America.

The following verbs are equivalent to the verb "to fuck" in English, though not always in all its possible meanings:

Chingar originated from Chingada, which is derogatory form of reference to the historical figure of La Malinche, usually as hijo/hija de la Chingada, "son/daughter of la Chingada". In Mexico, the verb chingar is used as a synonym of "to fuck" (someone), or to "fuck up" (something); sometimes, the word verga (lit. dick) is used: in this sense, hijo de la verga is the same as hijo de la chingada. In Spain it means to bother, an advantage, or to work hardly. This ambiguity is common in such curse words.

Chinga a tu madre ("go fuck your mother") is often considered the strongest Mexican curse, and vete a la chingada roughly translates "go fuck yourself". Other uses are somewhat more tame – a Mexican might say no me chingues, a fairly strong version of "don't annoy me" or even "get outta here!", or if a Mexican is beaten in a business deal or in sports, me chingaron might be used.

Also the word chingar has good or neutral meanings. Soy chingón could mean in English "I rule" or "I'm the very best". ¡No chingues! means something like "No way!" (meaning you find something hard to believe), ¡Qué chingón!, could be used to say "Wow, that's cool!" in a more aggressive way. ¡Qué chinga! roughly translates to "What a heavy duty!" ¡A la chingada! is used when one receives bad news and doesn't know what to say at the moment; it's a strong version of "Oh my God!"

Chichar is most commonly used in Puerto Rico to mean to have sex, but chingar also keeps the same meaning.
Coger. In Spanish the verb coger means, among other things, to get, to seize, to catch, or enter a vehicle or to take. However, in Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela and in the Southwestern United States it is also used as synonymous of "to get (some)" or, more accurately, to fuck. In Puerto Rico coger is totally inoffensive, unless used clearly in a phrase having literal sexual connotation: "Vete a coger por el culo!" = "Go and get it up your ass!". This form is used mostly as a way to say Go away, you annoyance!.
Culear derives from culo, which means "arse" in most Latin American countries. In Spain, where culo means "buttocks", culear means moving one's buttocks, specially now among young people with the reggaetón music lyrics. In slang it also means to make life difficult for someone. In Panama, Nicaragua and Argentina, it means to have sex.
Follar another synonym, used particularly in Spain and to a lesser extent in Cuba, but also found elsewhere.
Joder means "fuck" in terms of intercourse, and also the notions of "fucking with someone" and "fuck something up". Its infinitive is also used as an interjection, as in, ¡Joder! ("Fuck!"). The word joder comes from the Latin futuere (cognate with French foutre, Italian fottere, Catalan fotre and Portuguese foder).
Pisar, which is used in Central America (chiefly El Salvador and Honduras), translates as to step, which implies "stepping on" or being on top of another person during intercourse. The sign "No pisar en la grama" just means Do not step on the grass, but may cause some laughter...
Ponchar is another variant of to fuck used in Panama and Mexico, also means to pinch.
Tirar (to pull, to shoot or to throw away) is sometimes used in Bolivia, northern South America and Spain as to have sex. In Nicaragua and Puerto Rico is a way to say that you had sex with someone: "Ayer me la tiré" = "I banged/fucked her yesterday"; "Me la voy a tirar" = "I'm going to bang/fuck her"

Differences in regional Spanish can sometimes produce awkward situations in a communication between two Spanish speakers of different countries, but such differences are usually known internationally and taken humorously.

Chaquetearse

Is a verb that means to masturbate. Also very common is the use of puñeta, which derives from puño ("fist"), and means to masturbate, also pajearse. In a sentence you can say "Me hice una puñeta", or "Vete a hacer puñetas")

Mierda

Mierda is a term which signifies excrement, or in a vulgar sense, shit. Terms such as vete a la mierda, however, mean to go to hell. However, caca is a term more acceptable and of child-like usage, and is related loosely to the English, poo.

It is also used to describe unpleasant or negative things, such as tiempo de mierda (i.e. shitty weather) or auto de mierda (fucking/bloody car). The euphemisms Miércoles (Wednesday) and eme (the letter m) are sometimes used in such constructions to avoid using the offensive word. The preceding examples become tiempo de miércoles (lit. Wednesday weather), and auto de miércoles (Wednesday car).

Maricón

Maricón and its derivative words marica and marico is a word used for referring to someone as a gay man, or for criticizing someone for doing something that, according to stereotypes, only a gay person would do. In Spain the word has a stronger meaning with a very negative emphasis; akin to faggot in the English language. In southern Spain the term maricona refers to a male gay queen; which is often used humorously. Some examples of the uses of this word are:

"Eres un marica." (You are a faggot)
"Chaval, eres tremendamente maricón." (Dude you're really gay)
"Yo sí soy maricón, ¿y qué?" (I am gay, so what?)
"Aquel tío es maricon" (That dude is a faggot)
"Dónde está la maricona?" (Where is the "queen"?)

Paja

Paja directly translates to English as "straw", used in farms for cattle and other animals to lie on. In South America and Panama hacerse la paja means to masturbate. In most parts of Central America to masturbate is to pajearse. In South America and Spain is more often used as hacerse una paja. Pajero, or Pajillero in Spain, is a masturbator (wanker) and also can imply a weakling or a fool, due to unscientific myths that have stated masturbation created mental weakness. In certain countries, such as Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, Pajero (fem. Pajera) can also mean lazy person, and in Guatemala it means liar, "Vos sos bien pajero = you're such a liar". In Venezuela, hablar paja can mean either to talk nonsense "tú solo hablas paja = you're just talking nonsense" or small talk "estuve hablando paja con un amigo = I was talking small talk with a friend".

Pendejo

Pendejo is etymologically related to the Latin pectiniculus, meaning pubic hair or anal hair. It may be translated as asshole in many situations, though it carries an extra implication of rank and willful incompetence.

In Mexico, Central and South America, pendejo refers to a stupid person (as some may observe that anal hair is inundated with feces) although it is a much stonger word in Mexico and Central America than it is in Panama, where, while still impolite, it is not as offensive, specially among younger people. In Peru it means a person who gains benefits from an advantageous situation in an immoral manner. In South America pendejo is also a vulgar, yet inoffensive word, for children. It also signifies a person with a disorderly or irregular life. In Puerto Rico it has different meanings depending on the situation. It can range from "Te cogieron de pendejo!" = "You were fooled!" (e.g. by a conman), to "Qué tipa pendeja!" = "What a bitch!" (e.g. when some unknown woman unexpectedly offends you with no apparent motive, and just leaves turning her back on you).

In the Coen Brothers' masterpiece The Big Lebowski, John Turturro's character Jesus Quintana - later revealed to be a sex offender - calls The Dude (Jeff Bridges) a 'pendejo' following an altercation with a firearm:

Jesus Quintana: Let me tell you something, pendejo. You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I'll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger 'til it goes "click."

The Dude: Jesus.

Jesus Quintana: You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Jesus.

Puta

Puta literally means whore, and can be extended to any woman who is seen as sexually loose. The male equivalent puto has different meanings in different parts of the Spanish-speaking world: in many places it is a pejorative for a gay man, in others it is simply a comment on a man being sexually loose (depending on context or tone, it can be extremely offensive or just a joke).

Puta is used in quite a few common expressions. Hijo de puta (lit. "son of a whore") is roughly comparable to "son of a bitch", "bastard" or "motherfucker" in English. Puta madre (lit. "whore mother"), on the other hand, while vulgar, is generally (but not always) a term of praise, comparable to how "motherfucker" can be used positively in English, although more uniformly positive: "Escribe como un hijo de puta" might be rendered "He writes like a motherfucker".

Cojones

Cojones IPA: [ko'xones] (sing.: cojón) is a word commonly used to refer to the testicles in Spanish. The word is of Latin origin (see Latin profanity), from coleones (sing.: coleo), and is cognate with similar words in other Romance Languages, including collons (sing.: colló) in Catalan, coglioni (sing.: coglione) in Italian, colhões (sing.: colhão) in Portuguese and couilles (sing.: couille) in French. The word is used throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and while less formal than testiculos (testicles), is no more offensive than the use of balls to refer to the testicles in English. As in English, the word can be used to imply virility or courage: ¡El huevón tiene cojones! ("The guy's got balls!").

Other terms

Ahuevado/huevón (lit. that has balls/big balls; see "Huevón") is the word for jackass in many Latin American countries. "Awebao" is the popularly Panamanian form and good example of one of the most famous traits of a Panamanian accent, dropping final consonants (and sometimes even vowels). It's also used the same way as dude in North America (much like güey in Mexico). In Perú, Venezuela and Argentina, güevón is the preferred form.
Bicho ("bug") is the main vulgar word used to reference to a male penis in Puerto Rico, and also the very less used words pingo or pinga, yet in most other countries it is just a reference to an insect, and not a vulgar word. In Venezuela it can be used as an exclamation.
Cabrón (literally "large goat"), in Spain, Mexico and Puerto Rico, implies a prick or a motherfucker. It may also imply that one's significant other is unfaithful and even worse they are aware of the fact and they're either too weak or stupid to do anything about it; a cuckold. Among close friends, the term is often inoffensive; however, it is not a word to be used casually with strangers. As an adjective it is equivalent to "tough" as "it is tough" (está cabrón). In Panama, it is used as an adjective to mean something/someone very annoying (that pisses you off); it comes from cabrear (to piss someone off). In Peru cabro means faggot, hence cabrón is its corresponding superlative (lit. big faggot). In Spain and Puerto Rico it additionally refers to a husband who has a cheating wife and hence has "horns" like a goat.
Maldita sea means god damn it. It is commonly used as an interjection and almost universally across Spanish speaking countries. It literally means let it be damned (by God).
Cagar means to shit. It also means to fuck (something) up, e.g. ¡Cagaste la radio! ("You fucked up the radio!"). Particularly in Spain, there are a number of commonly-used interjections incorporating this verb, many of which refer to shitting on something sacred, e.g. ¡Me cago en Dios! (Lit. "I shit on God!"), ¡Me cago en diez! (Lit. "I shit on ten!"; a euphemism for ¡Me cago en Dios!, used because of the similarity between the pronunciation of Dios and diez), ¡Me cago en la leche! (Lit. "I shit in the milk!"), ¡Me cago en la Virgen! (Lit. "I shit on the Virgin!") and ¡Me cago en la hostia! (Lit. "I shit on the host!" - the bread used in Holy Communion). Depending on the context, these phrases may be EXTREMELY offensive in Catholic or Christian countries.
Concha (Lit. shell) is an offensive word for a woman's vagina (i.e. something akin to English cunt) in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. It is commonly heard in the phrase ¡(La) concha (de) tu madre! (Lit. "Your mom's cunt"), which may be used either as an impersonal interjection expressing anger, surprise or frustration, or as a direct insult. Depending on the context, the phrase may cause massive offense. In Puerto Rico, chocha or crica implies the word pussy although in other countries it may have a different (non vulgar) meaning. "¡Crica!" may also be used as an interjection, expressing anger or frustration, like "May I be dammed!". Chocha is also a game bird in Spain. The painter Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes made a painting with that name depicting some of those hunted birds.
Coño is a vulgar word for a woman's vagina. It is frequently translated as "cunt" (and is, indeed, etymologically related) but is in reality significantly less offensive (it is much more common to hear the word coño on Spanish television than the word cunt on British television, for example). The word is frequently used as an interjection, expressing surprise, anger or frustration. If you hit your finger with a hammer, "¡Coño!" would be like "Shit!" or "Damn!".
Culo is the Latin American Spanish term for arse and the Iberian Spanish term for "buttocks".
Fundillo or Fundío is heard in Mexico and the Southern, Spanish-speaking U.S. as the obscene word specifically for the human anus. It carries about the same weight as the American usages of the words "asshole" or "butt-hole" (but note that fundío is only used to refer to the anus or rectum, not the buttocks, per sê, nor pejoratively towards a whole person and his reprehensible character, as with the English words asshole or arsehole.) "¡Métetelo en fundío!" (or in Mexican Spanish Métetelo por el fundillo means about the same as the English expression of reproachful refusal, "Shove it up your ass!"
Güey is a common term in Mexico, coming from the word "Buey" that literally means ox or steer and is equivalent to "stupid" as an adjective or to a "cheated husband/boyfriend/cuckold" as a noun. Like cabrón, it is not as offensive when used among close friends. Young Mexican and Chicano men use this word routinely in referring to one another.
Huevón (big egg) is a common word in South America, specially in Chile and Venezuela (where it's pronounced more like "güevón" and, oftentimes, "ueón"). Its meaning goes from buddy to idiot. In Mexico it means to be a slacker.
Huevos (literally "eggs"), pelotas (literally "balls"), and albóndigas (literally meatballs) all mean testicles in a profane manner. They are equivalent to "Cojones" in many situations.
Joto (literally a "jack" or a "knave", from Western card games) is a word used in Mexico and the Southern, Spanish-speaking U.S.-- usually pejoratively-- for a male homosexual. Arguably more universally offensive than the similar word, maricón, joto carries with it an accusation of utter fecklessness, societal worthlessness, and perhaps the hinted accusation of closeted homosexuality. A Mexican gay man, for example, might refer to himself risibly as a maricón, but probably not as a joto. Definitely not to be confused with the word jota, which refers to a traditional Spanish, Mexican or Argentine parlor dance.
Mariposa (literally "butterfly"), "maricón"/"marica"/"mariquita" or "puto" (literally "male prostitute") all mean "faggot".
A verga is a part of a ship's mast (a yardarm), but its slang meaning is cock, dick, prick in most Spanish flavours. In Venezuela and Mexico the word is used quite commonly. In the former country it can be used as a generic stand in for an object that is being referred to, but also as an exclamation.
Monflor and its variant Monflora are used in Mexico and the Southern, Spanish-speaking United States to refer, usually pejoratively, to a female homosexual or Lesbian. Used very much the same way as the English word dyke. And, as with this English word, monflora can be extremely offensive-- or relatively benign, if used between friends, especially within the G/L communities. Oye, güey, no tocas a esa chica; todos yá saben que es monflora. ("Hey, dummy, don't hit on that girl; everyone knows she's a dyke.")
Pajero is a reference to masturbation. Japanese automaker Mitsubishi had a sport utility which used the Pajero nameplate - in Europe and the Americas, the vehicle was rebadged as the Montero.

External links

Real Academia Española - Lists many of these words in its dictionary
La página de la chingada - Different variations of chingar
The Alternative Dictionaries - Spanish - Many variant forms of profanity in Spanish. Includes some usage indications
List of slang terms in Spanish