List of Spanish expressions in common English
Here are some words or phrases from the Spanish that are sometimes used in English.| Contents |
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A
- Adiós – farewell
- Amigo – friend
B
- Buenas noches – good night
- Buenas tardes – good afternoon
- Bueno – nice
- Buenos días – good day
C
- Cañón – canyon
- Caramba – expression of dread, displeasure, or disapproval
- Chica – girl
- Chico – boy
- Chipotle – a smoked jalapeño, used in cooking and sauces for its flavor
- Chocolate – of Nahuatl origin, pronounced in Spanish with four syllables
- Corrida – a bullfight
- Costa (lit. "coast") – a coast specialized in sun and beach tourism.
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
- Flamenco (lit. "Flemish") – a style of Andalusian dance, song and music
G
H
- Hasta la vista – see you later
- Hasta mañana – see you tomorrow
- Hombre – man
J
- Jalapeño – a type of spicy chilli
- Junta – a group of leaders, usually military officers in a coup d'état.
- Juzgado (cf. "hoosegow") – a place of confinement, literally "judge's court"
L
- Llano – plains, grassland
- Loco – crazy
M
- Machete – a large broad-bladed knife used as a cutting tool or weapon
- Macho – masculine man (also Machismo, the abstract noun form)
- Madre – mother
- Mañana (lit. "tomorrow") – I'll do it later.
- Mano a mano (lit. "hand to hand") – a confrontation with cooperation
- Mariachi – a type of musical group, originally from Mexico
- Matador (lit. "killer") – a bullfighter whose task it is to make the kill
- Mesa – flat-topped mountain
- Mi casa es su casa – (lit: my house is your house) – make yourself welcome
- Mulatto (from mulato) – a person of mixed race
N
- Nada – nothing
- No comprende – Do(es) not understand
- No problema – Okay (no hay problema in Spanish), often misspoken by English speakers as "No problemo"
- Número uno – Number one
O
- Olé – an interjection, an expression of approval or triumph, similiar to the Italian bravo
P
- Padre – father
- Patio – an open paved area adjacent to a home (from the Spanish word for an inner courtyard)
- 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") – the distinctive towns of the Pueblo people, tribes of native Americans.
- Puta – slang for prostitute, often used for cursing.
Q
- ¿Qué pasa? – "What's going on?"
R
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
V
- Vamos – let's go
- Vaquero – cowboy (cf. "buckaroo")
W
- Wop – insult for olive-skinned people (from guapo – goodlooking 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
- 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