Nicaraguan Slang and Spanish Phrases: What Locals Really Say

In this guide

Nicaraguan slang rests on three things: the pronoun vos instead of tú, a soft s that often sounds like an h, and a set of local words recorded by the Academia Nicaragüense de la Lengua in a dictionary of more than 5,000 entries. Monkeys Travels & Tours guides were born in Rivas, so you can ask them what any word means.

This guide lists the words a visitor is most likely to hear between Rivas, San Juan del Sur and Granada, with the meaning each one has in the Diccionario de americanismos, the dictionary that the Association of Spanish Language Academies (ASALE) uses to mark which country uses which sense.

How Nicaraguans speak: vos, usted and the soft s

The first difference is grammatical. Nicaragua uses vos as the informal "you", and Wikipedia's article on Nicaraguan Spanish describes it as the country with the highest frequency of voseo in Central America. Vos comes with its own verb forms, stressed on the last syllable:

Standard tú form	Nicaraguan vos form	Meaning
tú eres	vos sos	you are
canta tú	cantá vos	sing (command)
que tú cantes	que vos cantés	that you sing
ven	vení	come here

Usted is the formal form, used with older people, authorities and in business. Tú is rare, and the Spanish Wikipedia article on voseo notes that it is used mostly with foreigners who are not familiar with vos. Rough Guides gives practical advice: address strangers as usted, and leave vos for when someone starts using it with you.

The second difference is the sound. A syllable-final s is often pronounced as a soft h, so "los dos" can sound close to "loh doh". Wikipedia's article on Nicaraguan Spanish notes exceptions in formal speech, such as on television, and in the southern departments of Río San Juan and Rivas, our home base. The d between vowels tends to disappear, which turns "cansado" into something like "cansao". If a word seems to vanish halfway, that is usually why.

Where these meanings come from

Two references back up this list. The Diccionario del Español de Nicaragua (DEN), written by Francisco Arellano Oviedo for the Academia Nicaragüense de la Lengua and published in 2007, has more than 5,000 entries and includes an appendix on how verbs are conjugated in Nicaraguan speech, according to a 2007 presentation by academy member Jorge Eduardo Arellano.

The Diccionario de americanismos, published by ASALE in 2010, lists each sense of a word with the countries where it is used. That matters, because many words that sound Nicaraguan are shared with Honduras, El Salvador or Costa Rica, and some change meaning across a border.

Common Nicaraguan words and their meaning

Word	Meaning in Nicaragua	Also used in	Note
tuani, tuanis	very good, excellent; of a thing, pretty or fashionable	Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica	also an adverb, "well"
chele, chela	blond or very fair-skinned person	Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica	chela is also a beer in Honduras and Nicaragua
chunche	any object whose name you skip, a gadget or tool	most of Central America, Mexico	has a vulgar sense in Nicaragua, see below
maje	a man or a woman, "a guy"	Costa Rica (as mae)	also means silly or a despicable person
chavalo, chavala	young person, teenager	Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Venezuela
chigüín, chigüina	child	Honduras, El Salvador, part of Costa Rica
pinolero	Nicaraguan; first sense, related to pinole, toasted corn flour and drink	Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica
idiay	"and then?", or a greeting	Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala	from "y de ahí"
chochada	a worthless object; a minor matter; a problem	none listed
cuecho	gossip, a rumor	none listed	also a cigarette butt
salvaje	extraordinary, terrific	Honduras	of an event, very big or intense
reales	money in general	Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela
pinche	stingy; small or insignificant	Costa Rica (stingy), Mexico	see the border section
jalar	to be dating someone	Honduras, Costa Rica
chocho	interjection of surprise, joy or anger	none listed

Rough Guides adds three you will hear on day one. Adiós is used as a greeting when you pass someone, as well as to say goodbye. Dale pues means OK, go ahead. Chele, in its words, is a white or pale-skinned person; Rough Guides links it to leche (milk), while the Diccionario de americanismos marks the origin of the word as disputed.

The 2007 DEN presentation also cites two uses of bola that are part of daily speech: bola as a rumor that is usually untrue, and parar bola, to pay attention.

Words that change meaning across borders

Some of these words carry a different weight depending on where the listener is from.

Pinche. In Nicaragua and Costa Rica it means stingy. In Mexico it can mean despicable, poor quality or cursed, a much stronger word. In Nicaragua, calling someone pinche is a comment about how they handle money.
Chunche. Across Central America it means "thing" or "gadget". The Diccionario de americanismos also lists a vulgar sexual sense in Nicaragua, so context matters, and in Costa Rica it can mean a car.
Maje. As "guy" it is friendly, but the same word also means silly, and in Honduras and Nicaragua it can mean a despicable person. Tone tells you which one you got.

Phrases for a tour day

The sentences below are built from the words above. They are illustrations, not set phrases from a dictionary.

Situation	What you may hear	Meaning
Agreeing on the plan	"Dale pues."	OK, let's go
Liking the view	"Está tuani."	It looks great
Asking for attention	"Pará bola."	Pay attention
Reacting to a big wave	"Chocho, salvaje."	Wow, that was huge
Pointing at a gadget	"Pasame ese chunche."	Hand me that thing

Where to hear it in context

Markets and kitchens are good places to listen. Our Nicaraguan cooking class lasts 3 to 4 hours and starts with a shopping trip to the market with a local host; you cook and share the meal, and a recipe booklet is included. It costs from US$45 per person (groups of 4 to 6); US$80 solo. Hotel transport is available but not included in that price. The vocabulary of the dishes themselves is in our guide to Nicaraguan food and what to eat.

The Masaya Artisan Market & Folklore tour lasts 3 to 4 hours, from US$30 per person (groups of 4 to 6); US$55 solo, and is a good place to listen to vendors bargain. If you want language built into a longer trip, the custom private package is quoted on request. Our 5-day itinerary from Costa Rica shows how a first trip can be organized, and the Rivas page explains our home base.

What Monkeys does

Monkeys Travels & Tours is a private tour operator based in Rivas, founded in 2018 by Everth Palma, who was born and raised in Rivas.

Every tour is private. Your group only, never combined with other travelers.
Bilingual bilingual guides born in Rivas, in a private vehicle. Ask them about any word you hear.
WhatsApp at +505 8506 1173, every day from 7:00 to 20:00, with answers in under an hour.
Written confirmation of price and inclusions. Free cancellation up to 48 hours before departure.

To book, send us your dates, the number of people and your hotel on WhatsApp.

Questions we get every week

What does tuani mean in Nicaragua?

Tuani, also spelled tuanis, means very good or excellent. The Diccionario de americanismos records it in Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Costa Rica, and in Nicaragua it can also mean pretty or fashionable, or work as an adverb meaning well.

What does chele mean, and should I mind being called one?

Chele describes a blond or very fair-skinned person. The Diccionario de americanismos lists it for Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica without an offensive mark, and Rough Guides gives the same meaning. In Honduras and Nicaragua a chela is also a beer.

Do Nicaraguans use tú or vos?

Vos. It is the normal informal form among family and friends, with its own verb endings such as vos sos and vení. Usted is used with elders, authorities and strangers, and tú is rare, heard mostly with foreigners. Rough Guides advises visitors to use usted with people they do not know.

What does dale pues mean?

Dale pues means OK, go ahead or deal. Rough Guides lists it among the everyday phrases a visitor hears in Nicaragua. You will hear it when a plan is agreed, a price is accepted or a driver is told to set off.

Sources

Every figure in this guide comes from one of these pages, checked on the date shown above.