126 funny Spanish words, sayings, and facts to make you smile

Spanish is not considered a difficult language for English speakers. (In fact, it might be one of the easiest for English speakers to pick up). And the good news is it gets a lot more exciting once you go beyond basic beginner skills and start communicating.

Learning new Spanish vocabulary can also be fun — no, we’re not nerds! Every language has weird words and slang, and Spanish is no exception.

If you feel like you need a little boost of amusement today, take a break from your Spanish lessons and have a look at these funny Spanish sayings and funny Spanish words. We’ve shortlisted these words and phrases because they have a hilarious literal meaning or because they just sound funny. Try to repeat them out loud!

Cuidado, ¡hay un montón! (a Spanish expression which means: “There are a lot.”)

Funny Spanish vocab

Next time you visit a Spanish speaking country, learn a few of the funny things to say in Spanish below. Your Spanish speaking friends ¡se partirán de la risa! (funny Spanish slang which means “will crack up.”)

Funny Spanish words

Among all the fun Spanish words, “tiquismiquis” is definitely my favorite. And, even though it has a translation in other languages, it’s not exactly the same. So I just use “tiquismiquis” when I speak English or French. ¿Porqué no?

Find your new favorite Spanish word in the table below!

Spanish	Feminine / masculine	IPA	Meaning
antro	Masculine	ˈantɾo	joint (small, dirty place)
achuchar		ˌat͡ʃut͡ʃˈaɾ	hug strongly
churro	Masculine	t͡ʃˈuɾɾo	churro
acojonar		ˌakoxonˈaɾ	scare the s—- out of
chollo	Masculine	t͡ʃˈoʎo	great deal
chanchullo	Masculine	t͡ʃant͡ʃˈuʎo	scam
agobiar		ˌaɣoβjˈaɾ	overwhelm
ñoño	Masculine	ɲˈoɲo	namby-pamby
chanza	Feminine	t͡ʃˈanθa	prank
ola	Feminine	ˈola	wave
demente	Masculine	demˈɛnte	insane
genio	Masculine	xˈenjo	genius
novato	Masculine	noβˈato	rookie
peña	Feminine	pˈeɲa	group of people
pellizcar		pˌeʎiθkˈaɾ	pinch
resaca	Feminine	ɾɾesˈaka	hangover
tiquismiquis		tˌikismˈikis	fussy
vacilar		bˌaθilˈaɾ	joke, mess with
tostón	Masculine	tostˈon	boring
yuyú		ʝujjˈu	bad feeling
pica pica	Masculine	pˈika pˈika	small meal, tapas style
madrugar		mˌaðɾuɣˈaɾ	get up early
computadora	Feminine	kˌomputaðˈoɾa	computer
arroba	Feminine	aɾɾˈoβa	at (@)
grogui		ɡɾˈoɣi	groggy
trámite	Masculine	tɾˈamite	formality
chimichurri		t͡ʃˌimit͡ʃˈuɾɾi	chimichurri (sauce)
macarra	Masculine/Feminine	makˈaɾɾa	thug
bruja	Feminine	bɾˈuxa	witch
bullicio	Masculine	buʎˈiθjo	bustle
mequetrefe	Masculine/Feminine	mˌeketɾˈefe	whippersnapper
mosca	Feminine	mˈoska	fly
leche	Feminine	lˈet͡ʃe	milk
forrarse		foɾɾˈaɾse	get rich, make a lot of money
galleta	Feminine	ɡaʎˈeta	cookie
murciélago	Masculine	muɾθjˈelaɣo	bat
mariquita	Feminine	mˌaɾikˈita	ladybug
vituperio	Masculine	bˌitupˈeɾjo	insult
bizcocho	Masculine	biθkˈot͡ʃo	cake (sponge cake style)
zigzaguear		θˌiɣθaɣeˈaɾ	zigzag
lima	Feminine	lima	Lime
zanahoria	Feminine	zanaɔɾja	Carrot
tocayo	Masculine	tɔkɛjo	A person who has the same first name as you
concha	Feminine	kõʃa	shell
ciempiés	Masculine	sjɑ̃pje	centipede
cebolla	Feminine	səbɔla	onion
patata	Feminine	patata	potato
mojado		mɔʒado	wet
arco iris	Masculine	aɾko iɾi	rainbow
hortera		ɔɾtəɾa	tacky
barbas	Masculine	baɾba	somebody with a beard

Funny Spanish phrases and things to say in Spanish

What do a goat, a chicken and a turkey have in common? No, it’s not an article about animals in Spanish, these are just funny Spanish sayings!

Spanish	IPA	Literal meaning	Actual meaning
Ser una gallina	sˈer ˈuna ɡaʎˈina	To be a hen	To be a chicken
Estar en la edad del pavo	estˈaɾ ˈen lˈa eðˈad dˈel pˈaβo	To be in the turkey’s age	To be a difficult/typical teenager
Estar como una cabra	estˈaɾ kˈomo ˈuna kˈaβɾa	To be like a goat	To be crazy
Tener memoria de pez	tenˈeɾ memˈoɾja dˈe pˈeθ	To have the memory of a fish	To have bad memory
No me importa un pepino/pimiento	nˈo mˈe impˈoɾta ˈun pepˈino/pimjˈɛnto	It does not matter a cucumber/pepper to me	I don’t care
Ser pan comido	sˈer pˈan komˈiðo	To be eaten bread	To be a piece of cake
Estar de mala leche	estˈaɾ dˈe mˈala lˈet͡ʃe	To be in bad milk	To be in a bad mood
No tener ni pies ni cabeza	nˈo tenˈeɾ nˈi pjˈes nˈi kaβˈeθa	Without feed or head	Not logic, something that doesn’t make sense
No hay color	nˈo ˈa͡ɪ kolˈoɾ	There is no color	You can’t compare
Tu media naranja	tˈu mˈeðja naɾˈaŋxa	Your half orange	Your other half
Temblar como un flan	temblˈaɾ kˈomo ˈun flˈan	To shake like a pudding	To be very nervous
Ponerse como un tomate	ponˈeɾse kˈomo ˈun tomˈate	To turn like a tomato	To get red
Dar la vuelta a la tortilla	dˈaɾ lˈa bwˈelta ˈa lˈa toɾtˈiʎa	To turn the omelette around	To change a situation
Ser un bombón	sˈer ˈun bombˈon	To be a candy	To be very attractive
Tirar la casa por la ventana	tiɾˈaɾ lˈa kˈasa pˈoɾ lˈa bentˈana	To throw the house by the window	To spend a lot of money, sparing no expense
Ponerse las pilas	ponˈeɾse lˈas pˈilas	To put in the batteries	To focus, to wake up
Hablando del Rey de Roma	aβlˈando dˈel ɾɾˈe͡ɪ dˈe ɾɾˈoma	Speaking of the King of Rome	Speaking of the devil
Tomar el pelo	tomˈaɾ ˈel pˈelo	To take someone’s hair	Pulling your leg
Irse por las ramas	ˈiɾse pˈoɾ lˈas ɾɾˈamas	To go through the branches	To beat around the bush
Creerse la última Coca-Cola del desierto	kɾeˈeɾse lˈa ˈultima kˈoka-kˈola dˈel desjˈeɾto	To think of oneself as the last Coca-Cola in the desert	To be full of oneself
Feliz como una lombriz	felˈiθ kˈomo ˈuna lombɾˈiθ	Happy as a worm	To be super happy, happy as a clam
Meter la pata	metˈeɾ lˈa pˈata	To put in the paw	To mess up
No tener pelos en la lengua	nˈo tenˈeɾ pˈelos ˈen lˈa lˈɛŋɡwa	To not having hair on the tongue	To be outspoken
Echarse al agua	et͡ʃˈaɾse ˈal ˈaɣwa	To get in the water	To tie the knot
Dar la lata	dˈaɾ lˈa lˈata	To give the can	To annoy, to bother
Comiendo moscas	komjˈɛndo mˈoskas	Eating flies	To speak aimlessly or go off on tangents
Buena onda	bwˈena ˈonda	Good wave	Good vibes
Ojo	ˈoxo	Eye	Careful, watch yourself
Vale	bˈale	Costs, avails	OK, agreed

Funny facts about Spanish

1. Spanish has two ways of saying I love you: “Te quiero” and “Te amo”. You can discover other ways to express your amor here.
2. Speaking of love, the Spanish accent is considered one of the sexiest in the world, and the Spanish language is known as one of the most romantic languages.
3. The roots of Spanish are not 100% Latin. Arabic is the second largest contributor!
4. Modern Spanish has a funny way of integrating English. The pronunciation stays the same, but the spelling is “españolizado”. Examples include fútbol (football) and suéter (sweater).
5. The longest word in Spanish has 31 letters. Ready? Take a deep breath and try to say this: sternocleidooccipitomastoideos. Bless you. Oh, by the way, it’s a small muscle in your neck.
6. Watch out for false friends, the most infamous being constipado. If someone tells you that he/she is constipado(a), he/she is not sharing some private, kind of inappropriate bowel information. He/she… just has a cold!
7. The USA could become the country with the largest Spanish-speaking population by 2050, according to some predictions.

Funny Spanish slang

To finish our list of fun Spanish sayings and words, here is a brief selection of funny Spanish slang. Not enough? We have over 159 more Spanish slang words in this article.

Spanish	IPA	Actual meaning
bocachancla	bˌokat͡ʃˈankla	Big mouth
bobalicón	bˌoβalikˈon	Goofy
calimocho	kˌalimˈot͡ʃo	Drink made of wine and coca cola
cantamañanas	kˌantamaɲˈanas	Somebody who says things he doesn’t do or that are not true
chachi	t͡ʃˈat͡ʃi	Great, fun
chibolo	t͡ʃiβˈolo	Kid
chichinabo	t͡ʃˌit͡ʃinˈaβo	Without value
chilindrón	t͡ʃˌilindɾˈon	Stew
chiquichanca	t͡ʃˌikit͡ʃˈanka	Swain
chirimbolo	t͡ʃˌiɾimbˈolo	Rare object without a name
churumbel	t͡ʃˌuɾumbˈel	Small child
cierrabares	θjˌeɾɾaβˈaɾes	Somebody who stays up late
cuchitril	kˌut͡ʃitɾˈil	Small and dirty room or house
cuchufleta	kˌut͡ʃuflˈeta	Burlesque
gayumbos	ɡajjˈumbos	Underpants
gilipichis	xˌilipˈit͡ʃis	Foolish
gordinflón	ɡˌoɾðimflˈon	Chubby
guaperas	ɡwapˈeɾas	Handsome
guiri	ɡˈiɾi	Tourist
mamarracho	mˌamaɾɾˈat͡ʃo	Monstrosity
meapilas	mˌeapˈilas	Someone who is very devoted (religiously)
pajarraco	pˌaxaɾɾˈako	A smart person
pamplina	pamplˈina	Lie, shenanigans
pelele	pelˈele	Wimp
picapleitos	pˌikaplˈe͡ɪtos	Shyster
pichabrava	pˌit͡ʃaβɾˈaβa	A very attractive man
pipiolo	pipjˈolo	A young person without experience
soplagaitas	sˌoplaɣˈa͡ɪtas	A stupid person
pinchaúvas	pˌint͡ʃaˈuβas	A despicable person
duro	dˈuɾo	Money
tío	tˈio	Dude
pijo	pˈixo	Snobbish
mola	mˈola	It’s great
chaval, chavala	t͡ʃaβˈal, t͡ʃaβˈala	Kid, young person
majo	mˈaxo	Nice
chulo	t͡ʃˈulo	Great
guay	ɡwˈa͡ɪ	Great
cutre	kˈutɾe	Poor quality
friki	fɾˈiki	Nerd, freaky

Funny Spanish sayings literally translated

Have a look at these videos for a literal translation of Spanish sayings — Spain and Latin America included!

• If Spanish sayings were said in English
• Translating Spanish sayings
• Spanish sayings, translated literally (with hilarious footage to illustrate — believe me, you will remember these)

See, learning Spanish can be divertido! If you’re planning a trip to a Spanish speaking country, try to learn a few of these funny things to say in Spanish. The face of your hispanophone friends will be priceless!

Just keep in mind some of these sayings and words are not used everywhere. Check out our list of Spanish slang for Latin America and other expressions for different Spanish speaking countries and regions.

Hopefully, you won’t have a memoria de pez, and you will remember a few of these funny Spanish phrases and words! With our vocab articles, learning Spanish será pan comido.