Spanish profanity

The Spanish language employs a wide range of swear words that vary between Spanish speaking nations and in regions and subcultures of each nation. Idiomatic expressions, particularly profanity, are not always directly translatable into other languages, and so most of the English translations offered in this article are very rough and most likely do not reflect the full meaning of the expression they intend to translate.

Overview

In Spanish, as in most languages, swear words tend to come from semantic domains considered taboo, such as human excretions, sexuality, and religion, and swearing serves several functions in discourse. Spanish insults are often of a sexual nature, taking the form of implying a lack of sexual decency if the insulted person is a woman or implying a supposed lack of masculinity if the insulted person is male. A particularly forceful Spanish insult is any mention of someone else's mother, including also in its strongest form. Emphatic exclamations, not aimed to insult but to express strong emotion, often include words for sexual relations or to excretions or sexual organs. Sexual taboo words that describe a masculine sexuality may be used in a positive sense.

Chingar

chingar — originating from the Basque verb txingartu, meaning "to burn with coal" or from Caló word čingarár, meaning "to fight". In the work La Chingada, it was famously applied to La Malinche, the mistress of Hernán Cortés.

Chingado/da

The word is derived from "chingar" which means "to fuck." This word has many meanings in the Spanish language, most limited to Mexico:

Adjective for damage
Noun for a bad place to go
Interjection
Adjective for awful

These words are often used in the following contexts:

¡Hijo/a de la chingada! "Son/daughter of a fucker!"
¡Chingada madre! = "Damn it!"
¡Vete a la chingada! = "Go fuck yourself!" or "Get the fuck out of here!"
''Chingón/a''

Like chingado, the word comes from chingar. When used to describe a person, it describes someone who can "chingar" others; in other words, "better", "the best" or even "badass".

Follar

follar literally means "to blow air with the bellows" and probably refers to panting during sex.

''Joder''

The verb joder/joderse is a harsh way of saying "to bother" and its English equivalent is "fuck". It can literally mean "to fuck somebody" e.g. anoche, Juan y su novia jodieron, or it can mean "to annoy", "to ruin", etc. no me jodas, or lo has jodido. It can be used as an adjective, like the English "fucking" and is often used as a light interjection: ¡Joder! Olvidé mi abrigo. Alternative ways of referring to sexual intercourse include: follar, echar un polvo, coger, chimar, pisar, culear, singar, garchar, mojar la chaucha, ponerla, cachar and enterrar el boñato.

Remojar el cochayuyo

Remojar el cochayuyo — used in Chile The expression alludes to the cochayuyo algae that is harvested on Chile's coast. The algae is preserved by sun-drying. To be used for cooking, it then needs to be softened by soaking in water.

''Coger''

Coger can be confused with the verb "to take" but in the majority of Latin America is used to talk about taking someone sexually.

''Mamada''

Mamada refers to breastfeeding, but if used in vulgar slang, then it can refer to a blowjob. The word originates from the term mamar, meaning "to suck". Mamada is also an adverb meaning "the fuck" or "the hell", when adding it after any interrogative : Qué mamadas?
In Mexico, mamada means "bullshit", an intentional, mean, or stupid action and statement, or a practical joke: No digas mamadas.

Cojón

Cojón is slang for "testicle" and may be used as a synonym for "guts" or what it takes", hence making it equivalent to English balls or bollocks. A common expression in Spain is anything to the effect of hace lo que le sale de los cojones, meaning "does whatever the fuck they want". Variations are sale de los huevos, sale de las pelotas, etc. A common Basque aphorism is los de Bilbao nacemos donde nos sale de los cojones. Sometimes, to denote obnoxious or overbearing behavior from someone else, idiom tocar los cojones/huevos/pelotas comes to play. For instance: Venga, dame eso y para ya de tocarme los cojones It can sometimes be an understatement: A principios de los treinta, los nazis ya empezaban a tocar los cojones. It is also frequent to derive other words, such as adjectival form cojonudo, indicating admiration. A famous Navarran brand of asparagus has this name.
Cojones can also denotes courageous behavior or character. Acts of courage or bravery are expressed by using the word cojones. For example, "Hay que tener cojones para hacer eso". It is sometimes used, at least in Spain, as a suffix, complement or termination to a word or name in order to confer it a derisive or overbearing quality. For instance: el Marcos de los cojones, ¡Dame ya la maleta de los cojones! However, it is more common to use "de cojones" as a superlative, as in Es bajo de cojones. The phrases me importa un cojón or me importa un huevo mean "I don't give a fuck about". In alternative variations one would raise the number, usually to three: me importa tres cojones. Cojones alone can be used much like the four-word exclamations, though less usually; it is frequently a giveaway for native Catalan speakers when they speak Spanish, as collons is used much more profusely in situations akin to those for "fuck" or "shit". Tocarse los cojones/los huevos/las pelotas/las peras refers to idleness or laziness; in Chile, the preferred variant is rascarse las huevas. Unfamiliarity with this expression in the United States may have been a factor in the dismissal and suicide of Antonio Calvo, a senior lecturer at Princeton University, in April 2011.

Derivative of cojón	English equivalent	English literal translation
Un cojón	A fucking lot	A ball
¡Los cojones!	No fucking way!	The balls!
Costar un cojón	Cost a damn/fucking fortune	Cost a ball
Importar tres cojones	Not fucking mind at all	To mind three balls
Mil pares de cojones	Very fucking difficult	A thousand pairs of balls
Tener cojones	To be fucking brave	To have balls
¡Tiene cojones !	To be fucking upset about something / That's fucking crazy!	has balls!
Cortarle los cojones	To fucking threaten	To cut balls
Tocarle los cojones a	To fucking annoy somebody	Touch balls
Acojonado,-a	Fucking scared	N/A
Descojonarse de la risa	To piss oneself laughing	De-ball yourself with laughter
Acojonante	Very damn/fucking funny/scary	N/A
¡Tócate los cojones!	What a damn/fucking surprise! / You've got to be fucking kidding me! / Go fuck yourself!	Touch your balls!
Cojonudo,-a	Fucking awesome/perfection	Ballsy
De cojones	Fucking perfectly	Of balls
Por cojones	With no other damn/fucking choice	By balls
Hasta los cojones	Up to the brink / Fucking fed up	Up to the balls
Me toca los cojones	It fucking annoys me	It touches my balls
Con dos cojones	Bravely, courageously	With two balls
Lo que me sale de los cojones	Whatever the hell/fuck I want	What comes out of my balls
No tener cojones	To be a fucking coward	Have no balls
Pasárselo por los cojones	Don't give a shit/damn/fuck	Pass it by the balls
Echarle cojones a algo	To brave something out / To have the guts to do something	Throw balls on something
¡Olé tus cojones!	Good for you!	Hurray your balls!
Los cojones morados	Cold as hell/fuck	Purple balls
Mis cojones treinta y tres	I don't fucking believe you, liar	My balls thirty-three
Me repatea los cojones	It fucking infuriates me	It kicks my balls
Por mis santos cojones	I fucking promise	By my holy balls
A cojones	By doing whatever it fucking takes	By balls
¿Qué cojones?	What the hell/fuck?	What the balls?

Carajo

Carajo is used in Spain in reference to the penis. In Latin America, it is a commonly used generic interjection similar to "fuck!" "shit!" or "damn it!" in English. For example: Nos vamos a morir, ¡carajo! or a far away place, likened to hell: ¡Vete al carajo!. In Argentina, the term "Vamos Carajo" was used in Quilmes advertising in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup as a statement or cheer that an Argentine supporter would use to urge their team to victory. The diminutive carajito is used in Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to refer to children, or to scold someone for acting immaturely, e.g., No actúes como un carajito.
Caray is a mild minced oath for this word. Ay caray could be translated "Dang it" or "Darn it!" The word caracho is also considered mild like caray. The connotation of "far away place" is supposedly based on the name of the Cargados Carajos, which belong to Mauritius. Nationalistic chants commonly use the phrase: ¡Viva Cuba, carajo!, ¡Viva el Ecuador, carajo!, and ''¡Viva el Perú, carajo!''