AUDAZ REVISTA
Spanish swearing does not travel
The word Spain reaches for most is the one word you cannot take with you. And the words that look harmless are the real traps.
17 OF 17
Gilipollas came first everywhere
More than 2,500 people across Spain named the three insults they used most. Gilipollas topped every one of the 17 autonomous communities. Imbecil was second in 15 of them.
Universidad Nebrija and Universidad de Alicante, published 18 December 2020.
ESPANA
One sense. One country mark.
That is the entire RAE entry for gilipollas: adjective, malsonante, Espana, "Necio o estupido". Spain's most-used insult is marked Spain-only.
The mark records where a word lives. It is not a census, and a missing mark never means safe.
BOLUDO
Same gloss, different continent
The RAE gives boludo the identical six-word definition, "Necio o estupido", marked Argentina and the Dominican Republic. Two country lists that do not overlap at all.
In El Salvador the same word means adinerado. Wealthy.
31 OF 32
Coger is innocent almost every time
To take, grab, catch, understand. Then sense 31, marked vulgar, means to have sex, across eight territories from Central America to Venezuela.
Use tomar instead. One habit, a whole continent covered.
SENSE 12
Concha is a seashell until it is not
Eleven harmless senses come first: a shell, a tortoise's shell, a theatre prompter's box, a small bay, an old copper coin. Sense 12 is malsonante in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
FOUR JOBS
Cono is punctuation, and a nationality
Sense 5 is an interjection for surprise or anger. Sense 2 is marked Chile and means a person from Spain. Sense 4, in Chile and Ecuador, means stingy.
One word, four countries, four different conversations.
NOT ONE
Pendejo carries no foul label at all
Eight senses, and the RAE marks none of them malsonante. In Peru it means shrewd and crafty. In Argentina and Uruguay it means a boy or a teenager.
In Andalucia it means mistletoe.
TACO
The Spanish word for a swear word
Sense 10 of the RAE entry is the rolled Mexican tortilla. Sense 19 is "Voto, juramento, palabrota", with the note "Echar, soltar tacos". To throw tacos is to swear.
Sense 27, in the plural, means years of age. Tiene veinte tacos.
THE RULE
Recognise it. Do not deploy it.
You need these words so a sentence does not fall apart in your ear. You do not need to say them. And check the country mark, never the translation.
Tap for the full map, with every RAE entry.