¡Chíngale cabrón!

I've already written about a number of the meanings of the word chingar, but the verb chingar is so versatile there seems to be no end to how many things you can say with it.  Today we're going to take a look at a few more.  And let me point out for those of you that don't know, the verb chingar is very Mexican.

Enough chit-chat, let's get to the point.  But before we get to our expression "Chíngale cabrón", I'm going to cover another expression first.

We've all had co-workers who maybe don't put in quite as much effort as they should.  In English we'd say they're fucking off or dicking around.  In Mexican Spanish the phrase you want hacerse pendejo.  I wouldn't say hacerse pendejo is as strong as fucking off, so I'd say it's about as strong as saying dicking around.   Hopefully you get the idea.

Chingarle cabrón means to get to work.  It's a vulgar way to say it of course, but that's what it means.  This may not be a perfect translation, but it's roughly the equivalent of saying get your ass to work, with the added implication of not just working, but working hard.

Here's an example:

Ya me voy, chingale cabrón
I'm leaving now, get your ass to work

I like giving examples to help you understand things, but I wanted to do something different this time, so I wrote a  short dialog.  Let's take a look at it.

Suena el teléfono

A:  ¿Bueno?
B:  Carnal, ¿qué onda?
A:  Todo bien carnal.  No más aquí en la oficina trabajando.
B:  Trabajando?  No mames, estás haciendote pendejo como siempre, jajaja
A:  Jajajaja, nel cabrón, hoy tengo mucho trabajo, no tengo tiempo para hacerme pendejo.
B:  Ni madres, jajaja, no te creo.
B:  Pues recuerdate que esta noche vamos a pistear y tienes que chíngale duro para sacar las chelas.
A:  Saco las chelas?  Chale wey, si no recuerdo mal te toca a ti.
B:  No seas codo wey, jajaja.  Sale, si netamente tienes mucho trabajo te dejo.  ¡Chíngale cabrón!  Nos vidrios.
A:  Orále pues.

Here's the translation.

The phone rings

A: Hello?
B: Bro, what's up?
A: It's all good bro.  I'm just here in the office working.
B: Working?  No fucking way, you're dicking around like always, Hahahaha.
A: Hahaha, No asswipe, I have a lot of work today, I don't have time to dick around.
B: Bullshit, I don't believe you.
B: Well, remember we're going out drinking tonight and you gotta bust your ass to pay for the beers.
A: Pay for the beers?  What? Dude, if I remember correctly it's your turn.
B: Don't be cheap dude, Hahahaha. OK, If you really have a lot of work I'll let you go.  Get your ass to   work.  Catch you later.
A: OK.

My translation isn't literal, it's basically the English equivalent of the Spanish version.  Translation is tricky sometimes, especially when it comes to curse words.  Their meaning can change based on context, and the fact that we don't always have direct translations.  The good news is I've already discussed some of these words before like Ni madres and No mames.

Chingar is a very diverse verb and if you spend any amount of time at all talking with Mexicans who like to swear, you'll quickly realize that this is a verb you need to understand.  Lucky for us someone wrote the book on the verb chingar.

El Chingonario. Uso, reuso y abuso del chingar (Spanish Edition)

I bought a copy of this myself and I have to admit it's pretty good.  If you click on the link or image or above, you can read about it at Amazon.  At some point I'll write a review and give you a close look at it.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of the dialog.  If enough of you tell me you liked my dialog maybe I'll write more of them.

In the meantime, chingale cabrón so that you can afford to get a copy of the Chingonario and impress your Mexican friends with your new found knowledge of the verb chingar.

Esta bien chingon el chingonario

When something, or someone, is chingón, that means they, or it, are really, really good.  So good in fact, you would say it's fucking great.

Esta bien chingón el chingonario 
The chinganario is fucking great

You may have noticed I didn't translate the word chingonario.  That's because there isn't translation.  Yes, I hear you.  You're thinking...

Entonces, ¿que chingados es un chingonario?
So, what the fuck is a chinganario?

Let me explain.

Chingonario = Chingón + Diccionario

The verb chingar has a multitude of uses, and although I've talked about a few of them before, wouldn't it be nice to have a reference at your fingertips that tells you everything you need to know? That's where the chinganario comes in.

The chinganario is a dictionary of the word chingar and it's most common uses with practical explanations and examples of how the family of chingar related words are used.  Que chingón, ¿no?

The chingonario has a ton of great expressions like:

La función es hasta casa de la chingada, así ni gratis voy
The event is in the middle of fucking nowhere, I'm not going even if it's free

That's more of a figurative translation than a literal one, because literal translations are often very hard to come by when it comes to swearing.

Esa estúpida me manda todo a la hora de la salida, nomás por chingar
That stupid lady sent me everything when it was time to leave, just to fuck with me

Here's a cool preview of what you can find in the Chingonario.

Here's a little more info about the actual book:

El Chigonario

If you take you Mexican swearing seriously, El Chigonario is a must have.  There's no better way to learn about the verb chingar.

I've got a copy of this book myself and I have to admit it's helped me understand some of the Spanish being spoken around me and especially the Spanish I hear being used in movies.

Just a few weeks ago I overheard two friends talking and they used a slew of the words and expressions found in this book.

You may have noticed the book is completely in Spanish.  Yes, you'll need a decent understanding of Spanish and/or be willing to accept the challenge of reading a book in Spanish.  Either way, you're going to learn a lot and really enjoy this book.

Well, that's all for today!

Hasta pronto!

Sabes qué, ¡Chingate!

A picture's worth a thousand words, and I bet I don't need to translate the message this little pinche escuincle (fucking brat) is sending.  Yep, you guessed it, chingate means "fuck you".  Here's another nice insult:

Chinga tu madre
Fuck your mother

While insulting people is always fun (and sometimes dangerous) the word "chinga" has other uses as well.

In English, we toss around the word fuck all the time.  It can be used in a lot of ways, like expressing anger, surprise or frustration and just to flat out insult someone to name a few, and today we'll talk about how do all that in Mexican Spanish, with the the word "chinga" and it's derivatives.

While in English we use the F word (fuck) , aka the "F bomb", to express both emotion and the act of sex, it doesn't work that way in Spanish. 

If you want to talk about the act of sex (fucking), then you need the verbs follar, coger, tirar, joder or chingar for that, with coger being the verb of choice in Mexico.  But if you need to let out a little steam in Mexican Spanish, you can say:

¡Chinga!
Fuck!

You can use the word chinga in the same context you would in English. 

Smashed your finger in the car door?  ¡Chinga!

Got a letter from the IRS saying you owe them $10,000?  ¡Chinga!

You get the point, but here's some more examples anyway:

Ya te dije que me dejes en paz ¡chinga!
I already told you to leave me alone, fuck!

¿Qué la chinga?
What the fuck?

There's also chingao, or chingado.  The word is actually chingado, although you'll see and hear both.   Here's how you would use them.

¿Que chingados?
What the fuck?

¿Quien chingados eres?
Who the fuck are you?

Pues, ¿qué chingados hago?
Well, what the fuck do I do?

¡Ah, chingao! Se me perdieron las llaves
Fuck!  I lost the keys

And here's one more for you...

¿Dónde está Wally? Sepa la chingada
Where's Waldo? Who the fuck knows

For those of you who caught my "Where's Waldo" reference, in Spanish he's known as Wally.  Don't ask me why, I was just as surprised as you.

If you feel you need a little more practice, you can check out this YouTube video:

The nice thing is the video has the letra (lyrics) as well, so now you can learn how to write your insults down.

That's it for today.  Next time we'll talk about how to tell someone to  fuck off in a more neutral Spanish.

¡Hasta luego!

Se chingó mi celular

It seems there's no end to the uses of chingar.  Although technically speaking we're about to talk about chingarse, it's reflexive cousin. But that sounds too much like grammar, so let's move on.


In this context, when you say something "se chingó" you're saying it's broken, it doesn't work anymore.  In English we would say it got really screwed up, or "it's fucked". 

This is really quite easy to use, so let's look at some examples:

Se chingó la televisión 
The television is screwed up

Ya se chingó mi cell
My cell phone is fucked


There's really not a whole lot to this one, but it's a very, very common expression that you need to be familiar with if you're going to dive into the world of swearing in Mexican Spanish.

Pues, ¡Hasta la próxima!

Si no chingas, te chingan

This is another classic Mexican expression based on the verb chingar.  Big surprise huh?

Let's get straight to the point (ir al grano) and start translating our expression.

Let's look at a similar English expression:

Do onto your neighbor before he does onto you

I'd say that translation truly captures the essence of our expression, with one difference - it's not entirely 100% accurate because it's not vulgar enough.  Remember that anything involving chingar is very, very rude.

In this context chingar is pretty much directly translates to fuck in English.   In fact, the English expression we're looking for here is "to fuck someone over", or simply "to fuck someone" (to do something bad to them).

With that in mind, let's make one more try at translation:

Si no chingas, te chingan
If you don't fuck them, they'll fuck you.

That's more like it. 

As far rude expressions go, this one was pretty straight-forward. 

¡Hasta pronto, y espera que te sirva!

¡No me digas chingaderas!

Chingaderas has several meanings, one of which is the stupid things people say, especially lies.  Sometimes we call this kind of stuff bullshit. 

In English we refer to this as bullshitting someone, or "to bullshit".  In Mexican Spanish it would be "decir chingaderas".

Here's an example:

No me digas chingaderas
Don't bullshit me OR
Don't give me that bullshit

You may have noticed these are not exact translations.  Remember, literal translations are not always possible.  It's the essence of the phrase we're trying to capture, and this comes pretty close.

Here are some examples:

¿Qué chingaderas son estas?
What kind of bullshit is this?

Estas son chigaderas
This is bullshit

¡Son chingaderas!
Bullshit!

Well, that's it for today.  I think we've all had enough chingaderas for one day.

¡Adios!

¡Chinga tu madre!

This is another staple of Mexican Spanish.

In English we have "Fuck You", which is possibly the strongest insult in English.  But in Spanish...

¡Chinga tu madre!

Is quite possibly the top dog of insults.  It's certainly up there, so you've been warned.  Also take note that if you're the recipient of this, you've made someone very, very angry.

You see, in Mexican Spanish, insults involving the word "madre" are pretty damn strong.   It's like someone tossing in the F word while cussing you out in English.  They aren't just mad, they're furious.  And if you aren't familiar with the phrase the "F word", that's a polite way of referring to the word "Fuck" which is definitely the strongest swear word in the English language.  At least in American English.

You can also say "chíngate", which would be more of an equivalent to "Fuck you" in English, but in Mexican Spanish, when you seriously want to insult someone, best to go with...

¡Chinga tu madre!

Well, this one is short and sweet. As always, be careful with anything you learn on this blog, whether you're translating from English to Spanish  or vice-versa.

¡Hasta la próxima!

Me voy a la chingada de aquí

If you're going to swear in Mexican Spanish, or at least want to be able understand what's being said when other people swear, you're really going to have to learn the many nuances of the phrase "a la chingada".  Today we're going to discuss yet another usage of this phrase.

Everyday that I leave the office, I usually tell everyone "me voy", well, the English equivalent of "me voy" anyway.  Which would be "I'm leaving", in case you're not familiar with "me voy".  But sometimes when you leave the office, or some other place that's getting on your nerves, "me voy" just doesn't cut it.

That's where our old friend "a la chingada" comes in:

Me voy a la chingada de aquí

I'm getting the hell (fuck) out of here

Remember, anything in Mexican Spanish that involves "chingar" or "a la chingada" is very strong, so this is not something you want to toss around lightly.  

Pan comida, right?  

Well, "Me voy a la chingada de aquí", because it's Saturday night and for once I actually have plans.

¡Espero que te sirva!

Esa vieja ya esta muy chingada

Here we have yet another use of chingada.  I'm beginning to think there's no end to the uses of this word. 

Enough chit-chat, let's get started.

First let's look at vieja.  This word actually has a few meanings.  You can refer to your wife or girlfriend as your "vieja", much like we use the phrase "old lady".  It can also mean more or less the equivalent of the word broad in English.  In fact, if you say something like "esa vieja", it can have the tone of "that bitch", with context and tone heavily influencing the meaning.   Either way, the last two meanings are not nice.
That leaves us with "muy chingada".  There's no direct translation, but this is a very crude way of saying that this vieja "has been around".

Esa vieja ya esta muy chingada
This broad has been around

Let me point out that the English translation I gave is not nearly as rude as the Spanish version.  A true English equivalent might be something like:

Esa vieja ya esta muy chingada

Everybody's fucked this broad


Translations can be tricky, but I think you get the picture.   Keep in mind that using "chingar" or any of it's derivatives is the esentially the equivalent of tossing around the F word.  In other words, be careful.

¡Ya esta!  That's it for today,

¡Cuidense!

Se los chingaron en la calle

Yes, once again the verb chingar shows up on our radar.  I'm begining to think there are an unlimited number of uses for this verb.

Let's take a look at our sentence for this post, which is actually incomplete.  Here's the entire sentence:

Hoy este guey se puso sus tenis nuevos de domiguear y se los chingaron en la calle

In a previous entrada (blog post) we talked about "chingar" meaning to "fuck someone up" or "beat the crap out of someone" and the former definition is the more accurate of the two, just so you know.

But that's not what "chingar" means here.  But before I get to "chingar", let's talk about the first half of the sentence:

Hoy este guey se puso sus tenis nuevos de dominguear

The most interesting part of this sentence is "de dominguear".  In a nutshell, that means wearing your "Sunday best", you know, the fancy clothes you put on to go to church.   It's kind of tough to translate this, but think of "sus tenis nuevos de dominguear" as a pair of really nice tennis shoes this lad plans to wear when he gets all dressed up.  I discussed this phrase in more detail in my other blog here.   A possible English translation here might be something like:

Hoy este guey se puso sus tenis nuevos de dominguear
Today this dude put on his new tennis shoes for church

So now we can move on what we're really here for, "chingar".

The last half of our sentence is:

y se los chingaron en la calle

Fortunately, this is easier to translate.

y se los chingaron en la calle
and they fucking stole them in the street

Let's look at everything together:

Hoy este guey se puso sus tenis nuevos de domiguear y se los chingaron en la calle
Today this dude put on his new tennis shoes for church and they fucking stole them in the street

So there you have it.  Another usage of chingar for you to add to your Spanish toolbox.

¡Hasta la proxíma!

¡Vete a la chingada!

You're going to see the phrase "a la chingada" a lot as we talk about more mala palabras de México.  

Remember, everything you'll learn on this blog is going to be rude and not for polite company.  And "vete a la chingada" is no exception.  In fact, this is pretty damn strong.  And that's an understatement.

It basically means "go to hell" but with the intensity of "go fuck yourself".  

This phrase really doesn't require much explanation on how to use it.  Anytime you feel the need to tell someone off, this is a good choice.  And if it's directed at you, you've made someone pretty angry. 

Many people speculate over exactly where "la chingada" is.  Well it turns it was quite easy to solve that mystery with Google at my side.  When someone tells you to go the "la chingada", you can consider booking your next vacation at  La Chingada.

Ok, that link actual leads to page that makes fun of the phrase "a la chingada".  But I'm sure you'll figure that out as soon as you read the page.   

I encourage you ¡Vete a la chingada! for a few laughs and learn a little bit more about chingar and la chingada, and ten cuidado (be careful)  with this phrase.

¡Cuidense bien!

Vales para pura chingada

We have yet another phrase that involves a word that stems from chingar.  And there's a lot more to come.    But we don't want to get ahead of ourselves,  let's decipher this phrase first. 

To cut to the chase,"vales para pura chingada" means "you're not worth shit".

Vales comes for valor - to be worth something.  And not only can you use it on people, you can use it in other contexts.  Here are some more examples:

Este carro vale para pura chingada.
This car isn't worth shit.

Este pedazo de chatarra vale para pura chingada.
This piece of junk isn't worth shit.

As far as swearing in Spanish goes, this is pretty straight-forward.  Or as the saying goes "pan comida".

¡Hasta la próxima!

Hace un chingo de frío

It's winter time, and sometimes "hace frio" doesn't convey just how cold it is.    So let's look at a few ways to express just how cold it is in a more colorful fashion.

With that said, let's take a look at our phrase for today.

Hace un chingo de frío

We know that "hace frio" means it's cold.  That part is easy.  Now lets move on to "un chingo".

"Un chingo" is a lot of something.  It's synonomous with montón -- a ton of , a lot of.   But "un chingo" derives from Chingar.  If you don't already know, Chingar and its many variations are used to add "emphasis" to things. It's a word you'll quite often in this blog, and make no mistake about it, Chingar is along the lines of the F word in English.

But back to our phrase. 

If we put everything together, we get it "It makes a lot of cold", well, more like "It makes a lot of fucking cold", when you translate it literally.  But we'd just say "It's really fucking cold".

There are other ways to talk about how cold it is, all equally rude (grosero).

Hace un frio de la chingada.

Que puto frío!

Hace un frío hijo de puta!

Well, that's it for today.  I know there are expressions we didn't talk about, like "hijo de puta" and "de la chingada", but we'll get to those expressions and more in due time. 

And I really shouldn't have to tell you to "ten cuidado" (be careful) with these expressions, but I will anyway. 

Hasta la próxima!