Spanish · 17 phrases
Exclamations (You Dropped Your Phone)
The involuntary noises. Stub your toe, miss the bus, watch the power die mid-render — here's what actually comes out of a Spanish speaker's mouth. Mexico reaches for the "chingada" family; Spain reaches for the Church ("hostia," "joder"). We've marked the minced, grandma-safe off-ramps ("híjole," "chin") next to the full-voltage versions, so you can pick your volume.
¡Chin! CHEEN Darn! / Shoot! ¡Híjole! EE-hoh-leh Yikes / oof / wow / uh-oh ¿Neta? NEH-tah For real? / Seriously? — or as a statement, 'the honest truth' ¡Órale! OH-rah-leh Alright! / Wow! / Let's go! / Get on with it! ¡Carajo! kah-RAH-hoh Damn it! / hell ¡Hostia! OSS-tyah Whoa! / damn! / holy—! ¡Joder! hoh-DEHR Fuck! / damn it! (the Spain default) ¡Mierda! MYEHR-dah Shit! / crap ¡No manches! noh MAHN-chess No way! / Come on! (the polite twin of no mames) ¡A la verga! ah lah BEHR-gah Holy shit! / to hell with it! / get lost Cabrón kah-BROHN Bastard / badass / dude — depends entirely on tone ¡No chingues! noh CHEEN-gess No way! / quit messing with me! / you're kidding ¡No mames! noh MAH-mess No way! / You've got to be kidding me! ¡Chingada madre! cheen-GAH-dah MAH-dreh Goddammit! / motherf—! Hijo de la chingada EE-hoh deh lah cheen-GAH-dah Son of a bitch (the heavy Mexican version) ¡Me lleva la chingada! meh YEH-bah lah cheen-GAH-dah I'm so screwed! / For fuck's sake! ¡Puta madre! POO-tah MAH-dreh Goddammit! / fucking hell!