Spanish · The Chingar Family
Chingadera
cheen-gah-DEH-rah · /tʃin.ɡa.ˈðe.ɾa/
A piece of junk / crap — or a dirty trick
2/5 Bar-safe
coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances
Literally
"A screwed-up thing"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
Two flavors: an object that's cheap garbage ("esta chingadera ya no sirve," this piece of junk is dead) or a lousy thing someone did to you ("me hicieron una chingadera," they pulled a dirty trick on me). It's the family's word for junk and for foul play. Coarse, everyday, friends-and-venting only.
Heard in the wild
¿Otra vez se trabó? Ya tira esa chingadera.
It froze again? Just throw out that piece of junk.
Where it lands
Mexico (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "Chingadera" mean?
- In Spanish, "Chingadera" means "A piece of junk / crap — or a dirty trick". Literally it's "A screwed-up thing". Two flavors: an object that's cheap garbage ("esta chingadera ya no sirve," this piece of junk is dead) or a lousy thing someone did to you ("me hicieron una chingadera," they pulled a dirty trick on me). It's the family's word for junk and for foul play. Coarse, everyday, friends-and-venting only.
- Is "Chingadera" offensive?
- It's on the mild end — 2/5 (Bar-safe) on the Punch-o-Meter. coarse but friendly; fine among acquaintances.
- How do you pronounce "Chingadera"?
- Say it "cheen-gah-DEH-rah" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: tʃin.ɡa.ˈðe.ɾa.
Related in Spanish
¡Chingón! cheen-GOHN Badass / awesome / kickass Chingar cheen-GAR The root verb behind half of Mexican profanity Un chingo oon CHEEN-goh A ton / a whole lot ¡No chingues! noh CHEEN-gess No way! / quit messing with me! / you're kidding Naco NAH-koh Tacky / trashy / classless Mamón mah-MOHN Stuck-up jerk / smug show-off
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "What a mess".
- French Bordel ! What a mess! / Chaos! — also 'what the hell' as an intensifier
- German Scheiße! Shit! / Damn! — the all-purpose German expletive
- Greek σκατά Shit! / Crap! — and 'garbage / terrible' for anything low quality.
- Italian Che casino! What a mess! / What chaos!
- Japanese めちゃくちゃ A total mess / all messed up (or: super, as an intensifier)
- Korean 어떡해 Oh no / what do I do?! — the national noise of small panic.
- Polish masakra A disaster / unbelievable / total carnage — the all-purpose 'this is insane.'
- Portuguese Merda! Shit! / Crap!
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