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Fall in Love with These Five Guatemalan Spanish Phrases

Falling in love is like a drug. What words are used in Guatemalan Spanish to express these feelings?

Five Guatemalan Spanish phrases about love

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💘 ALL IS fair in love and war. And, as you will see, almost anything goes in these five Guatemalan Spanish phrases.

1. Colgado como chorizo en tienda.

Falling in love can have a powerful effect on a person, almost like a drug. For that reason, in Guatemalan Spanish, a person in such a state is said to be colgado como chorizo en tienda. Sausages here are not usually hidden away in a cooler, but prominently on display in a store’s entrance. The idea? Onlookers can tell what is going on without explanations.

⚽ Ricardo, desde que conoció a Rut, está colgado como chorizo en tienda.
🏈 Ricardo, ever since he met Rut, has been head over heels in love.

The same idea can be shortened to estĂĄ colgado.

2. llegarle a uno

Llegar is the verb to arrive. But in this context, it takes on the sense of liking or loving something or somebody. One man wrote in his blog:

⚽ Soy chapín y Guate me llega.
🏈 I’m Guatemalan and I love Guatemala.

3. pitiar

Pitas are cords, and it’s the local term for shoestrings. Of course, if a man is trying to win over the heart of a certain lady friend, he is trying to get a hold of the strings of her heart. This, therefore, is a fitting verb for dating.

⚽ Juan le está pitiando a Elena, ¿va’a?
🏈 Juan is going out with Elena, right?

4. cantinear

Before you can date someone, you have to win over his or her heart. The verb for this locally is cantinear**,** which literally means bar-hopping. Apparently, some have found that special someone with visits down to the local canteen.

⚽ ¿Supiste que Juan ya está cantineándole a María?
🏈 Did you hear that Juan is dating María?

5. traida

This archaic Spanish word for girlfriend never went out of style in Guatemala.

⚽ ¿Y la traida? ¿No la trajiste?
🏈 And your girlfriend?  Didn’t you bring her?

One women even tweeted:

⚽ Con foto de perfil de la traída y todavía hablándome.
🏈 He has his girlfriend’s picture on his profile and yet he’s still talking to me.

The masculine version is traido for boyfriend. Another local word for girlfriend is gĂźiza, sometimes spelled wisa.

Learn more

Want to learn more? Check out the article 20 Ways to Speak Guatemalan Spanish.


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