EIGHTEEN

¡A la chingada!: Send Them Packing

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One way to realize you have made it in Mexico is when you can master the concept of chingada and can use the term in its multiple forms. Chingada itself can mean a prostitute, a promiscuous woman, a place that is very far away; ¡Vete a la Chingada! means “go f**k yourself.” But used with the gerund -ando, it usually means to bother (as in no me estés chingando, don´t bother me). So, having learned these two forms, you can very well tell someone: ¡no me estés chingando! or ¡vete a la chingada! When used with the complement madre, “mother,” you can then say to someone. Vete a chingar a tu madre, which is pretty much the same as telling someone to go f**k themselves!

Other variations:

Eres un hijo de la chingada: You're a son of a bitch.

Ya me tienes hasta la chingada: You have me up to my balls!

Me importa una chingada: I don't give a f**k.

Estás todo dado a la chingada: You're really f**ked up.

Hecho la chingada: Really fast (Salimos de la fiesta hechos la chingada).

¡Me lleva la chingada! F**k me!

No estés chingando la marrana: Stop f**king around.

Me di un chingadazo con la puerta: I bumped myself against the door.

¡Esas son chingaderas!: That´s f**king bullshit!

Me duele un chingo: It f**king hurts.

No me chingues: Don't f**k around with me.

Son todos unos chinga-quedito: You're all little f**k-ups.

However, you can also use the word to show immense respect to people:

Eres un chingón: You kick ass!

Mi moto está bien chingona: My motorcycle is so f**king cool.

Yo soy el más chingón del mundo: I am the king of the world.

Esa foto es una chingonería: That photo is f**king amazing!

¡al diablo!

to hell!, lit. to the devil

¡Al diablo con mi familia! Me voy a vivir con Juan.

To hell with my family! I'm moving in with Juan.

andar a cagar

to go to hell, lit. to go to shit

¡Anda a cagar! No te creo nada de lo que me dices.

Get out of here! I don't believe a word of what you are saying.

cantarle las cuarenta (a alguien) (Spain)

to tell somebody off, lit. to sing the forty to someone

No me ha querido dar la cara, pero en cuanto lo vea le voy a cantar las cuarenta.

She hasn't dared to face me, but as soon as I see her I will vent.

cerrar el pico

to shut up, lit. to close the beak

Cierra el pico y déjame ver la película.

Shut up and let me watch the movie.

dar en la madre

to beat someone/ruin something, lit. to give in the mother

¡Mira cómo dejaste mi coche! Le diste en toda la madre.

Look what you´ve done to my car! You have ruined it.

dar lata

to bother someone, lit. to give can

Ya no me estés dando lata; no te voy a comprar ese juguete.

Stop bothering me; I will not buy you that toy.

dejar la cagada

to leave a mess, lit. to leave the shit

El último huracán dejó la cagada en el Caribe.

The last hurricane left a mess in the Caribbean.

dejar la crema

to leave a mess/f**k up something, lit. to leave the cream

El presidente renunció - por fin - después de dejar la crema en el país.

The president finally quit, after he f**ked up everything in the country.

hasta el copete/la coronilla

up to here, lit. up to the tuft/crown

Deja de cantar esa canción; ya me tienes hasta el copete.

Stop singing that song; I've had it up to here with you.

hinchar

to bother, lit. to swell up

¡Ya te dije que no me estés hinchando!

I told you to stop bothering me!

lit. I told you to stop swelling me up!

hinchar las pelotas

to bother someone, lit. to fill up someone's balls

Ve a molestar a otra parte; no me hinches las pelotas.

Go pester someone else; don't bother me.

oler a demonios

to stink, lit. to smell of demons

Llévense a bañar a este niño; ¡huele a demonios!

Take this kid to the shower; He stinks!

oler a rayos

to stink!, lit. to smell of lightning

¿No te bañaste hoy? ¡Hueles a rayos!

Didn´t you take a shower today? You stink!

mandarle a freír espárragos (a alguien)

to leave someone, lit. to send someone to fry asparagus

Mi novio me mandó a freir espárragos.

My boyfriend dumped me.

mandar le con su música a otra parte (a alguien)

to send somebody away, lit. to send someone with his/her music elsewhere

La vecina vino a insistir que fuéramos a la iglesia, pero la mandamos con su música a otra parte.

The neighbor came over to insist we go to church, but we sent her packing.

Other variations include:

mandarle a la goma (a alguien)

to send (someone) packing, lit. to send (someone) to the rubber

mandarle a volar (alguien)

to send (someone) packing, lit. to send (someone) flying

mandarle por un tubo (alguien)

to send (someone) packing, lit. to send through a tube

Catholicism is the base for Hispanic culture, and as a result a person banned from society is naturally sent to the devil. To send people to hell just use ¡vete al diablo!, “go to the devil!”;¡vete al demonio!, “go to the demon!”; vete al cuerno!, “go to the horn!”; or ¡vete a la tostada!, “go to the toast!” With the crowd already in hell, maybe the one you want to get rid of won't find a space there. There's an indirect way to send them to hell, making them commit sins … ¡Vete a la chingada!, is a classic, while ¡vete a la perica!, literally “go to the female parrot!” is more obscure and dubious.

Laziness is sometimes a cause of anger. A lazybones who's always on your back is quite annoying. Work is then the best solution: you can use ¡vete a la goma!, literally “go to the rubber,” or ¡vete a hacer puñetas!, “go and make lace cuffs.” Sometimes it's not the personality that annoys. People are sent away because they stink and the others can't handle it anymore; ¡vete a bañar!, literally, “go take a shower!” is certainly one of the cleanest ways to send someone packing.

¡no mames/manches!

get outta here, lit. do not suck/stain

¡No mames! No puedo creer que pagaste $2,000 por ese coche.

Get outta here! Don't tell me you paid $2,000 for that car.

no romper un plato

to be harmless, lit. to not break break a plate

Mírale la carita a esa niña; parece que no rompe un plato.

Look at that cute little girl; she looks harmless but I'm sure she's trouble.

pegarle una hostia (a alguien)

to beat/smack (somebody), to give (someone) a host

Cuando Juanito le dijo a su mamá que era una cualqui-era, ésta le pegó una hostia.

When Juanito told his mom she was a hooker, she smacked him.

pelearse con Sansón a las patadas

to fight with someone stronger than us, lit. to fight Samson by kicking him

Los punks se quisieron pelear con los guaruras, pero eso era como ponerse con Sansón a las patadas.

The punks wanted to fight with the security guards, but there's no way they would've won.

pintar le un violin (a alguien)

to give (someone) the finger, lit. to paint a violin

Le dijimos que era muy feo y nos pintó un violín.

We told him he was ugly and he gave us the finger.

valer gorro

to give a damn, lit. to be worth a hat

Dicen que Miranda anda hablando mal de mí, pero me vale gorro.

They say Miranda is saying bad things about me but I don't give a damn.

valer queso

to be worthless, lit. to be worth cheese

Mi coche valió queso; ya no arranca más.

My car was worthless; it wouldn't start anymore.

valer un pepino

to not care, lit. to give the value of a cucumber

Me vale un pepino si no me quieres.

I don't give a damn if you don't love me.

Annoying people usually find everthing they say extremely interesting and don't seem to understand that you could care less. There's no secret formula to stop them, but Spanish idioms provide a way to make the person understand your lack of interest. If the dude doesn't understand me vale gorro / me vale pepino then just change the object with another of these useless or worthless items: bolillo (bread), cacahuate (peanut), callampa (mushroom), corneta (bugle), comino (cumin), rábano (radish), camote (sweet potato), chorizo (sausage), sombrilla (umbrella), pimiento (pepper), pito (dick). If this doesn't do the trick, your pest is either deaf or just doesn't give a damn. illustration

mandarle a ver si ya puso la marrana (a alguien)

to send (someone) to hell, lit. to send (someone) to go see if the pig has given birth

Mi hermano me vino a molestar pero le dije que fuera a ver si ya puso la marrana.

My brother came to bother me, but I told him to go to hell.

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