If you are living in Costa Rica, you can increase the quality of your experience here by learning to speak Spanish. Every country has its own slang and colloquial expressions and Costa Rica is no different. That is why we have included this list of frequently used tiquismos (colloquial expressions) and Pachuquísmos (a type of street dialect).

The Pachuquísmos can be offensive and some should not be used. You will not be able to find many of these words in your standard Spanish dictionary. If you do locate any of them, they probably will not be used in the same context as in Costa Rica. Just be aware that they exist. By studying them you can better understand the native speaker.

We want to thank our good friend and partner, Christopher Howard, for compiling these lists.  Muchas gracias don Chris !!!