Sally Wendy

Sad in Mexican Spanish is triste, and it works for men and women alike. The word apenado in Mexico often means embarrassed, so it does not always mean sad.

Spanish uses two words. The outer ears you can see are orejas, and oídos are the ears as the organ of hearing. Mexican Spanish follows the same rule.

The word for squid is calamar. On menus in Mexico the dish is usually plural, as in calamares fritos or calamares a la plancha.

A stroke is a derrame cerebral in Mexico. People also say embolia, and doctors use infarto cerebral or evento vascular cerebral.

The most Mexican ways to say “awesome” are ¡Qué padre! and ¡Qué chido! Both are informal and heard across the country.

A bridge in Mexican Spanish is a puente. A pedestrian bridge over a road is a puente peatonal. You say cruzar el puente for crossing a bridge.

In Mexico “I hate you” is Te odio, a strong statement said in anger or in jokes.

In Mexican Spanish “pork” is carne de puerco in everyday speech and carne de cerdo in the neutral standard form. Shop labels often just say cerdo.

In Mexican Spanish a zoo is zoológico. People often shorten it to zoo, but zoológico is the word on signs and in conversation.

A nap is siesta in Mexican Spanish. To take one you say echarse una siesta or tomar una siesta. A small, cozy one is una siestecita.