How to Communicate Like a Nicaraguan

In the hypothetical case that you visit Nicaragua one day and want to pass as an authentic Nicaraguan person (thereby reducing your taxi fares and warranting fewer stares), there are a few things you will need to know about how to communicate with your fellow Nicaraguans.

Nicaraguan Accent

For one thing, cut it out with all those s's on the ends of words! Your Spanish vocabulary needs surgery; take every single word ending in "s" and just sever that little letter off the end. Try it out; isn't "gracia" so much easier than "gracias"?

Secondly, especially if you're in the campo, pretend you have a weird Italian accent. Try singing your sentences instead of saying them. In American English, we end questions by increasing in pitch; in Nicaraguan campo Spanish, the pitch climaxes in the middle of the question and goes down right before the question mark. "Ya te VAS para la casa?" 

Going along with the singsongy lilt, you'll also have to get used to uncomfortable pauses in the middle of words, often after uttering an "a" and before the rest of the word. Thus, the word "agua" becomes "aaa___gua." 

Nicaraguan Slang

Once you have mastered the intricacies of the Nicaraguan accent, you can move on to learning Nicaraguan slang. Here are a few examples - this list is certainly not comprehensive.

B' : Make this strong "b" sound when you are discontented or outraged, or when you want to tell someone, "I told you so!" We hear this one from our students a lot. It comes from "ve," meaning, "see?"

Bolo: Drunk

Boludo: Lazy

Crudo: Hungover ("Crudo" literally means "raw" in Spanish).

Dale pue: All right, sounds good. This is an easy way to end an otherwise awkward conversation that could go on forever. It's really spelled "dale pues," but why even pretend there's an "s" there?

Diakachimba: Nicaraguan hipster for, "awesome!"

Mae: Dude

Ooooo: this high-pitched ooing sound is often the response to a question like, "How long have you lived here?" It means, "I'm not exactly sure, but a long time." 

Que la vaya bien!: One of the most common Nicaraguan phrases, "que la vaya bien" literally means, "that you go well." Say this to people when they're leaving.

Si, mon: Yeah, man.

Tuani: Cool! Davie knew this one as "tuanis" in Costa Rica, but of course, ending s's are not allowed in Nicaragua. 

Va pue: see dale pue. It means basically the same thing and also technically has an "s" on the end.

Nicaraguan Gestures

Finally, and maybe most importantly, study up on your Nicaraguan non-verbals. You see these señales everywhere: on the bus, in restaurants, in meetings, between friends. If a Nicaraguan person can avoid talking by using one of these gestures, you can be sure that they most certainly will. Some of them seemed rude to us at first, but don't be offended; they're just another way of expressing something.

Lips pointing: Instead of using a finger to point to something, Nicaraguans point with their lips, puckering them up and sticking them out towards the item in question. This is especially handy if your hands are full or if you don't want to expend too much energy on lifting a finger.

Nose wrinkling: In the US this gesture expresses disgust; in Nicaragua, it communicates the need for clarification. It can mean, for example, "What did you say? I didn't hear you" or "How much does it cost?"

Downward finger snap: This is a hard one to perfect. Holding your middle finger and thumb together, dart your hand down quickly so that your index finger hits the other fingers and make a snapping sound. Use this one when you want to express that something was hard, fast, or intense, or that someone is really strict. 

Hand on hand slide: Place one hand perpendicular to and on top of the other, both palms up, and slide the top hand across the bottom hand. This means, "I'm out of here! It's time to go."

Finger wag: Similar to the reprimanding finger wag we use in the US, the Nicaraguan finger wag moves only the pointer finger back and forth - no other part of the hand should move. Here it is used less to reprimand someone and more as a strong denial or negative answer to a question.

Finger shave: Using the two pointer fingers, hold one steady on the bottom and brush the other one over the bottom finger multiple times. This signifies money and can mean that something is really expensive.

Kissing or rustling mouth noises: You hear this one a lot on the bus, when the bus helper comes around to collect your fare. It can seem quite rude or abrasive at first, but it's meant kindly, as a way of getting your attention.