A homemade herbal liqueur from the Venezuelan Andes, traditionally consumed to stay warm while traveling through the high-altitude moorlands known as the paramo. It is called calentaito because it warms the body up in the middle of such intense cold. (The paramo is a cold, high-altitude ecosystem found in the northern Andes).
Son, come here and let's have a calentaito now that the cold has arrived. / This calentaito is the best thing for the cold so I don't get altitude sickness.
To get the hang of something, master a skill, or get into the groove of a new situation. It refers to the process of becoming familiar with a routine or task until it feels like second nature.
- How is it going living together? - Well... le estoy tomando la mano.
Gifts presented to a bride during the traditional rosca dance at weddings in the Salamanca region. (The baile de la rosca is a ritual folk dance where guests offer money or presents to the couple).
A peeping tom or voyeur. This term refers to a person who gets sexual gratification from secretly spying on others while they are undressed or in private, intimate situations.
With the obsession that brechador has, he does not care about having boyfriends.
Having the fabric of your pants or skirt wedged between your butt cheeks. While it is easily fixed by pulling the fabric out, doing so is embarrassing in public, so people usually try to fix it discreetly by rubbing against a chair or a wall. (The term literally means imprisoned priest).
- Look, the waitress has the cura preso. Tell her to let him out. - No, take a photo first and post it on Instagram.
A time frame ranging from thirty minutes to three hours later than the agreed-upon time (In the Dominican Republic, social events rarely start on time, and guests are expected to arrive significantly later than the official invitation says).
We were supposed to meet at 7:00, but it was Hora dominicana and I arrived at 8:45.
To be unfairly blamed or punished for something you had nothing to do with, usually due to bad luck or a misunderstanding. It is also expressed through the baseball term pegársele el foul. (A cuaba is a resinous pine wood used for kindling, often used as a metaphor for bad luck or a sticky situation).
They broke a window and I left so I wouldn't have to pegar la cuaba.
The standard greeting used when answering the phone in the Dominican Republic (due to local pronunciation, it is often used in wordplay as it sounds like arroz, meaning rice).
- Aló? Lico? - No, it is Paco. - No, not Paco, Lico. Tasty white Aló.
To stare intensely at someone while they eat, fixating on the food and imagining its taste or hoping to be given a tiny bit (a chin). A person who does this is shameless and does not care that they look pathetic.
Don't eat near that guy, he is velar more than a night watchman.
To return a phone call. This is a common anglicism (a literal translation of the English phrase to call back used in the Dominican Republic instead of the standard Spanish term).
Venezuela
Argentina
España
República Dominicana
Costa Rica
Colombia
Estados Unidos