¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa' dentro!

Personally, I consider this piece of Spanish a "must know".  Maybe that's because I spend so much time in bars when I go to Mexico, but that's another story, albeit related.

It's pretty much a worldwide custom to make a toast while you have a few drinks friends or celebrate a special occasion.  In America, we say "cheers", as you well know.  But in Spanish, you say ¡salud!

But personally, I find that particular toast a bit plain, which brings us to the topic of today's post.

¡Arriba, abajo, al centro, pa' dentro!

While we can make a literal translation, there's no equivalent expression in English that I'm aware of. Memorize this and say it right before you slam down your favorite tequila, or whatever your drink of choice is.   OK, maybe you don't have to slam it down, but it might make the night more interesting.

Let's talk a little about the Spanish you see in this image.


You probably noticed the pa in steps 1, 2 and 4 on the image.  That's just a contraction for para.   The pa'l on step 3 is a contraction for para al.  And that's your Spanish lesson for today.

So here's how it works, so pay close attention (fijense bien) because the physical mechanics of this toast are crucial.  OK, maybe crucial is a bit much, but the motions come with the phrase.

You know what?  Forget the picture, here's a video of this toast being done in action.  If you can't see the video here's the direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr3Q5H57kRU

Now, oddly enough, that is the traditional toast and that's exactly how it's done.  Except I'm not accustomed to doing it that way.

I'll describe the way I've seen it done, and done it myself.  I picked this up in Northern Mexico, Tijuana to be exact.  I can't tell you how common it is outside of there.

Let's get to it.

At each step, be sure to "clink" or touch glasses. Or beer bottles, whatever it is your drinking from.  I'm typically drinking beer, so let's go with that.

Now in my version the movements aren't as exaggerated as they are in the picture and video above.  You just hold your beer bottle (or glass) at about shoulder height in front of you and it stays at that level.  After that, just go through the motions:

"Arriba" -  Literally translates to "up".  Touch the necks of your beer bottles

"Abajo" - Literally translates to "down". Touch the bottom of your beer bottles

"Al centro" - Literally translates to "center". Touch the center of your beer bottles.  You general rub them up and down just a tad too.

"Pa' dentro or Adentro" - Literally translates to "inside".  Drink immediately, bottoms up!

I know it's tough to envision, I'll work on getting some video next time I'm there.

And here's a variation of this wonderful toast.  The words have changed (just a little) but motions are the same.

Arriba, abajo, al centro, con un movimiento, el vaso a la boca y todo adentro

Simple, right?  Well, I say you head to the closest cantina (bar) and practice this until you get it right.

Also be sure to visit my sister blog and read my post 3 Ways to ask for happy hour specials in Spanish.

And lastly,  for 20+ more bar/drinking phrases and over 1600 useful Spanish phrases on your Android device, check out My Spanish Phrasebook.



¡Cuidense amigos!

Se me antoja un helado de vainilla

If you ever get the urge to eat something specific, like a piece of cheesecake, or a steak, or whatever, then you've had an antojo, a craving.

To say you have a craving for something, you use the verb antojarse.  Actually, you may want to think of it as a desire, or an urge to eat or do something, because you can use it to say you have an urge to do something besides eat.  But in this post we're talking about cravings for food.

Se me antoja un helado de vainilla
I have a craving for vanilla ice cream

This is a really easy piece of Spanish you can add to your toolbox.  Simply say "Se me antoja de" and add whatever it is you're craving at the end.

You can also say:

Tengo el antojo de una torta de pesacado
I have a craving for a fish torta

You can also "ando de antojo", which means you feel like eating just about everything you see.  I often find myself feeling like this.

A person can also be an antojadizo/antojadiza which means that you pretty much "ando de antojo" all the time (todo el tiempo).

Here are some examples:

Soy muy antojadizo
I always have a craving to eat

That's it.  Now you can have cravings in both English and Spanish.

¡Adios!

Toda la familía anda domingueando

As soon I heard the word "domingueando", and found out what it meant, I was in love with it.  Not that it's all that special, I just get a kick out of it.

"domingueando" comes from the verb dominguear.  And you may have noticed the simularity to the word "domingo" in there.  "domingo", meaning Sunday, of course.

So what does it mean to "dominguear"?  It means to put on your "Sunday best" as we might say in English.  In other words, you're wearing your church clothes.  You know, your nice slacks and a fancy shirt, and perhaps a nice dress for the ladies. 

So with that bit of basic information we can translate our sentence:

Toda la familía anda domingueando
The whole family is all dressed up

Here's another example:

Hoy me voy a poner mis pantalones de dominguear
I'm going to put on my Sunday pants

And FYI, it doesn't have to be Sunday for you to "dominguear".


It's never a bad thing to "dominguear" de vez en cuando (once in a while), and now you can even talk about it in Spanish!

¡Cuidense!

¡Callate chismolero!

People say the funniest things when they think no one's listening, or can't understand.

I was checking out of my hotel in Mexico, and the young lady behind the desk was joking around with one of her co-workers. 

I didn't catch what he said, but she jokingly replied:

Callate chismolero

Of course I had to laugh. 

If you don't know, "callate", it's along the lines of "shut up".  I wouldn't say it's that strong, but it's up there. 

"callate la boca" would definitely qualify as being rude.  You can also say "cierra la boca" which is quite possibly equally strong.  Personally, I've avoided using "callarse", because I'm still unsure of just exactly how strong this is.  And of course, your tone of voice plays a huge part of how things are inteprepted.

But if you want to ask someone politely to be quiet, you can't go wrong with "Silencio, por favor". 

But let's move on to the more interesting word, "chismolero".

I hadn't heard this word before, but I knew that a "chismoso" is a person who likes to gossip, so it wasn't much of a stretch to figure out that a "chismolero" is a synonym.

The verbs chismear and chismorrear mean to gossip, so now you've got all the tools you need to start discussing all the going-ons in your neighborhood with your Spanish neighbors.

¡Cuidense!

Tengo el pelo chino

Ah yes, this phrase reminds of the deer in headlights look that I love so much. 

Tengo el pelo chino
I have Chinese hair

Say what?

Chino means Chinese, and what it is has to do with hair is beyond me.  Despite my ignorance of the relationship between hair and Chinese in Spanish, "El pelo chino" is a colloquial way of saying you have curly hair.

By the way, pelo chino is a very Mexican way of saying someone has curly hair.

A more standard way of saying this would be:

Tengo el pelo rizado
I have curly hair

Since we're on the subject of hair, here are a couple of other interesting things about hair.

Pelo is the word you will almost exclusively use for hair, although there are a few other words (and distinctions) we need to know.

Cabello is actually the hair on your head, and the only place cabello exists.  Vello referes to hair anywhere else on your body, such as vello facial - facial har and vello púbico - pubic hair. 

Getting back to cabello, or pelo, you can wear your hair down, suelta (loose) or in cola de caballo (pony tail), cola for short.

One last thing...

After a long day of practicing your Spanish, you may need to "suéltate el pelo" (let your hair down), which has the same meaning in Spanish as it does in English, which in this context has nothing at all to do with hair, but instead relaxing and having a good time.

Well, that's it. 

¡Ojala que te sirva!
I hope this helps!