Heres Whats Cool in Spanish

Here's What's Cool in Spanish This is a cool Spanish lesson. How would you translate the above sentence to Spanish? Look up the word cool in a Spanish-English dictionary, and chances are the first word youll find is fresco - but that word is used to refer to something that isnt quite cold. Some larger dictionaries include words such as guay  as a slangy term, but thats hardly the only word that can be used. Bueno Can Be Good If for some reason you need to convey the idea of cool and have a limited vocabulary, you can always use a word you probably already know, bueno, which means good. Its not a particularly cool word and doesnt come across as colloquial, but it will get most of your idea across. And of course, you can always use the superlative form, buenà ­simo, for something thats especially good. Cool Words Vary by Region There may no good Spanish equivalent of cool that works everywhere, but native Spanish speakers in a forum sponsored by this site offered their perspective on what may be best. Heres a part of their conversation, held originally in Spanish and English: Chabela: How do you says cool, like thats cool! What do the teenagers say? I know it cant be translated directly, but ... Cyberdiva: One word to use is chà ©vere. Duras: It cant be translated directly, because each country has its own versions. VictorIm: Chà ©vere is kind of old-fashioned (1960s). Is there anything new? Bandini: Duras is correct. Every country has its own vocabulary for words like this. The particular word you mentioned (chà ©vere) originated in Venezuela but due to Venezuelas major export (Spanish soap operas), the word is now become popular in a dozen other Spanish speaking countries, including Mexico. Rocer: In Mexico we understand the word chà ©vere, but we dont use it. Only if we talk to Venezuelans or Colombians, I guess. Adri: When I was studying in Spain last semester, I learned from a native-speaking friend of mine that they say guay or quà © guay. Guero: I think chido and buena onda would work well for cool. VictorIm: Buena onda sounds old-fashioned to me. Anything with onda sounds old. Are there any new expressions? Dulces: I have heard est chido and est padre in Mexico. SagittaDei: A very common translation is genial, est genial. Is very widely used in the Spanish-speaking world. As has been pointed out, there are many words depending on the country. I use est bacano/a, est una chimba, es una verraquera and many others; but these are Colombianisms. We also use the anglicism cool as in es muy cool. Rich teenagers like to use English in this way. It also depends on the social level. By the way, eso es chà ©vere is less expressive than eso es genial, the former is like thats nice. Note that you can use either estar or ser with the obvious difference of permanent and transitional attributes. Tottefins: In Mexico they say padre or chido on the streets. However, on Mexican television they say genial. Maletadesueà ±os: Here in Texas you often hear quà © chido, est chido, quà © padre, etc. Other people who arent from here that I have spoken with, such as my friend who lives in Venezuela, think these expressions seem comical as theyre Mexicanisms. Rupdaddy: I have heard the word brbaro. Most of my studies have been of the Spanish of the Rà ­o de la Plata, Argentina. I know that in Uruguay, at least among the youth, they say de ms. Chabela: I know that in Uruguay sometimes the youth say de ms. Those words are the same, more or less, with what the youth say in the U.S. In Mexico, particularly Tijuana, the word curada is widely used as meaning cool. Sometimes recurada is heard. Ive also heard the term chulado by people who come from Mexico City. OjitosLindos: I think in Spain the verb molar is used like gustar to mean something similar to cool, for example: Me mola el cine would mean I like the cinema or the cinema is cool. I think this is only used among young people (teenagers). Anderwm: Yes, you are right. Molar is a teenager thing. In Costa Rica and Nicaragua the people use tuane.