Tico Slang & Basic Vocabulary

Costa Rican Spanish is clear, friendly, and relatively slow — ideal for understanding and learning. The Ticos are patient with Spanish beginners and appreciate every attempt. The formal address "Usted" is used more often than in other Latin American countries — even among friends and couples (!). The informal "Tú" is rare in Costa Rica; instead, in informal situations, you hear the pronoun "Vos" (Central American Spanish).

Tico Slang — The Most Important Expressions

Expression	Meaning	Example
Pura Vida	Hello / Goodbye / All good / Thanks / Life philosophy	"¿Cómo estás?" — "¡Pura Vida!"
Mae	Buddy, dude, guy (THE Tico word)	"¡Mae, qué loco!" — Dude, that's crazy!
Tuanis	Cool, great, awesome	"¡Qué tuanis!" — How cool!
Diay	So / Well / Uh (filler word)	"Diay, mae..." — So, dude...
Tico/Tica	Costa Rican (male/female)	"Soy Tica" — I am Costa Rican
Soda	Small local restaurant	"Vamos a la soda" — Let's go to the soda
Brete	Work (slang)	"Tengo mucho brete" — I have a lot of work
Birra	Beer (informal)	"¡Una birra, por favor!"
Chunche	Thing, stuff (for anything!)	"Pásame ese chunche" — Pass me that thing
Jale	Let's go! / Come on!	"¡Jale, mae!" — Come on, dude!
Qué pereza	How lazy / No desire (but charmingly meant)	Universal Tico response to anything strenuous
Ahorita	"In a moment" (means: sometime)	"Ahorita vengo" — I'll be right back (in 5 min. or 2 hours)
Suave	Wait a moment / Hold on	"¡Suave, suave!" — Hold on, hold on!
Vara	Thing, matter, stuff	"¡Qué vara, mae!" — What a thing!
Al chile	Really? / Seriously?	"¿Al chile, mae?" — Really, dude?
Buena nota	Good guy / nice person	"Ese mae es buena nota" — That guy is really nice
Mejenga	Informal soccer game	"¿Vamos a una mejenga?" — Shall we play soccer?
Rajado/a	Super good, awesome	"¡Está rajado ese mae!" — That guy is really awesome!
La Sele	The national team (soccer)	"¡Vamos, la Sele!" — Go, national team!