I spent this past weekend really sick with la monga. Whether you are a Spanish-speaker or not, you might be wondering, What the hell is la monga? Is it contagious? YES. Is it life threatening? NO.
La monga or simply monga is the Puerto Rican Spanish slang for a strong cold. According to the Tesoro Lexicográfico de Puerto Rico this word has an African origin, ekomongo, that was a condition that makes breathing difficult (dyspnea).
Here are some example sentences that Puerto Ricans use to express that they have a strong cold:
1. Tengo monga.
2. Me dio la monga.
3. Tiene una monga rompe huesos.
4. Cogí la monga.
5. Pablo me pegó la monga.
Symptoms of la monga
La monga will knock you out for a couple of days with the following symptoms. Note that some of them are colloquial words or phrases from Puerto Rico.
1. dolor de garganta (sore throat)
Example: Tengo dolor de garganta, creo que me va dar la monga.
2. ronquera (hoarse)
Example: Estoy ronca porque estoy pasando la monga.
3. tos (cough)
Example: Me recetaron una medicina para la tos.
4. congestión (congestion)
Example: Tengo congestión nasal.
5. cuerpo cortao (overall body pain)
Example: Siento el cuerpo cortao.
6. fiebre (fever)
Example: Ayer pasé todo el día con fiebre.
7. monguera (weak, tired)
Example: Tengo una monguera encima, me voy a acostar un rato.
8. dolor de cabeza (headache)
Example: María se quedó acostada porque tiene un dolor de cabeza que la está matando.
9. carraspera (congested throat)
Example: Esta carraspera no se me quita.
10. moquera (runny nose)
Example: Ya tomé algo para ver si se me quita la moquera esta.
How to treat la monga
Once you have la monga there is not much you can do other than to treat the symptoms until they go away. You can take bombones para la garganta (cough drops), jarabe para la tos (cough syrup), antihistamines, etc. But the best remedy of all times is the legendary Vick’s VapoRub. My mom would always apply this to me on the forehead, throat, chest and even stick a finger in my nostrils (yeah, sounds disgusting!) accompanied with the phrase “No te preocupes mija que el vicks es maravilloso.” And sure enough, I have seen a meme running around the internet that states “In the Hispanic culture, this shit cures everything.”
Fortunately, today I feel much better!
What words do you know related to having a cold?
Check out these other Puerto Rican Spanish Slang Word articles.
Featured photo credit: http://pixabay.com/en/allergy-cold-disease-flu-girl-18656/ | Vick’s photo credit: Zephyris at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons