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Peru Spanish Slang: When Bolivia and Paraguay Don’t Mean Bolivia and Paraguay


This article is courtesy of Peruwayna Peruvian School of Spanish which offers Spanish classes and immersion programs in Lima, Peru.

When Bolivia and Paraguay don’t mean Bolivia and Paraguay

Maybe it´s just a Peruvian trend, but we enjoy using names of our neighboring countries for Peruvian Spanish slang terms. That is why Bolivia and Paraguay have a special place in our slang expressions.

When someone hears “Marta está en Bolivia” or “Hace tiempo que no me veo con Paraguay,” we need to understand that both phrases mean something completely different.

In the sentence above, Bolivia means pregnant so the phrase reads: “Marta is pregnant.”

Paraguay is another word for having sex so the sample sentence reads: “It’s been a long time since I had sex.”

Where do these associations come from? It´s not difficult to associate Bolivia with “bola” (ball) and then a step to identify it with pregnancy. Less difficult is to note that Paraguay sounds like “parar” (to stand) and this word is used to also mean an “erection”.

So if you thought that both expressions refer to something innocent about traveling in Bolivia or Paraguay, now you know the truth.

Check out these other Peru Spanish Slang Word articles.

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