Quiero quitarme la llantita

If you don't already know, llantita is the diminutive form of llanta, which means tire.  On it's own, it could be interpreted as a "little tire", but that's not the case in this context, so let's take a look at things and figure this out.

Quitarse means "to take off", and is a quite a useful verb, but maybe we'll discuss quitarse at a later time in more detail. 

Llantita is a colloquial way of refering to what we like to call a "spare tire", and not the kind you keep in the trunk of your car.  Yes, I'm refering to the ever annoying roll of fat that lives around our waist and can be nearly impossible to get rid of. 

Now we're ready to make our translation...

Quiero quitarme la llantita
I want to get rid of my spare tire

You could also refer to your spare tire as a "llanta", or "michelines". 

Another way to talk to about losing your spare tire is to use the verbs eliminar or bajar.

Pan comido, right?

I'm sure none of us like talking about our spare tires, but if you have to, you can now talk about them in Spanish!

Que codo eres!

Que codo eres!

If we interpret that literally, you've just told someone what an elbow they are, because codo means elbow.

But this is another one of those times where a literal translation falls short.

In Spanish, when you call someone codo, you're calling them cheap. So if we revisit our translation...

Que codo eres
You're so cheap

Codo is one of several ways to call someone cheap in Spanish.  There's also tocaño or tocaña although that probably translates more like stingy.

And surprisingly, you can call someone cheap without saying a word.  I think you ladies will appreciate this one. When that guy at the bar refuses to buy you a drink, you can just glance over at your girlfriend and tap your elbow, and she'll get the message.  And so will he, if he's looking.  Keep in mind that when you talk about a third party, you need to say "Que codo es".

Now guys, don't think I've sold you out.  If someone calls you codo, you can reply with...

No soy codo, sino ahorritivo
I'm not cheap, I'm thrifty

Lastly I'll leave you with a tiny bit of culture and a chiste (joke).

In Mexico, people from Monterrey (for whatever reason) are famous for being codo.  So with that bit of information, I think you can appreciate this joke...

¿Qué pasaría si se inunda Monterrey?
What will happen if Monterrey floods?


Se haría una inmensa sopa de coditos.
It'll make a huge elbow soup

Captaste el chiste?
Did you get the joke?

I hope you found this useful and maybe even entertaining.  I've had the fortune (misfortune?) of being called codo, and having this little of information made the situation even more humorous and memorable. 

¡Hasta la proxima!

¡Que buena (mala) onda!

There are actually a few phrases in Mexican Spanish involving the word "onda".  Today we're going to talk about a few of them.

I've already discussed one very important phrase "Que onda", so click here if you missed it.

So let's move right along and get straight to the point (ir al grano), "Que buena onda" is the equivalent of "cool" or "that's awesome".

When would you use this phrase? Well, it 's really straight-forward.  If someone tells you they just got a big raise. You can reply "¡Que buena onda!"

Or maybe your friend just got free concert tickets..."¡Que buena onda!"

I'm sure you get the drift, so let's talk about "Que mala onda".

"Que mala onda" is the opposite of "Que buena onda". This translates to something like "bummer" or "that sucks".

If your friend lost his free concert tickets, you could say "Que mala onda".   This is easy stuff, I think you get the idea, so let's talk about the last usage I'm going to cover.

You can also use the word "onda" to describe people...

Maria es buena onda
Marie is cool/nice

Maria es mala onda
Maria is not nice/cool

I'm sure that the word "onda" can be used in a variety of other ways, but these usages are practically staples of Mexican Spanish, so they're worth learning.
 
¡Hasta la próxima!

¡No te metas conmigo!

The verb "meterse" has many uses, one of which is "to get in".  For example:

Me gusta ir a la piscina, pero no me meto
I like to go to the pool, but I don't get in.


If you're like me, that usage alone was an amazing discovery for me.  But it turns out there's another usage as well.

No te metas conmigo, que no me conoces
Don't mess with me, because you don't know me.

And yes, that can carry a warning or threating like tone.

Here's a few more examples:


No me meto con qualquiera
I don't get involved with just anybody


No te metas con mi hermanita
Don't mess with my little sister

No te metas con drugas
Don't get involved with drugs

No te metas en mi vida
Don't interfere in my life

This pretty straight forward, and you should be able to start using this right away, and if you haven't really noticed it's usage in Spanish before, I imagine you'll start to see it everywhere now.

¡Hasta la próxima!