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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Spanish Word of the Day: Chungo

This adjective is essential slang talk in Spain, a word with lots of meanings, all of them fairly negative.

Published: 25 April 2022 17:13 CEST

Spanish Word of the Day: Chungo

If something's 'chungo' in Spanish, it generally isn't good. Photo: Alex Sheldon

Chungo is a colloquial way of saying that something is difficult, dodgy or bad.

It can be used to describe a variety of scenarios and it’s a great way of talking like a native Spanish speaker.

You can talk about the weather being chungo if there are ominous black clouds up ahead.

If you’re stepping into a dodgy neighbourhood, then watch out because it’s un barrio chungo.

If you bought a hairdryer at the rastro (flea market) and it doesn’t work properly, then it’s clearly chungo, and the seller is just as chungo.

Maybe you’ve just sat an exam with complicated questions, you’d call it un examen chungo.

Or if you don’t feel very well, then you’re the one that is chungo.

There’s even an expression to say that things aren’t looking good – la cosa está chunga.

All in all, chungo is a very versatile adjective that you can incorporate into most daily speech even though it’s colloquial.

Here are some examples to help you get used to using chungo.

Example:

Está el tiempo un poco chungo, mejor no vamos a la playa.

The weather isn’t very good today, it’s best if we don’t go to the beach.

Example:

¡Ojo! Es un tío bastante chungo así que no te fíes de él.

Be careful! He’s a pretty dodgy guy so don’t trust him.

Example:

Le has comprado un perfume muy chungo a mamá por el Día de la Madre.

You’ve bought Mum a really crappy perfume for Mother’s Day.

Example:

El barrio de El Príncipe en Ceuta es muy chungo, ¡ten cuidado!

El Príncipe neighbourhood in Ceuta is very dodgy, be careful!

Example:

Me encuentro un poco chungo, con mareos y nauseas.

I’m feeling a bit bad, I’m dizzy and nauseous.

Example:

¿Dama de honor cuando el novio es tu ex? ¡Qué situación más chunga!

Maid of honour when the groom is your ex? ¡That’s an uncomfortable situation!

Example:

¡La cosa está chunga! El Barça tiene que marcar cinco goles para clasificarse.

Things aren’t looking good. Barça have to score five goals to qualify.

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Spanish Expression of the Day: En el quinto pino

Spanish is a language full of rich and historical idioms. Often they can seem (to non-native speakers at least) completely random or unrelated to the point or conversation at hand, but learning a few is a good way to deepen your understanding and even show off to some Spaniards.

Showing that you’ve taken the time to learn a few colloquial phrases, of which The Local has explained loads and you can find them all here, will really endear you to locals and also help your comprehension skills. As is often the case in language learning, once you’ve learned a new word or phrase you’ll suddenly start hearing it everywhere you go.

On this occasion we’re looking at the expression en el quinto pino.

First, some translations. Literally speaking ‘en el quinto pino‘ means in/at the fifth pine or pine tree, but it’s actually colloquial phrase Spaniards use to mean that something is ‘far away’ or ‘miles away’.

It could also be translated as ‘in the middle of nowhere’ or ‘out in the sticks’ and is generally used to mean somewhere physically far away from where you are and difficult to get to.

The Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) defines quinto pino as ‘a very distant place’ or a place ‘very far away’.

There are other colloquial ways of saying this, including en el quinto coño (in the fifth c*nt, it sounds terrible but the Spanish C-word isn’t as bad as in English) and a tomar por culo (to be taken up the bum), but these as you can imagine are pretty rude, even though they are used a lot. We obviously recommend that you either say muy lejos (very far) or en el quinto pino.

So, what’s the history and etymology behind the expression en el quinto pino? Is it something to do with being lost in the woods, or having to travel through a forest to get somewhere far away?

Not quite. The origin comes from Madrid during the reign of Felipe V in the 18th century. He decided to plant five large pine trees in the city, the last of which was located on the outskirts of the capital.

This point soon became known as a meeting place for lovers, and this is how the expression ‘irse al quinto pino’ first became popular, referring to the specific location in Madrid.

With time it slowly changed in usage and eventually ended up meaning ‘far away’ in a more general way that could be in Spain or beyond.

Examples:

Pedro, no podemos volver andando esta noche. La casa está en el quinto pino.

Pedro, we can’t walk back tonight. The house is in the middle of nowhere.

Tengo que ir a una reunión esta tarde y está en el quinto pino.

I’ve got to go to a meeting this afternoon and it’s miles away.

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