Words with Secrets

The Spanish bueno corresponds to several English adjectives: good and kind (with the verb ser), tasty, healthy and sexy (with the verb estar). You can say about good/kind people:

Es un trozo de pan – He’s as good as gold / He’s an angel
Eres un sol – You’re a ray of sunshine, an angel

But if you prefer something more modern and informal, you can say:

Es un tío / una tía legal – He/She is cool, and you can rely on him/her
Es genial – He/She is just a great person
Es majísimo / majísima – He/She is very hot

As for bad people... Spanish usually use tacos (rude words):

(vulgar) Es un cabrón / una cabrona (jerk)
Es un/a imbécil  (idiot/asshole)
(vulgar) Es un hijo de puta / una hija de puta (bitch/son of bitch)
(vulgar) Esta tía es una zorra (bitch)

Speaking about cool things they say (in order from frequent to less frequent)  genial, fenomenal, chulo, de puta madre, fantástico, guay:

Es una película genial – It's a great movie
Es un vestido fenomenal – It's a cool dress
Es un libro chulísimo, lo tienes que leer – It's a very cool book, you have to read it
¡Qué guay! – How cool!
Es una universidad de puta madre – It's a fucking great university

The words genial and fenomenal and the most frequent and neutral, they can be used by a 70-year-old dean at University. The word chulo is used more by teenagers, including young children. De puta madre (and its intensifier de reputísima madre) sounds rude, though is frequently used both by men and women, as the word puta (whore) is desemantized. The word guay ("cool") was quite frequent in the 90s, though it’s becoming less frequent.

There are many ways to call bad things:

Esta película es una bazofia – This movie is a slot / hogwash
Es una porquería de libro – This book is rubbish / junk / bullshit
Esta universidad está fatal – It is a terrible university
(vulgar) Es una mierda – It's bullshit

Now let’s have a closer look at the word bueno with the verb estar. Meaning rico (tasty), it has several colloquial synonyms, the most frequent are:

Abuelita, esta sopa está de muerte – Granny, this soup is to die for!
Jo, este pastel está para chuparse los dedos – Wow, this cake is finger-licking good

As the meaning "sexually attractive" derives from the meaning "tasty", its synonyms also refer to food:

Tu hermano está que me lo como / está para comérselo – Your brother is so attractive

You can often hear the word potente in the same meaning:

Tu hermano está potente – Your brother is quite attractive / virile

Bueno meaning sano (healthy) can be expressed by como un roble (literally, "like an oak"):

Mi abuelo está como un roble – My grandfather is as sound as a roach

The word malo with the verb estar means disgusting, spoilt (about food) or sick. The latter has the most colloquial synonyms:

Estoy pocho, estoy pochito = Estoy malito – I’m a bit sick
Estoy pachucha = Estoy un poco malita – I’m a bit sick

Now if you’re exhausted or really sick, there are a lot of informal expressions!

Estoy fatal, no levanto cabeza – I’m very very bad, I can’t even lift my head
No me tengo en pie – I can’t get up
Estoy hecho/a polvo – I’m exhausted / I’m dog tired
Estoy para el arrastre – I’m dog tired
Estoy jodido/a – I feel like shit

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Para poder corregir los ejercicios, entra en el Portal con tu nombre y contraseña