Many languages have original and funny expressions to refer to the act of being under the influence, and Spanish is no exception to this.
One of the first words you learnt in Spanish may have been borracho/a (drunk), not necessarily because you’re inclined to a tipple or two, it’s just a word that comes up often in conversation together with beber (to drink), cerveza (beer), vino (wine) and resaca (hangover).
But if you want to take your boozy Spanish vernacular to the next level and learn some expressions that will get you a few laughs and impress the locals, buckle up and bottoms up because you’re in for a treat. ¡Salud!
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Cogerse un pedo/Estar pedo – To grab a fart or to be fart
This is the most common colloquial way of referring to a drunken episode in Spain.
Pedo, apart from being the noun for fart in Spanish, is also the word for a bender, so if someone shouts ¡menudo pedo!, they’re not necessarily paying tribute to the wind they’ve just passed.
Equally important in these cases is to not mistake the verbs you use, as tirarse un pedo or echarse un pedo (to throw) is the correct way of referring to actually farting.
If it’s a monumental bender and you want to emphasise that, you can swap pedo for pedal.
Use it like this:
Acuérdate de no conducir si te vas a coger un pedo.
Remember not to drive if you’re going to get drunk.
Ponerse ciego/Llevar un ciego – To get blind drunk/To carry a blind person
Here’s an expression which has its exact English equivalent: blind drunk. It seems that loss of sight due to severe inebriation knows of no linguistic barriers. It’s worth noting however that in Spain you can also get blind with food or anything else you consume in excess.
Use it like this:
He aprobado el examen así que esta noche me voy a poner ciego a margaritas.
I’ve passed the exam so tonight I’m going to get blind drunk on margaritas.
Estar como Las Grecas – To be like Las Grecas
It’s an oldie which refers to Spanish psychedelic flamenco duo Las Grecas, who had the smash hit in the 70s “Te estoy amando locamente” (I’m loving you madly).
The gipsy sisters were famed for having some pretty wild parties, so the expression can also be used to refer to someone under the influence of drugs.
Use it like this:
¿Cuántas llevan ya? ¡Están como Las Grecas!
How many have they had? They’re wasted!
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Llevar una castaña – To carry a chestnut
Although castaña is usually used to refer to a chestnut, in old Spanish it also meant a recipient used to store liquids, and in modern colloquial Spanish, a castaña can also mean a knock or blow.
You can also say tener una castaña (have a chestnut), cogerse/pillarse una castaña (grab a chestnut), all of which mean to get very drunk.
Use it like this:
Anoché me pillé una castaña. ¡Menuda resaca!
I got sloshed last night. What a hangover!
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Ir cocido – To be boiled
No secret to this one, you’ve got enough alcohol running through your bloodstream to be boiled over the kitchen hob like a beer-infused bratwurst.
Use it like this:
Juan va cocido, se ha bebido media botella de ron.
Juan is bladdered, he’s drunk half a bottle of rum.
Ir piripi – To be tipsy
This one is hard to find a literal translation for as the word derives from a term that no longer exists – piripitulia, an alcoholic drink. We initially thought it referred to a trumpet sound as that’s the kind of silly thing that people who are getting increasingly drunk would do.
There’s also the verb pimplar, which means to drink excessively.
Use it like this:
¿Vas piripi ya? ¡Si no te has bebido ni media cerveza!
Are you already tipsy? You’ve not even drunk half a beer yet!
Estar mamado – To be sucked or breastfed
If there’s dribble oozing from your mouth from all the alcohol you’ve had, this is a suitable expression to use in Spanish.
Use it like this:
¡Paso de ese borracho! ¿Va super mamado!
I couldn’t care less about that drunkard! He’s sloshed!
Estar morado – To be purple or bruised
As purple as the grapes that you’ve just consumed in fermented format, or as bruised as the grapes that were pressed to death for your enjoyment. Either way, here’s another colourful way of referring to someone who is pretty leathered.
Use it like this:
Nos hemos tomado cuatro botellas de vino así que estamos bastante morados.
We’ve had four bottles of wine so we’re pretty bladdered.
Estar (borracho) como una cuba – As drunk as a barrel
Apart from the name of the Caribbean country famed for its rum, cuba is also the word for a wine barrel or another recipient used to store liquids, usually alcoholic ones. Therefore, if your behaviour is resembling that of a booze-packed barrel rolling down a hill, this Spanish expression is appropriate.
Use it like this:
¡Está más borracha que una cuba! No deja de balbucear.
She’s absolutely sloshed! She won’t stop slurring.
Llevar una cogorza encima – to carry a funerary banquet
Nowadays cogorza is only used to refer to a drunken episode but in 15th-century Spanish cogorça was a funeral banquet where it was already customary to drown one’s sorrows.
Use it like this:
¡Menuda cogorza que lleva encima! No se mantiene ni en pie.
He’s absolutely plastered. He can’t even stand up.
Borracho como una almeja – As drunk as a clam
British English has the expression as drunk as a skunk (perhaps because it rhymes), but this expression in Spanish perhaps makes a bit more sense as it compares the tanked person in question to a mollusc that is constantly imbued in liquid.
Use it like this:
¿No te acuerdas de nada? Bueno, ibas borracho como una almeja.
You can’t remember anything? Well, you were as drunk as a skunk.
Dormir la mona – To sleep the monkey
Here’s how Spanish people refer to sleeping in after getting trollied the night before.
Pintar la mona, which in its literal sense means to paint the monkey, is also an expression Spaniards use to say they’re wasting time or procrastinating.
It’s not 100 percent clear what the origins of this bizarre expression are but it’s more likely that it has something to do with a card game than with bringing a monkey home for a nap or some finger painting.
Use it like this:
Mañana es domingo así que voy a dormir la mona hasta que me de la gana.
Tomorrow is Sunday so I’m going to sleep the bender off to my heart’s content.
