While many a Spanish-speaker has gushed over his girlfriend, or novia, in Guatemala men strut down the street with their traida in hand. This archaic Spanish word for girlfriend never went out of style in Guatemala. “¿Y la traida? ¿No la trajiste? Translation: “And your girlfriend? Didn’t you bring her?” The masculine version is traido for boyfriend. Another local word for girlfriend is güiza, sometimes spelled wisa.

14. hacerse un queso

Making cheese isn’t easy. And making yourself into a cheese can be far more difficult! For that reason, if someone says, “Me hice un queso,” it means he went out of his way to please. One writer complained that the service at one hotel was so bad he had to get up and pick up the plates himself. He relates: “Cuando el [jefe de los meseros] cayó en la cuenta de su descuido, se hizo un queso para sacar el clavo.” Translation: “When the head waiter realized the lack of attention, he bent over backwards to make things right.”

15. culebra

In the Garden of Eden, it was the snake that approached Eve, pretending to be her friend—albeit with ulterior motives. In the same way today every school and every company has its brown-nosers and bootlickers. So if a Guatemalan calls someone a culebra, check the color of his nose! He is probably just buttering someone up to get his way. “Manuel, ¡no seas culebra!” Translation: “Manuel, don’t be such a brown-noser!” Another similar term is arrastrado.

16. ¡Me agarraste de tu puerquito!

Pity the poor pig! He is fattened, slaughtered, and taken to market, where every part of his body will be quartered and sold! So if someone says that you are taking him as his little piggie, back off! It means that the person feels you are taking advantage of him.

“Cuando le pedí a Antonio que me hiciera un favor más, enojado me dijo: ‘¡Qué! ¿ya me agarraste de tu puerquito?’”

Translation: “When I asked Antonio to do me one more favor, he responded angrily: ‘What! Am I your slave now?’”

Another similar —but far less common— expression in the Eastern part of the country is “Me agarraste de tu arce.”