Spanish Word of the Day: 'Chapuza'
Chapuza is a word that should be used with extreme caution, as you could cause serious offense if you use it to refer to someone's work!
So, what does it mean?
Chapuza as an adjective can be used to refer to a “mess”, an “botched or shoddy job”, or "swindle or trick”. Here are some examples:
-
Todo lo que haces es una chapuza!
Everything you do is shoddy!
-
No podemos entregar esta chapuza.
We can't hand in this botched job.
-
El tío tenía muchas ganas de e hizo chapuza en el juego.
The guy really wanted to win and resorted to playing dirty tricks.
The verb chapuzar is to put your head under water or to go head first into water:
-
Chapuzó el plato en el fregadero
He dunked the plate in the sink
Pronunciation
cha-pu-tha
t∫apu'θaɾ
Check out our other word of the day posts
This word of the day has been contributed by LAE Madrid, the leading Spanish academy in Madrid. Accredited by the Insitituto Cervantes, it offers Spanish courses for all levels and also has Spanish classes for kids and families. Read their blog for more Spanish!
READ ALSO: Five ways 'leche' means more than just 'milk' in Spain
Comments
See Also
So, what does it mean?
Chapuza as an adjective can be used to refer to a “mess”, an “botched or shoddy job”, or "swindle or trick”. Here are some examples:
- Todo lo que haces es una chapuza!
Everything you do is shoddy!
- No podemos entregar esta chapuza.
We can't hand in this botched job.
- El tío tenía muchas ganas de e hizo chapuza en el juego.
The guy really wanted to win and resorted to playing dirty tricks.
The verb chapuzar is to put your head under water or to go head first into water:
- Chapuzó el plato en el fregadero
He dunked the plate in the sink
Pronunciation
cha-pu-tha
t∫apu'θaɾ
Check out our other word of the day posts
This word of the day has been contributed by LAE Madrid, the leading Spanish academy in Madrid. Accredited by the Insitituto Cervantes, it offers Spanish courses for all levels and also has Spanish classes for kids and families. Read their blog for more Spanish!
READ ALSO: Five ways 'leche' means more than just 'milk' in Spain
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.