In this blog post, I will cover 3 Really Gross Spanish Words to Describe Someone in Spanish. Since living in Colombia, I have had to ask people how to say certain words in order to describe someone. Although these 3 words may not be the most pleasant words — and I have never found them in the home-study courses that I used to learn Spanish — they are definitely practical and useful Spanish words that may come in handy if you need to describe some unpleasant characteristics of someone.

After reading this blog post, you should be able to say the following in Spanish:
1. How to say “you have sleep in your eyes” in Spanish
2. How to say “you have bad breath” in Spanish
3. How to say “your feet stink” in Spanish

1. Lagañoso – Alguien que tiene lagañas (someone who has sleep in their eyes). That is, “sleep” as
in “the dried particles often found in the corners of the eyes after sleeping.”

Lagaña – secretions from the eyes

(In some Spanish speaking countries they use the word “legaña” instead of “lagaña.”)

Le dije al doctor “mis ojos están muy lagañosos.”
I told the doctor “my eyes have a lot sleep in them”.

2. Mal aliento – bad breath

Éa tiene mal aliento.
He has bad breath.

 

3. Pecueca – mal olor en los pies (smelly/stinky feet)

Juan tiene pecueca.
Juan has smelly feet.

 

“Pecueca” seems to be a word that is only used in Colombia. By the way, there are several silly videos on Youtube about “pecueca” that Colombian kids apparently posted to Youtube.

In Mexico in order to say “your feet stink” you would say “te apestan los pies.” In Mexico, they also say “te apestan las patas” to say “your feet stink.”

But in any Spanish speaking country you can just say “te huelen los pies” and people will understand you. “Te huelen los pies” literally means “your feet smell.”

In a future blog post, we will learn how to say “your underarms stink” in Spanish.