Speaking Costa Rican

Spanish in Costa Rica tends to be localized and has many of its own peculiarities. Costa Rica is a land where eloquent speech and creative verbal expression are highly valued. For example, here the response to a "thank you" is the gracious, uniquely Tico "Con mucho gusto" ("With much pleasure") instead of "De nada" ("It's nothing"), which is used in much of Latin America. In other cases, informality is preferred: the conventional Señor and Señora, for example, are eschewed in favor of the more egalitarian Don and Doña, used preceding a first name. Even President Abel Pacheco is called "Don Abel." Exercise caution when selecting from the list below. While young Costa Rican men address everyone as maje (dude), you might get a withering look if you, a visitor, follow suit.
adios good-bye; but also used as "hello" in rural areas
agarrar de maje to pull someone's leg
birra beer
brete work
cachos shoes
chunche any thingamajig
clavar el pico to fall asleep
estar de chicha to be angry
estar de goma have a hangover
harina money
jupa head
macho, macha a person with blonde hair
matar la culebra waste time
maje buddy, dude, mate
mamá de Tarzán know-it-all
maría a woman's name; also a taxi meter
montón a lot
paño towel
pelo de gato cat hair; or fine, misty rain that falls during December
peso colón
pinche a tight-fisted person
ponerse hasta la mecha get drunk
porfa please
pura vida fantastic, great
rojo red; also a 1,000-colón note
soda an inexpensive local restaurant
torta a big mistake or error
tuanis cool
tucán toucan; also a 5,000-colón note
upe anyone home?
Common phrases
Con mucho gusto used in response to "thank you" instead of "de nada"
Muy bien, gracias a Dios very well, thank goodness
Muy bien, por dicha very well, luckily
Si Dios quiere God willing