Picasso Practical Spanish - Panama-isms (Part 1)

So, you’ve got a decent handle on “normal” Spanish vocab and grammar – and yet, everywhere you go in this wonderful country you’re living in, you hear a whole host of English-sounding words used in everyday Panama-Spanish…. Here’s a 101 starter session on a few common words to listen out for in colloquial Panama-speak, and their meanings in Panama context: Priti = comes from our word “pretty”. Not generally used for physical descriptions; instead, used to mean “cool” or “great”   Eg: La fiesta estuvo bien priti = the party was really cool

Ful = comes from our word “full”. Rather than being an adjective in its use in Panama-Spanish, this word is used as an adverb or to describe or quantify either an adjective or a verb as a synonym for “completely”.

Eg: Ella está ful hermosa = she’s absolutely beautiful

Eg2: Yo estoy ful ocupado hoy = I’m completely (jam-packed-schedule) busy today

Ofi = comes from the word “oficial” (official) and means exactly this, just in an abbreviated form. Used in slang to mean “roger that” or “it’s a done deal” or “got it, over and out”