If we Venezuelans are known for anything, it's our built-in ability to laugh at everything and make fun of everything, ourselves included. This takes the form of hilarious and colorful Venezuelan Spanish expressions. These will either brighten up your day or make you wonder how silly we really are. And as a traveler or student visiting Venezuela, if you can work any of these expressions into your conversation, get ready to endear yourself to the locals.

1. Comer cable

Did you run out of money? Are you short on cash or just plainly broke? Well, there is a very funny way to refer to this in Venezuelan Spanish. Every time you don’t have any money, you’re a "eating a cable", which actually makes sense if you think about it.  

‍

2. Jalar bolas

This is probably one of the most Venezuelan phrases you can ever come across. It means ‘‘to pull balls’’ and as you would think, it makes no sense when translated literally. It is used to refer to the action of brown-nosing. People who are constantly sucking up to someone are known as "jala bolas".

‍

3. Te va a atropellar un carrito de helados

This one has no direct English translation, which makes it a bit complicated to understand. Translated literally, it means "you are to be run over by an ice-cream truck." We use it when someone is a know-it-all who’s trying to take advantage of you or a situation by, in most cases, cutting in line.

‍

4. Esperar un pelo

When talking to a Venezuelan you’ll know that they don’t like to wait a sec, they will ask you to "wait a for a hair". What does hair have to with anything here? I am not sure. How is hair even a measurement unit?

‍

‍

5. Echar los perros

This one literally means "to throw the dogs" at someone. It is used to talk about hitting on someone or, in some cases, trying to date someone. Not a good image if you dwell on it, but know that those dogs are coming after you.

‍

6. Estar ladillado  

Do you ever think about those times when you get so annoyed by something it’s not even funny? Well, Venezuelans don’t really get annoyed or bothered, they "get crab liced." This one is used when people want to talk about situations that get them annoyed. How nice! And it gets better, you can call someone "ladilla" if they are a pain in the ass.
‍

7. Llegar de arrocero  

Do you get mad when people attend parties they’re not even invited to? In Venezuela the action of crashing a party is known as "coming as a rice farmer", which, to this day, I am still trying to figure out.
‍

8. Parar bolas

Another expression that has to do with balls, or does it? It literally means "to park balls", and it is often used to refer to the action of paying attention to someone else when they are talking to you.

‍

9. Cara e’ tabla

Expression used for the abounding examples of people who are extremely shameless in everything they do, sometimes even cynical. In English this is known as having chutzpah. Venezuelan youngsters use this word very frequently.

‍

10. Rolo e’ vivo

This one is somehow related to the previous one. However, this commonly used expression means that someone is an opportunist. As you can see, it can be used as an adjective to describe someone who’s always trying to gain some advantage from a situation. Venezuelan Spanish is pretty colorful, and its expressions even more so. Coming up with wild phrases that describe our daily life is one of our many talents. Go have some fun and talk to a Venezuelan.