In English, people sometimes use words or phrases that sound Spanish, but that either don’t exist or are rarely or never used by native Spanish speakers. Here are a few of the most common examples:
1. Correctamundo
This made-up word is sometimes used by English speakers to mean “correct” or “exactly”. It doesn’t actually exist in Spanish though, and is a purely anglophone invention.
2. Hasta la vista
The phrase hasta la vista can be used in Spanish to mean “goodbye” or “until next time”, but it’s almost never used by native speakers who prefer phrases like hasta luego, chao or simply adiós instead. This phrase was popularized by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s famous line, “hasta la vista, baby”, in Terminator 2.
3. No comprendo
English speakers sometimes use the phrase no comprendo to mean “I don’t understand”, perhaps attempting to imitate a Spanish speaker with little or no English. However, in Spanish you would usually say no entiendo instead.
4. No problemo
This phrase sounds like it should be the Spanish for “no problem”, but it’s not. The real Spanish phrase for “no problem” is no hay problema (literally “there is no problem”).
