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Dominican Spanish words: work
28 Dominican words and phrases about work, the most used first, each with an example. Open any word to hear it.
- buscársela — to hustle, to get by
«Él se la busca vendiendo en la calle.» He gets by selling on the street. - el moro — rice and beans; your daily bread
«Desde ayer buscando el moro y nada.» Been looking for work since yesterday and nothing. - el negocito — a little business of one's own
«Montó un negocito de comida.» She started a little food business. - el sanquipanqui — a beach hustler-guide
«En la playa te ofrece todo un sanquipanqui.» On the beach a hustler-guide will offer you everything. - hacer una diligencia — to run an errand
«Salgo temprano, tengo unas diligencias.» I'm leaving early, I have some errands. - resolver — to sort it out, to make it happen
«Tranquilo, eso se resuelve.» Relax, we'll sort it out. - dar brega — to be a hassle
«Ese trabajo me dio mucha brega.» That job was a real hassle. - el joseo — the hustle
«El joseo e' duro, pero no me quejo.» The hustle is hard, but I'm not complaining. - el negocio — a shop, a place of business
«Ese negocio abre a las siete.» That shop opens at seven. - el trabajito — a small job
«Me salió un trabajito para el fin de semana.» A little job came up for the weekend. - estar parao — to be doing well
«Ese muchacho ta parao, consiguió un buen trabajo.» That guy is doing well, he got a good job. - guallarse — to mess up, to blow it
«Me guallé en el examen.» I blew the exam. - josiar — to hustle
«Ah, pero tú ta josiando lo tuyo, tú tiene' pila de cualto.» So you're out there hustling, you've got plenty of cash. - la brega — the daily grind
«Así es la brega todos los días.» That's the daily grind. - papelero / papelera — two-faced
«Ese e' papelero con el jefe.» That guy is two-faced with the boss. - quemarse — to fail; to be exposed
«Me quemé en el examen.» I failed the exam. - el tolete — a heavy hitter
«Ese muchacho e' un tolete pa'l trabajo.» That guy is a heavy hitter at work. - guisar — to land something good
«Ese muchacho ta guisando bien.» That guy is doing well for himself. - haragán / haragana — lazy
«No sea' haragán, levántate.» Don't be lazy, get up. - la junta — a work party, a barn raising
«Me levanté temprano pa' una junta donde un primo, tábamo limpiando un solar.» I got up early for a work party at a cousin's, we were clearing a lot. - lambón / lambona — a brown-noser; a freeloader
«Ese lambón se pasa alabando al jefe.» That brown-noser spends the day praising the boss. - montar un negocio — to start a business
«Quiere montar un colmado en el barrio.» He wants to open a corner store in the neighborhood. - rututiando — roaming around looking for something
«Anda rututiando por ahí a ver qué consigue.» He's roaming around out there seeing what he can get. - desacreditar — to talk someone down
«No desacredite' a la muchacha, que ella sabe.» Don't talk that girl down, she knows her stuff. - embullarse — to get into something
«Pedro ta de lo má' embullao con su trabajito nuevo.» Pedro is really into his new little job. - fajarse — to go all in on something
«Pedro ta fajao con la universidad, ya no duerme ni de día ni de noche.» Pedro is going all in on college, he doesn't sleep day or night. - ponerse alante — to start getting ahead
«Este año me voy a poner alante.» This year I'm going to get ahead. - el trote — the daily rush
«Ando en el trote desde la mañana.» I've been on the run since morning.
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These words come from the course of José, a Dominican Spanish teacher. Practise them in context with the free lessons, or book a class and talk with a real Dominican.