7. Costa Rican or "Ticos" and the Costa Rican Spanish
"TICOS" are what Costa Ricans call themselves, and what fellow Latin Americans all over the continent call them. The affectionate nickname came from the Ticos' habit for adding the diminutive "tico" to all manner of words. This means Costa Ricans are used to refer to things, situations, objects, etc. in terms of their smallness. Costa Ricans are known as warm and friendly people, non-violent, extremely outgoing, helpful and love to party a lot!!!
Some of most popular phrases frequently used by Costa Ricans are:
"Pura Vida" this is one of the most important phrases, which is used as a positive response in all type of situations and whose literal translation is "pure life."
"Chunche" is an all-purpose word which means "thing" and is used to fill the space for anything that the Costa Ricans cannot identify or explain.
"Macho" for male and "Macha" for female is the word given to anyone with blond hair.
"Maje" means "dude" but is only used only between friends.
"Salado" means "bad luck."
"Buena nota" means "all right."
"Tuanis" means "too nice."
There are more phrases and words used by the Costa Ricans, especially in "pachuco" a kind of slang spoken by street people, but enjoyed and understood by all.