El Chavo - Quotes and Famous Phrases

Quotes and Famous Phrases

Chespirito created several words and phrases that nowadays are widely used as part of the Spanish language, at least in Mexico City and country and other countries of Latin America:

• ¡Tenía que ser el Chavo del Ocho! (It had to be El Chavo del Ocho!): regularly used by all the victims of Chavo's jokes, mistakes or misunderstandings, most commonly Señor Barriga or Don Ramón.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "It figures it was you, Chavo!". Some occasions would have Don Ramon say "It's always the same with you, Chavo!".

• Fue sin querer queriendo... (I didn't mean to mean to do it... ...): usually used by Chavo when he does something wrong.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "I did it on purpose, but I didn't mean to".

• ¡Vengo a cobrar la renta! (I came here to get the rent!): generally said by Señor Barriga towards his residents (most frequently Don Ramón, who owes exacty fourteen months of unpaid rent) as his main objective upon arriving at the vecindad.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "I've come to collect the rent".

• ¡Fíjate, fíjate, fíjate, fíjate! (I'm telling you 4x): is a phrase that Chilindrina uses every time she's gossiping or even to solidify any formulated deceptive phrase.

• ¡Ay, Chavo, lo que tienes de bruto, lo tienes de bruto! (Oh, Chavo, what you have in stupid, you have in stupid!): La Chilindrina and Quico (though he rarely does it) tells this quote, with an irritated tone, (mostly) to El Chavo when they get enraged on seeing him doing something very simple incorrectly or idiotically, or when he literally interpretes something told to him. Chilindrina, in some rare instances, also uses the quote to compare the orphan's lack of intelligence to something equally derisive such as "dirty", "dummy", "stupid", etc.

• Es que no me tienen paciencia... ("Ya just don't have any patience..." ): used by El Chavo when he has to explain his misconduct.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "You're just not patient enough with me".

• ¡Eso, eso, eso! (That, that, that!): often said by El Chavo when someone takes the words out of his mouth, as he raises his hand and moves his index finger up and down, resembling a nodding motion.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "That's true, that's true, that's true".

• ¡Bueno, pero no se enoje! (Alright, but don't get angry! ): El Chavo says it in a pleading tone when someone is mad at him.

In the English dub of the animated series, the phrase is "OK, just don't get angry".

• Se me chispoteó... (Sorry I messed up ): El Chavo says it in a remorseful tone when he discovers he was being overheard bad-mouthing someone nearby (mostly Professor Jirafales).

In the English dub of the animated series, the phrase is "It just slipped up".

• ¡Mírelo, eh! ¡Mírelo, eh! ¡Mírelo, eh! (D'you see that, huh? ): Ñoño will say it (mostly in the classroom) when he wants to point out to an adult that someone is pulling a prank; usually because he was previously blamed for it.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "I heard that! I heard that! I heard that!".

• ¿Qué pasó? ¿Qué pasó? ¡Vamos ahí! (Watcha talkin' 'bout? Put 'em up! ): this phrase is used by Don Ramón whenever he feels insulted.

• ¡Toma! (Take this!): used by Don Ramón at the very moment he angrily hits Chavo's head, usually as a consequence for him being slapped and offended by Doña Florinda about "doing to his grandmother" what he had tried to "do" to Quico.

• Y no te doy otra nomás porque... (I don't give you another one only because...): used by Don Ramón after angrily hitting Chavo in the head, normally the sentence is left incomplete but in some peculiar instances he completes it with a funny plausible reason generally linked to the previous situation.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "Your lucky I don't give you another one".

• Yo le voy al Necaxa... (I root for Necaxa...): used by Don Ramón when he doesn't understand someone's ideas.

• ¡Ay, cállate, cállate, cállate, que me desesperas! (Oh, just shut up, shut up, shut up, you're driving me crazy! ): used by Quico when Chavo or other characters start to talk to him and interrupt repeatedly whatever activity they are doing. Sometimes he shouts when there is a loud discussion between other characters at the moment. Although it is Quico's phrase, it is also (but rarely) said by others characters - for example, Chavo says it when Quico talked too much (exactly like El Chavo normally does) and delayed to sign a false document which would give Chavo one million pesos.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "Oh, shut up, shut up, shut up, you're driving me crazy!".

• ¡No me simpatizas! ( I don't like you!): used by Quico when he is hurt by or angry at someone.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "I don't like you today!".

• ¡Con una licencita! (Excuse me! ): used by Quico when he leaves the scene, fearing for himself, in a dangerous situation, regularly after he says or does something he shouldn't and someone gets mad at him.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "I gotta go now".

• Me doy... (I give up...): used by Quico after listing a few funny or ridiculous things (generally three or four) related to the current subject and playing around with the listener's face with his hand. This is the first of four phrases Quico tells while breaking the fourth wall (by looking at the audience when saying this).

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "I give up" or "Forget it".

• ¡Ah bueno, así sí! (Right, so let it be!): shared by Quico and El Chavo; the second of Quico's four "fourth wall breaking phrases", he says this (normally in a concordance tone) after somebody explains something that he didn't know before, clears his mind out of some confusion or (mostly) when he piously believes in anything wrong or deceptive, generally told by El Chavo or La Chilindrina, to be completely correct without any possibility of being wrong.

• ¡Que cosas!, ¿no? (Funny how things go, isn't it!): the third of Quico's four "fourth wall breaking phrases", said by him generally after he does anything stupid and feels "censored" by a serious glare from the "victim" of his mistake. This quote is also often said directly at his victim's grumpy face.

• ¿Qué me habrá querido decir? (What did he mean by that? ): the last of Quico's four "fourth wall breaking phrases", told whenever someone tells about/to him something offensive, stupid, nonsense or confusing but the cheeky boy could not understand or interpret the situation properly. Although this phrase belongs to Quico, other characters (rarely) also use it when facing the same situations.

• ¡Ta, ta, ta, ta... TA!: the angry expression shouted by Professor Jirafales when he loses his temper.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "No, no, no, no... NO!".

• ¡No soy Maestro, ni me apellido Longaniza! ¡Soy Longaniza y me apellido Maestro... Digo, ¡Soy Maestro y me apellido Jirafales! (I'm not Teacher and my name's not Sausage! I'm Sausage and my name is Teacher... I mean, I'm a Professor and my name is Jirafales!): Professor Jirafales generally says this after someone names him "Maestro Longaniza", and commits a small mistake on saying his own name, then he sets himself up and says his name correctly, generalling putting up a "distinct gentleman" posture by grabbing the brim of his suit and giving off a "dignified" upwards looking.

• Ahora sí te descalabro los cachetes! (Now I'm really gonna let you have it. ): El Chavo says this aggressively when he is going to hit Quico.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "Now I'm gonna pop those chubby cheeks to teach you a lesson", "Hold still while I punch those chubby cheeks" and "OK, that's it, now I'm gonna pop your cheeks".

• ¡Vámonos, Quico/Tesoro! ¡No te juntes con esa chusma! (Come on, Quico/My darling! Don't mingle around with the riffraff!): Doña Florinda generally says this phrase towards Don Ramón in a very scornful tone after slapping him by thinking he was intended to harm Quico (the latter generally completes the situation with the phrase seen below).

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "Come along, Quico/Muffin! Let's get away from this lowlife!". Special occasions would have her saying "Muffin, don't stay out here with this lowlife!".

• ¡Sí, mami! ¡Chusma, chusma! (Yes, mom! Riffraff, riffraff!): generally complementing Doña Florinda's above phrase towards Don Ramón, Quico pushes Don Ramón backwards with a boxing-styled mocking punch in his chest/shoulder while blowing a raspberry at him, leaving the man infuriated with the situation.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "Yes, mommy! Lowlife, lowlife!".

• ¡Y la próxima vez, váya... a su abuela! (And the next time, go... to your grandmother!): sometimes spoken by Doña Florinda to Don Ramón after the classic slap scene, telling the unlucky man to do "the same" to his grandmother instead of "doing it" to Quico.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "And the next time, (go)... your grandmother!".

• ¡Zas, Zas, que yo jugaba... (Yes, Yes, I get to play...): spoken by El Chavo whenever an idea is brought up by anybody or is offered an opportunity (mostly any children from the vencidad) and Chavo gets excited, which is also accompanied by Chavo jumping while swinging his arms and legs back and forth.

In the English dub of the animated series, the catchphrase is "Yeah, Yeah..." or "Okey dokey, okey dokey!".

• ¡Si serás, si serás... (If only, if only...): spoken by Don Ramón (and sometimes La Chilindrina) whenever he is ticked off or annoyed.

• ¡Papito lindo, mi amor! (Sweet Daddy, my love): spoken by La Chilindrina to Don Ramón whenever she is showing respect towards her father, but sometimes also to ask him something she knows he would deny to her (the girl also sometimes directs this phrase to somebody else by saying the person's name in a (falsely) affectionate voice tone in order to get something easily through emotional blackmail).