Sometimes Close to Nicaraguan Spanish

Submitted by fyl on 28 May, 2008 - 19:56.
This dictionary is of Costa Rican Spanish. But, in many cases, it will help you with your Nicaraguan Spanish. For example, take this from the page about ahora.
After spending two years in Costa Rica, however, I have learned to use other things in place of 'ahora', like 'ya', 'vamos', or 'jale' (literally the imperative 'pull'), all of which express the urgency that 'ahora' lacks. If you still insist on using the word 'ahora' to refer to the present moment (and only the present moment) you must say 'ahora mismo' to specify "this exact moment in time".
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Correction

Submitted by K7 on 29 May, 2008 - 19:47.

"jale" is a mexican aberration of the proper verb (imperative) "hale" (to pull). In the US, it is most often seen on store's entry doors as "jale" right adjacent to pull. Obviously store managers/ propietors don't care that much and as long as they can get a mexican to translate, they assume it must be correct. The proper (and more universally correct) word for pull is "halar"; of which the imperative form is "hale" (pronounced the same as "jale"). To complicate things, in nicaraguan spanish, "jale" (when written or pronounced with an accent on the last "e") also means "dated", the "went out with" connotation, as in "I dated Maria", meaning "Yo jale con Maria" or I went out with Maria. When two people are dating they are "jalando" which literally translated means "pulling".

The Costa Rican guy mentions how peaches are called "duraznos" in Mexico but "melocoton" pretty much everywhere else. Also "peanuts", what the overwhelming majority of spanish speaking countries call "mani", mexicans call "cacahuate".

It is unfortunate that 90% of spanish TV is mexican produced because people for whom spanish is not their native language tend to think mexican spanish must be the standard. I could offer many more examples of differences between Mexican and more universal spanish but I'll only mention one: In Nicaragua (and pretty much every other spanish speaking country) a Tee Shirt is a "camiseta", in Mexico is called "playera", literally translated "beach shirt".

In Nicaragua, "this exact moment in time" is sometimes referred to as "ahorita".