Hablo Y Hablas – Colorín Colorado

Anyone who’s taken high school Spanish should recognize this phrase.

The entire phrase is, “Colorín, colorado, este cuenta se ha acabado.” Taken literally, the first part doesn’t mean much, but the gist of it is “and that’s the end of the story.” The phrase’s connotation is similar to “and they lived happily ever after,” in the sense that it conveys a tongue-in-cheek finality.

You can use this in an English or Spanglish conversation, basically you use it as a punctuation to your statement. Telling your friends a long story, once you get to the end, you can add “colorín colorado” to the end, for example.

You don’t have to use the whole phrase if you don’t want to.

So have you ever used the phrase? What does it mean to you? If you have suggestions for Hablo Y Hablas, words or phrases from your life, feel free to email us at tips@newstaco.com.

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