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Constipado: a cold in Spain, something else in Latin America

One word, two continents, and a pharmacist who now knows more than she needed to.

You said
Estoy constipado.
What it means: I'm constipated. (Latin America)
A local says
Estoy resfriado.
I have a cold.
Why: In Spain constipado is a cold. In Latin America it means constipated. Say resfriado.
A pharmacy in Antigua, Guatemala
Hola, estoy constipado. ¿Tiene algo?
Sí… ¿para eso?

If you learned Spanish from a Spain-based course or app, you were taught estar constipado for having a cold, and in Spain that's exactly right. Cross the Atlantic and the word narrows to its Latin meaning: constipado is constipated, full stop. A cold is un resfriado (or un resfrío in the Southern Cone), and you say estoy resfriado or tengo gripe for something heavier.

At the pharmacy, lead with the symptom rather than the diagnosis and you can't go wrong: tengo tos (a cough), me duele la garganta (sore throat), tengo la nariz tapada (blocked nose), tengo fiebre (a fever). ¿Tiene algo para el resfriado? gets you what you came for.

And if you actually meant the other thing: estoy estreñido is the everyday word in Latin America. Now you know both, which is more than most travellers can say.

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Also worth knowing

SpanishEnglish
¿Tiene algo para la tos?Do you have something for a cough?
Me duele la garganta.My throat hurts.
¿Cada cuántas horas lo tomo?How often do I take it?

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