sapo

What it means

1. 1.

   A snitch — someone who reports you to the authorities, the boss or your parents. In some contexts this is the most dangerous accusation in the language, and Colombians are careful with it.

2. 2.

   More mildly and far more commonly: nosy, a busybody, or a shameless brown-noser. 'No sea sapo' usually just means mind your own business.

3. 3.

   As a verb, sapear: to grass someone up.

Literally: Toad.

Examples with translations

• No sea sapo, eso no es problema suyo.

  Don't be nosy, it's none of your business.

• Alguien sapeó lo de la fiesta y nos cogieron.

  Somebody grassed about the party and we got caught.

• Es un sapo con el jefe, todo el día detrás de él.

  He's a total suck-up with the boss, trailing him all day.

  Note: The brown-nose sense; no informing involved.

Where it comes from

From sapo, 'toad'. The metaphor runs through the animal's bulging eyes and wide mouth — it sees everything and it opens up. Shared across much of the Andes, but the informer sense carries a weight in Colombia that it does not carry elsewhere, for reasons the country's recent history makes obvious.

Other forms

Similar terms:

chismoso, lambón