Coño, from the Latin cunnus, “female pudenda.” 1. Noun, vulgar for female genitalia. 2. Adjective, in Ecuador and Chile, stingy, synonym of tacaño. 3. Interjection, very Caribbean, meaning hip, versatile and urban. Coño, mi amor, estás irresistible, is a compliment for both men and women. But with anger, stressing the second o, for example, after waiting for a spouse for two hours in a restaurant, if words could kill, coñó would do it. Coño also connotes surprise, astonishment: ¡Coño que grande!  

Carajo, noun, archaic for ‘penis.’ In modern parlance carajo ranks top next to coño and puta as a prevalent and versatile interjection for anger: carajo, ¿qué es esto? For pleasure: ¡Ay, carajo, que rico! For surprise: ¿Qué carajo es esto? Threatening: ¡Mucho cuidado, carajo! The noun is used for a despicable person: Pedro es un verdadero carajo. In the dimutive form, carajito, in Santo Domingo is a young child. In Spain carajito is a espresso with brandy.  

Puta, noun, ‘whore.’  Since mothers are the object of deep sensitivities, hijo de puta, son of a whore, is quite ominous. A student asked me, considering mothers are so revered in Latin America, is hijo de puta the worst insult? The worst, I said, except for ¡hijo de la gran puta!