What does “hocico” mean in Spanish?
Confusión por el perro con espuma en el hocico
A2 Spanish listening practice · Mexican Spanish · Curated for beginners
“Hocico” is the snout of a dog, pig or horse — the front of the face around the nose and mouth. The trap for learners is using it for people: applied to a human it’s an insult, swapping in “snout” for “mouth” to imply someone is an animal. “Cállate el hocico” is the harsh version of “cállate la boca” — closer to “shut your trap.” For people, stick to “boca.”
The clip turns on a related word: a dog with “espuma en el hocico” (foam at the muzzle) sparks panic over “rabia” — rabies, where foaming is a classic sign — until it turns out the dog was just having its teeth brushed. “Tener rabia” literally is “to have rabies”; figuratively, “to be furious.”
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.