fría

What it means

1. 1.

   A cold beer — almost always a Presidente, and almost always the large bottle, la grande. 'Una fría' at a colmado will get you one without further discussion.

2. 2.

   The temperature is the point, not the drink: Dominican beer is served close to freezing, and asking whether it is cold enough is a normal thing to do.

Literally: cold one

Examples with translations

• Dame do' fría' bien fría'.

  Give me two beers, properly cold.

• Vamo' a beberno' una fría ahí en la esquina.

  Let's go have a beer on the corner.

Where it comes from

An ellipsis of 'una cerveza fría'. The noun has dropped away entirely, which is how the adjective came to stand alone. Common across the Caribbean, but the Dominican insistence on the cold — beer is sold wrapped in a paper napkin to keep it that way — is what gives the word its local weight.

Other forms

Similar terms:

una grande, una presidente