Woman Who Speaks Spanish Says It’s Her ‘Secret Weapon’ When Catching People Talking About Her

A woman on TikTok who describes herself as “güerita” or “gringuita,” is making waves for her recent storytime. Although people don’t expect her to know Spanish, she actually does. And yes, she understands everything people say about her — even when they think they’re being sneaky.

In her video, TikTok user @maddies_mundo said knowing Spanish is her unexpected “secret weapon.” As she put it, few people expect her to speak the language, so she “catches people talking about [her] in public” sometimes. Yes, as you can expect, it can get pretty awkward.

The worst moment for her, though? When a cashier started calling her mom “cheap” in Spanish…she understood every word.

The woman said catching people speaking about her in Spanish is “one of her favorite things”

The woman, who goes by Maddie on TikTok, describes herself — and her mom — as “güerita, gringuita… blonde, typical American stereotype.” She points to this as a possible reason people don’t expect her to speak Spanish.

Maddie explained that catching people speaking about her in Spanish, while she’s right there, is “one of her favorite things.” And “while it hasn’t happened very many times,” it always makes for an interesting experience for her.

“I used to experience this a lot more when I was teaching English in Spain,” she recalled. “My student just assumed that because I was American, I had no ability to speak a second language.”

“Which, fair, the stereotype is low-key a little bit true,” she added. LOL.

However, she admits a recent experience here in the United States “caught [her] off guard.” She went shopping with her mom and the cashier started shooting a bit of chisme in Spanish right in front of them.

“We were at a store, and she was trying to buy this furniture piece, but the furniture was broken,” she described. “And because it was the last one, she decided she still wanted to buy it.”

As she remembers, her mom then asked the cashier for a discount. “In a super nice way… Just explaining, ‘Hey, this thing is broken, would it be possible to get a discount? If not, totally fine.” All good up to this point. However, things soon got rocky with the cashier.

“This worker turned to another worker and started talking about my mom in Spanish,” the TikTok user explained, shocked (we’re not as shocked). “Saying, basically, that she was cheap, and why is she asking for a discount, and she’s being so lazy.” Aw, sounds like our abuelitas!

“I was literally sitting there,” Maddie described. “What do I do right now?”

Then, the woman surprised the workers with her language skills

Well, turns out that the woman just couldn’t take all that chisme about her mom. “You can talk about me, but you want to talk about my mom?” Nope.

However, she then gave the store worker a story they’re probably still retelling today. “I let them talk their s**t, their little chisme, right in front of me.”

By the time the workers finished talking, though, the woman started speaking Spanish to them. “To say the least, we got that discount.”

Adding, “So all I’m saying, you never know when that secret weapon is going to come out, okay? Be careful who you talk about in public.”

Over in the comments section, many people actually relate to this woman’s experience. One user wrote, “I speak 4 languages and there is nothing I love more than hearing strangers talking about me without knowing I understand everything.”

Another said this story time is inspiring them to get their Duolingo going: “This is another reason I am learning right now 😂😂😂.”

Yet another commented, “Being bilingual is a superpower. Especially when you’re in another country where no one knows you speak another language.”

Similarly, over on X, one user says watching the “Selena” movie “22 times” gave them their own Spanish-speaking superpower (sort of):

Still, sometimes those unexpected Spanish chisme moments turn out to be heartwarming:

Others who are partly Latino say it is “a benefit” to know when people “talk crap in Spanish” about them. Whatever floats your boat!

And well, I guess we’ll cut down on spilling the tea now?

Actually, we’re the Gossip Girl of chisme, so… never mind.