Ghost in the Machines

A compound formed from 'buscar' and 'pleitos' (fights/quarrels). While compositionally analyzable in principle, it functions as a fixed label for a type of person and its tone is more loaded than the sum of its parts. Very common in spoken Latin American Spanish.

'Polizón' traditionally means stowaway, but in Mexican and Latin American colloquial speech 'polizón/polizo/poliza' is used as slang for a police officer, often with a derogatory edge. The feminine form 'polizona' follows the same pattern. Not compositionally transparent to a learner who knows 'polizón' only in its standard dictionary sense.

Literally refers to a monotonous song or chant, but in everyday speech it means a tiresome repeated complaint or argument. The figurative shift is non-obvious and the word's tone is dismissive toward whoever is speaking.

A fixed legal and colloquial phrase meaning a crime was committed while the perpetrator was armed. 'Robo a mano armada' (armed robbery) is the standard form heard in news and everyday speech across Latin America.

Literally a 'combined blow' from boxing/martial arts, but used colloquially to describe a clever plan that accomplishes several things simultaneously. The figurative extension into scheming or cunning strategy is not guessable from the literal meaning alone.