Everyday Mexican Slang

FEB 18

Posted by TC

The most popular post on this blog is Top Ten Mexican Slang. For sure, as happy as I am with that list I know I left a lot out. Ten words and their derivatives aren’t nearly enough to even scratch the surface of slang in Mexico.

So here’s some slang I hear every day. Unlike my Top Ten Mexican Slang, which includes a lot of vulgar language, in this post everything has a PG rating. Later I will write a list of everyday bad language.

Mande

Mande is the Mexican way to ask “what” or “excuse me,” when you don’t understand what someone said. It can also be used like “tell me.”

Ahorita

Ahora means “now.” The “-ita” or “-ito” (female or male) stem is a diminutive, used to show that something is small or cute. So literally ahorita means “little now.”

Mexicans might tell you that ahorita means “right now,” but really it means “soon” or “eventually.” If you ask a Mexican to do something and they reply with ahorita, then you know it could happen in five minutes, five hours, or never.

“Puedes ayudarme con mi tarea?” “Ahorita.”

“Ya vamanos?” “Ahorita.”

Aguas

You may know that agua means water. But in slang Aguas means “be careful.” Don’t ask why. Like slang all over the world, it isn’t supposed to make sense.

Tocayo

A tocayo is someone with the same name. You can say, “Somos tocayos” or just call the person with the same name as you tocayo.

Tope

When you visit Mexico you will notice speedbumps everywhere. Aguas when you drive. They often aren’t marked. Hitting them hard at night makes everyone in the backseat bounce up and slam their heads into the ceiling. They are called topes.

Camion

A camion is a bus. In other parts of Latin America it is a truck. I kept telling people  in Guatemala that I arrived by camion until someone questioned me further. The other word for a bus in Mexico is autobus, not just plain “bus.”

Chamba

A chamba is a lousy job. You can say, “Tengo que regresar a mi chamba” or ask, “Que chamba tienes?”

Chafa

Chafa means something cheap or low quality. I’m not sure if it is an adjective, noun, or both. “Esta coche es chafa.”

Codo

Codo means elbow, but in slang it means cheap, as in a cheap person. The “real” word for this is Tacano. “No seas codo” – don’t be cheap.

Chavo/Chava

Continuing with the “ch” words, here are slang words for young people – teenagers on up. You can also call younger teenagers Chamacos. Remember the final “o” is for males and “a” for females.

Corrale / apurate / tengo prisa

The first two mean hurry up. I don’t know if they are actually slang. Tengo prisa means that you are in a hurry.

I hope these are helpful! Let me give you a link to a good blog for detailed explanations of Mexican slang:http://www.myspanishnotes.blogspot.com/

And this one is full of bad language:http://pelangoche.blogspot.com/

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