Top Ten Mexican Slang MAY 20 Posted by TC

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Top Ten Mexican Slang

MAY 20

Posted by TC

Hola, thanks for visiting my blog. Let me plug my budget guide to Cancun and surrounding areas. My Cancun and Mayan Riviera 5-Day Itinerary is for the independent traveler who likes the beach but also wants some culture. It’s only $4.99, and you’ll save that much the first time you follow my advice on a bus, restaurant or hotel.

Now for some Mexican Slang…

Top Ten Mexican Slang

The order of this list has absolutely no meaning other than which words and phrases I think are the most interesting, amusing, common, or unique. Please disagree with me, correct my spelling, or remind me of what I’ve left out.
WARNING: if you are a FRESA (stuck-up person) you might be offended by the use of some very vulgar language, but if you are a NACO (low-class, person with bad taste) you will overuse most of the words on this list.

10. You may have noticed NO HAY BRONCA is the name of my blog. It means “no problem.”

9. ¡A HUEVO! (vulgar) – Do you know what huevo means? It means egg, but HUEVOS are balls. There are many ways to use the word. When my Spanish was still at a pretty basic level I had a student who said HUEVOS DIAS to me – not a very nice thing to say. ¡A HUEVO! means “of course!” – a very useful expression. Another variation is TENGO HUEVA, which means you are feeling lazy.

8. CHELA / CAGUAMA – CHELA means beer, and CAGUAMAS are the big returnable 40 ounce bottles, undoubtedly your best value on the street.

7. ¡ORALE! – Even after over a year in Mexico I still don’t think I can properly describe this word. It can be used for encouragement, like “go for it!” or “right on!” Or it can be use like “let’s do it!” or “let´s go!” It seems to be a second cousin of HIJOLE, which is like ¨wow¨ or “my goodness!”

6. ¿QUE ONDA? – Along with ¿QUE PASO?, ¿QUE TAL?, and the vulgar ¿QUE PEDO?, this is yet another way to say “what’s up?” ONDA literally means waves or, in this case, vibes.

5. PEDO (vulgar) – This word is as versatile as the tortilla, but, unlike the tortilla, very rarely appropriate. As a noun it usually means problem, or more literally, fart. NO HAY PEDO is a substitute for NO HAY BRONCA, no problem. CUAL ES TU PINCHE PEDO means “what’s your fucking problem?” As an adjective it means drunk. ESTOY BIEN PEDO, WEY. “I’m fucking drunk.” A drunken party or a binge is UNA PEDA. You can make great phrases with it too, such as the aforementioned ¿QUE PEDO?

4. CHIDO means cool. If you don’t hear this word 100 times a day, you aren’t off the tourist track yet. On a similar note, PADRE (father) means good or cool while MADRE (mother) usually means bad. No, it doesn’t make sense.

3. ¡NO MANCHES! – The literal meaning is ridiculous, but this is used like “no way!” or “come on!” Look out for ¡NO MAMES!, the vulgar equivalent.

2. CHINGAR (vulgar) – Much like English’s beloved f-word, CHINGAR has a wide range of uses – from describing something positively – CHINGON – to negatively – CHINGADA. Or, if there is a lot of something, traffic for example, you can say HAY UN CHINGO DE TRAFICO. It is also used to express the foulest, rudest, and most aggressive sentiments. This is a truly Mexican word, and to learn the origins and deep thoughts behind it check out The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz. For more everyday uses, do a quick Google search.

1 WEY / GUEY – I don’t really know how to spell it. WEY isn’t as famous as ORALE or versatile as CHINGAR, and it may not even be as common as CHIDO. You might even spend a month here without hearing it. But, once in the proper circles you will hear WEY used as every other word, how teenage American girls use ”like.”

“¡Simon wey, mira wey, chupamos veinte caguamas wey, no mames wey, estabamos bien pedos wey!”

WEY means “dude,” and if you haven’t heard something like the above already, I truly hope that when you do you will recall this example and laugh. SIMON in this case is a slang substitute for “si,” or yes.

HONORABLE MENTION(S): You can add “-on” or “-ona” to any body part to describe someone who has a prominent one. For example:

NARIZ – nose — NARIZON – guy with a big nose

CEJAS – eybrows — CEJON – guy with bushy eyebrows

FRENTE – foreheard – FRENTONA – girl with a big forehead

CULO – ass — CULONA – girl with a big ass, often complimentary (vulgar)

Also, you can do this with professions. “ero” or “era” makes a job title.

OBRA – work — OBRERO – worker

PALOMITA – popcorn — PALOMERO – popcorn seller

CULO – ass — CULERO – “ass seller,” but it is really used the way we use “asshole.”

Click the link for Frijolero, a song that has all this slang

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Top Twenty Mexican Slang (Top Ten Mexican Slang Part 2)

NOV 8

Posted by TC

The most popular post on this blog is Top Ten Mexican Slang. But for sure ten words don´t even scratch the surface of slang here in Mexico.

I hear these words every day. Unlike the original Top Ten Mexican Slang, in this post every word has a PG rating. Maybe PG-13.

Pinche

Pinche could have been in the original top ten. It translates to many words in English, damnfor example, but only when used to describe something.

“¡Pinche coche!” – damn car

“Pinche Juan” – goddamn Juan

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.

Neta

Neta can be used in several ways, but often like really? or for real?

“Estoy pedo, pero ya me tengo que ir a la chamba.”

“¿Neta?”

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 it could happen in five minutes, five hours, or never.

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

“¿Ya vámonos?” “Ahorita.”

Aguas

You probably know that agua means water. But in slang aguas means be careful or look out!

I was told that it comes from when a lady would pour out a bucket of water onto the sidewalk. Is that right?

Cabrón

In places like Guatemala or Honduras, when I tell people that I live in Mexico, I often get “¡Ah, cabrón!¨ in response. That´s how Mexican this word is, that other Latins think of it right away when they think about Mexicans.

It might translate to bastard, but really it´s a word to say to a close friend. A male friend. Likebastard, cabrón isn´t appropriate for the family dinner table.

Other words for a male friend are carnal or wey. Vato is similar, more like dude, used in northern Mexico and by chicanos in the U.S.

Chicano

Chicano is the word for Mexican-Americans.

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’ll see speedbumps everywhere. Aguas when you drive over them. They often aren’t marked. Hitting them hard at night makes everyone in the backseat bounce up and slam their heads into the roof of the car.

Speedbumps are called topes, and only in Mexico, I think. In other parts of Latin America and some parts of Mexico they are called something else – tumolo, right?

Camión

A camión is a bus. In other parts of Latin America it’s a truck. I told people in Guatemala that I arrived by camión. They looked at me crazy until I figured it out.

The more official word for a bus in Mexico is autobús, not just plain bus.

Chamba

A chamba is a job, often a lousy job.

You can say, “Tengo que regresar a mi chamba” or ask, “¿Que chamba tienes?”

Chafa

Chafa describes something cheap or low quality.

“Esta coche es chafa.”

Codo

Codo means elbow, but in slang it means cheap, as in a cheap person. A codo person doesn´t want to flex their elbow, as in pulling out money and putting it on the table.

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 kids. You can also call kids chamacos. Remember the final “o” is for males and “a” for females.

Córrale / apúrate / tengo prisa

The first two mean hurry up. I don’t know if they´re actually slang, but they are damn common.

Tengo prisa means I’m in a hurry.

My friend and fellow Mexican Spanish aficionado Rodney has a great blog of Mexican slang:http://www.myspanishnotes.blogspot.com/ He also writes this one about bad language:http://pelangoche.blogspot.com/

And he let me write a guest post: Learning Spanish Through Music

I hope this list was helpful. Please write whatever I left out or got wrong in the comments.