Some Slang Used In Mexico
I don't know it all, but here are some of the slang words and uses I have picked up in Mexico. Some of them may actually used in other Latin American countries as well.
Güey- Probably the most used slang in Mexico. It is like "dude," and is used ALL the time (pronounced almost like “way”).
Pinche- fucking (adj.)
No manches- No way! Not to be used in formal situations.
No mames- No way! The cussword version. Definitely do not use this in formal situations. literally it basically means don't blow me.
Mamada- blow job
@- used when a word can be male or female, to represent both the “O” and the “A” in the word.
Güerr@- Blondie. Almost all gringos are also often called güeros, and the term is also used for fair-skinned or light-haired Mexicans. People often call me Güerita.
A poco- Oh really? Or You don’t say.
Valorse Madre (ie Me vale madre!) I could give a fuck. Reflexive verb.
Que poca madre, often shortened to Que poca. Basically What a jerk!
Squinkle- Brat. This is what Nerds candy is called here and also refers to bratty or spoiled kids.
Junior- rich kid. Especially used for males, and especially for young men who have family money and power.
Chela- a beer. “Vamos por una chelas!”
Cabrón- (n.) Asshole. Can also be used as an adjective about something either really bad or really awesome.
Cañon- Nicer way of saying something is really bad or really awesome. “Está cañon”
Coger- To fuck. In Spain, this means to pick up. In Mexico, it is used as a dirty word, so people use the word “recojer” for “to pick up.”
DF- Distrito Federal, what Mexico City is called in Mexico City. Everywhere else in Mexico people call it either the DF or just México.
Fresa- kind of like Valley Girl- it means rich people, especially females. It can also refer to a bar or a neighbourhood.
Niño bonito- kind of the male equivilant of Fresa, but also kind of like Pretty Boy.
Chido- Cool
Padre- Neat
¿Qué tal?- What’s up? Answer: ¿bien, y tu?
¿Qué onda?- What’s up? Answer: Nada, güey. Tú, ¿cómo estás?
¿Cómo te va?- How are you doing? Answer: “¿Bien, y a ti/usted?”
Chingar- To fuck with. “¡No me chingues, güey!”
Chingón- Tops (informal). “vente a la fiesta, está chingón!”
Chinga su/tu madre- Fuck your mother. The worst thing you can say to someone. Do not say this unless you are talking about someone else (saying Chinga su madre is like saying Oh, fuck him!) or if you are itchin’ for a fight.
Tener ganas- to want to do something (tengo ganas de ir al cine)
Darse huevo- to feel lazy. Informal- literally means your balls were so heavy it made you lazy (me dio huevo, I didn’t feel like doing anything)
Huevon@-Lazy (informal)
Mens@- stupid
Chinas- curls. Someone who has curly hair is chin@ or chinit@. This also refers to someone who looks Asian.
Codo- Cheap, as in a tightwad person. Literally means elbow. If you want to indicate that someone is cheap, you tap your elbow with your open palm.
Reventón- Party (not used like fiesta, used more like we use “to party”)
Desmadre- Fucked up situation or mess (informal).
Puta- Whore. Also used as an exclamation like Shit! Or Fuck! Extra strong: ¡Puta Madre! People in more formal situations also say “’uta,” which is considered OK, even in business meetings.
A few other very slang things to say that are used in such various ways that I can't explain them to you:
Que pedo
A huevo
i wasn't looking for this BUT... i'm glad i found this
thanks sweetie!
thanks a lot!!
Hey everyone! Hoping someone can help me please!!!
I was reading someone's myspace page and it says "Get on with it Arato!" What does this mean...I think I've checked EVERY single translation page there is and can not find the meaning....
Please Please Please tell me!
Thanks so much!
The correct spelling is "al rato" which means in a while or later.
Arato- means good bye, see ya later, till the next time
Are you sure it didnt say alrato?
I did a search for arato on google for spanish language pages and found nothing. My guess is a typo or someone's name.
Good job!
I lived in Mexico for a summer, it's nice to remember all these lovely sayings!
Que pedo : what the fuck, or what is going on
depending on the tone
A huevo : of course, also depending on the tone you will find a more sutable translation.
The term "a huevo" is used as "that's right" or somewhat like "you got it!"
"¿Qué pedo?" -which is how it is written- does mean "what the heck?" or "whats going on?" (both in an astonished or in an inquiring sense) and it is vulgar but not cursing.
In any case "pedo" means fart, to be drunk or drugged, or to get drunk, and party (in Mexico), all of these meanings are accepted in the Spanish dictionary.
In Mexico you will hear it mentioned as to get drunk or to be drunk, and in this sense, which can be used in a similar way when one negates it like"no hay pedo" which means "no problem", "don´t worry" etc.
I must say that I have not heard pedo as party, and may be in disuse. And that in the right context as fart it is also used, though "cuesco" is often used more for that meaning.
Hijo de puta - Son of a bitch....
This brings back good memories from Mexico! I think every sentence started with "no mames wey!" jaja.
I have a question though, I was only ever around guys in mexico, so I picked up their expressions but i'm wondering, do girls use these epressions as well? to the same extent? are their different slang terms girls prefer to use?
I mean, if I go around saying "no mames wey... pinche este, ...a huevo..." etc, would that sound weird coming out of a little gringa's mouth? jaja
Yes - although women and young teenagers will use these expressions around there VERY close friends, i think that it would be a little wierd and maybe not so appropriate coming out of a "little gringas mouth" as in mexico we know the tone and also the true meaning of the words and when and when not its appropriate to use such words.
I had an american friend that thought that "no mames" was so funny that he used it all the time, and most definately in situations where some people may have found it not very polite.
Yes, it will sound weird coming from a girl.
Girls use another expressions, and I have to say that all that stuff about "no mames güey" and the use if "güey" in all the sentenses is used for people of big cities (Mexico city, Guadalajara, Monterrey) and they are used for people of an especific group of social-economic status (medium-high).
Actually normal people dont use this things, we use more:
-Chin!
-Orale
-Hijoles, etc.
Greets!!
what about
HIJO DE TU REPUTISIMA MADRE
or
COMO CHINGAS, PERO A TU MADRE
or
HIJO DE LA CHINGADA
or
TE VOY A METER HASTA LOS HUEVOS
or
SE ME PARO
Great post. However, Squinkle is actually spelled escuintle.
For anybody interested in learning more spanish, check out my blogs:
www.myspanishnotes.blogspot.com (Spanish from real life conversations, not books)
and
http://pelangoche.blogspot.com/ (dedicated to Mexican curse words)
Thanks i am mexican and i still have problems wiff all the swear words!!!
Great list! This stuff is hard to find.
Some quick comments:
(1) Squinkle - Actually spelled "esquincle"
(2) Coger means "to catch" in Spanish period, not just Spain.
Mexicans use it colloquially as "to fuck". The context will distinguish the difference in meaning. My point being that you can use it, although you may get a few giggles. But yeah, this is something you need to know.
Also, anybody who wants to learn more Mexican slang and sexual terms should visit my blog, No Seas Pelangoche -- http://pelangoche.blogspot.com/
And also check out My Spanish Notes blog -- http://myspanishnotes.blogspot.com -- This all about Spanish I learned from speaking with real people, stuff they don't teach you in textbooks.
Exactly, "coger" has 32 meanings, all of which are of common and of normal use. Like "to grab" "to catch" "to pick up", which can be used in many many ways ("catch a bus", "catch the flu" "to catch up on old times" etc), as is the same with "coger". Coger as "to have sex" is an americanism accepted in the Spanish dictionary, as a vulgar usage of the word used in some South American countries (in Argentina, for example, it is even worse than in Mexico).
I am Spanish and have experienced that many people in Mexico do not have any trouble with the word, others may giggle, and if you are with friends or in confidence some witty comment wil probably be made. These reactions can be of course because it comes from a Spanish person and it is very well known that the sexual meaning is an american usage of the word which does not exist in Spain, and may not be the case for other people. Also it is important to know that younger people tand to use it much more as "to have sex" than older people do and, especially in more rural areas, for some older generations it has no sexual connotation to it.
All in all, it is best to avoid the word on a normal, daily basis, but would be perfectly acceptable in a serious, official etc situation.
@ Rodney
It is not "esquincle" but escuincle at it is actually registered in the Spanish Academy
http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=escuincle
Although most Mexicans I know use it very colloquially, it is rather rude, as it comes from the nahuatl word for dog.
actually, a hairless, edible dog.
As has been said in another comment, the RAE [Real Academia Española] (the only authority for the Spanish language) states only one meaning for the word and that would be a colloquial and insulting name for "child" or "person in childhood" and specifically only in Mexico, though it does state that it comes form the nahua word itzcuintli, which is the hairless dog.
Hey cool!
There are some more missing but i find it very good :D
Con madre!
caramba, what the heck does this mean: ?
Y sos de USA mae o sos tico?
Caramba is used for showing surprise, astonishment or anger towards something. It is the soft version of "carajo", which would be considered cursing.
-"The man has had to be hospitalized"
-"Caramba, why, what happened?"
(There are other meanings to the word in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Honduras, by the way)
I've heard an expression like "te ventates" or maybe it's "te bien(something)" because i think it means "good job". Can anyone clarify that for me?
Maybe you mean "Te Manchaste", which has a meaning close to "very good job", but can also mean "you overdone yourself" or even "you were rude back there".
The letter "s" at the end is a pronuncuation tendency in some people, -specially in more rural zones- to add the extra letter at the end of some verbs, like in "¿ya comistes?", "¿te dormistes?". Anyways, I think it is considered grammatically incorrect.
te ventaste/ te aventaste means you did a good job, it's a slang term. aventar=throw
ve te a la verga
thanks for the awesome blog really helpful! Anyone kn0w Wats the m0st popular mexican slang for "cheers" or "bye"?
salud/saludos
Slang is something very hard to learn.
If you're in Mexico you'll find people from different states have different slangs, or that the same word means different for each one of us. For instance, the word, colocho is not known anywhere but in our state, and means a person of curly hair. In Mexico City the world for curly hair is "chino". Or if you want a cuss word. If someone ever calls you a "mampo" here in Chiapas, Mexico, that's not good because it means Gay, but nowhere but in Chiapas you find that word (and it's an extremely popular word!)
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