Top 100 Spanish Slang Phrases You Need to Learn

By Ivy do Carmo

Do you think that slangs phrases are part of our daily life? If you don’t, I propose to you to try a simple test: throughout the entire day, pay attention to everything you and the people around you say and enlist how many words and phrases you simply can not find in a common dictionary. Then, you will notice that, regardless of the language we speak, slangs are part of our life.

The dictionary defines a slang as a “type of language that consists of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to a particular context or group of people.” This definition point out something important: slangs vary depending on where you live.

For example, do you think that a common slang in the USA will be easily understood in South Africa or in Australia? Probably not. Each region has its particular way of expressing themselves and the same thing is true with Spanish slangs. Spoken by almost 500 million people, in 20 different countries, it is obvious that the slangs must vary from place to place.

For example, a Mexican slang may not make sense to an Argentine or a Chilean, which may have their own Spanish slang for the same expression. Have you ever wondered how do you say “cool” in Spanish? You may be surprised to know that each country has its own slang in Spanish to say “cool”. In this article we will learn many slang examples from the Spanish-speaking countries.

Argentina

Let’s begin with common Spanish slang words used in Argentina:

• Escuchame (Listen)

Escuchame, ¿tienes hambre?
Listen, are you hungry?

Escuchame, ¿por qué no viniste ayer?
Listen, why haven’t you come yesterday?

Escuchame, eso que quieres es imposible.
Listen, what you want is impossible.

• ¿Qué onda? (What’s up? / What’s going on…?)

Hola, ¿qué onda?
Hello, what’s up?

¿Qué onda con el computador?
What is going on with the computer?

• Che (Hey)

¡Che, dame las llaves!
Hey, give me the keys!

¿Che, por qué hiciste eso?
Hey, why did you do that?

Che, Ana, ¿a qué hora llegan tus amigos?
Hey, Ana, what time are your friends coming?

Che, Hugo, ¿a qué hora tenemos que ir a la fiesta?
Hey, Hugo, when do we have to leave for the party?

• Buena onda (nice person)

Ella es buena onda.
She is a nice person.

Conocí un tío muy buena onda.
I met a guy very nice.

• Fichar (look carefully)

Ricardo invitó sus amigos a fichar sus fotos más nuevas.
Ricardo invited his friends to look carefully to his newest photos.

¡Ficha, una estrella fugaz!
Look, a shooting star!

• Ni en pedo (no way)

¡Ni en pedo voy a aceptar que me trate así!
No way I am going to let you treat me like that!

“Oye, ¿me das 20€?” “Ni en pedo, no tengo tanto.”
“Hey, can you give me 20€?” “No way, I don’t have enough.”

– Tirémonos en la pileta.
– ¡Ni en pedo! El agua está helada.
– Let’s jump into the pool.
– No way! The water is ice-cold.

• Boludo (stupid person)

¡No seas boludo Mario!
Don’t be stupid Mario!

Eres un boludo.
You are stupid.

Hay que ser boludo para quedarse dormido en el tren y pasarse de estación.
Only someone stupid would fall asleep on the train and miss his station.

• (Ya) Basta! (Enough!)

¡Basta de lágrimas, es hora de olvidar!
Enough tears, it is time to forget!

Ya basta, no aguanto más sus mentiras.
Enough, I can’t take your lies anymore.

¡Basta! Ya te dije que no te voy a comprar ese juguete.
Enough! I already told you I’m not going to buy you that toy.

• Bueno (ok, so)

This word has many usages, the most common on probably being the adjective meaning “good”. However, as an interjection, bueno is used as a Spanish slang to affirm the other person that you understood him or to agree with him.

– ¿Quiere ir al cine?
– Bueno.
– Do you want to go to the movie theater?
– Ok.

– Creo que sería mejor ir al restaurante francés.
– Bueno, vayamos.
– I think it’d be better to go to the French restaurant.
– Ok, let’s go.

Bueno, ¿vamos a pedir pizza o no?
So, are we going to order pizza or not?

• Guita (Cash)

No tengo guita para salir mañana con mis amigas.
I don’t have cash to go out tomorrow with my friends.

¿Tienes guita para ir en taxi?
Do you have cash to pay for a taxi?

Chile

Now, here are some common Spanish slang words used in Chile:

• ¿Qué hubo? (What’s up? / What happened?)

¿Qué hubo? ¿Cómo han estado?
What’s up? How have you been?

– ¿Qué hubo?
– Un accidente.
– What happened?
– An accident.

• Vale / Po (Ok)

– Vayamos a cenar fuera.
– Vale.
– Let’s go out for dinner.
– Okay.

– ¿Quieres una taza de café?
– Bueno, vale.
– Would you like a cup of coffee?
– Well, ok.

– Hay que salir temprano para el aeropuerto, ¿cachai?
– Sí, po.
– We have to leave early for the airport, got it?
– Yeah, ok.

• Cachai? (Got it? / Do you understand?)

Ya no te quiero, ¿cachai?
I don’t love you anymore, got it?

¿Cachai lo que significa esto?
Do you understand what this means?

• Plata (Cash)

Tengo ganas de viajar, pero estoy sin plata.
I want to travel, but I don’t have cash.

Mira que tengas toda la plata en tu cartera.
Make sure you have all your money in your wallet.

• Pololo / Polola (Boyfriend / Girlfriend)

Ayer mi pololo me preparó una cena romántica.
My boyfriend made me a romantic dinner yesterday.

Esta noche llevo a mi polola al cine.
I’m taking my girlfriend to the movies tonight.

• Bacán (Awesome)

Tu pololo es bien bacán. Con razón te veo tan agarrada.
Your boyfriend is awesome. No wonder you seem so in love.

¡Qué bacán que hayas venido a mi fiesta por sorpresa!
How awesome that you surprised me by coming to my party!

– ¿Cómo estai, Cristián?
– ¡Bacán! Acabo de encontrar 10 lucas.
– How are you, Cristian?
– Awesome! I just found 10,000 Chilean pesos.

• Carrete (Party)

Esta noche vamos al carrete de Carlos.
Tonight we will go to Carlos’ party.

Quieres ir al carrete esta noche?
Do you want to go to the party tonight?

• Filete (Well done)

El trabajo que hicimos quedó filete.
The work we did was well done.

• Weón (Stupid person)

Todo le pasó por ser weón.
Everything happen because he is stupid.

Eres un weón.
You are stupid.

Spain

• ¿Qué pasa? (What’s up?)

– ¿Puedo hablar contigo?
– Sí, claro. ¿Qué pasa?
– Can I talk to you?
– Yes, of course. What’s up?

No sé qué pasa, Diego, pero recuerda que puedes contar conmigo.
I don’t know what’s up, Diego, but remember that you can count on me.

• Guay (Cool)

Mis abuelos tienen una casa guay.
My grandparents have a cool house.

– “¿Vamos a cenar esta noche?”
– “Guay.”
– “Let’s have dinner tonight?”
– “Cool.”

• Tío / Tía (guy, pal, dude)

An informal way to refer to a person. Do not use it in formal situations. Tío is masculine and tía is feminine.

Oye, tío. No le hables así a mi esposa.
Hey, pal. Don’t talk like that to my wife.

Paco, hay un tío en la puerta que dice ser tu hermano.
Paco, there’s a dude at the door claiming to be your brother.

Esa tía está pendiente a su celular y no está mirando donde camina.
That woman is on her phone and isn’t paying attention to where she’s going.

¡Tu jefa es una tía batalladora!
Your boss is some feisty lady!

• Mola (Like)

Me molar viajar.
I like to travel.

¡Cómo mola tu camiseta!
I like your T-shirt!

• Pirarse (take off, go crazy)

Yo me piro antes de que venga mamá y me haga ordenar mi cuarto.
I’ll take off before Mom comes and makes me tidy my room.

Si quieres puedes pirarte y ya está.
If you want you can simply take off.

El guitarrista se piró y rompió su guitarra.
The guitar player went crazy and smashed his guitar.

Mi hermano se piró porque el perro le destrozó el sofá.
My brother went crazy because his dog destroyed his couch.

• ¡Qué va! (Come on! Nonsense! No way!)

Use this expression to express incredulity or to deny something.

¡Qué va! Eso no puede ser.
Come on! That’s impossible.

– Dicen que el mundo se acaba el viernes.
– ¡Qué va!
– They say the world ends on Friday.
– Nonsense!

– ¿Es buena esa película?
– ¡Qué va! Es malísima.
– Is that a good movie?
– No way! It’s terrible.

– Te gusta, ¿verdad?
– ¡Qué va!
– You like him, don’t you?
– No way!

• Chaval / Chavala (kid, boy / girl)

Escucha, chaval. Eres aún muy joven para hacer ciertas cosas.
Listen, kid. You’re still too young to do certain things.

Esta mañana llevé al chaval a la escuela.
I took my boy to school this morning.

– Esta chavala es muy graciosa. ¿Qué edad tiene?
– Solo tiene doce años.
– This kid is really funny. How old is she?
– She’s only twelve.

Estas chavalas son hermanas.
These girls are sisters.

• Estar cabreado (Furious, angry, pissed off)

I’m furious with you for telling everyone what I told you. You promised to keep it a secret.
Estoy cabreado contigo porque les dijiste a todos lo que te dije. Me prometiste que lo mantendrías en secreto.

Emilio está cabreado conmigo porque no le presté dinero.
Emilio is angry at me because I didn’t lend him money.

¿Cómo no va estar cabreada Andrea si su novio le puso el cuerno?
How could she not be pissed off if her boyfriend cheated on her?

• Meter la pata (mess things up, blunder)

No me atrevo a reparar el auto yo solo. No quiero meter la pata.
I don’t dare fix the car myself. I don’t want to mess things up.

Lucía estaba avergonzada por haber metido la pata de esa manera con un comentario tan indiscreto.
Lucia was embarrassed by the terrible blunder she’d made with her rather tactless remark.

Metimos la pata al comprar este armario. Es demasiado pequeño.
We blundered when we bought this closet. It’s far too small.

Mexico

• Ni modo (not a chance, no way)

¿Quieres salir con tus amiguitas este fin? Pues, ¡ni modo! Como reprobaste el examen de física, no saldrás.
You want to go out with your little friends this weekend? Well not a chance! Since you failed your physics exam, you’re staying in.

Ni modo que vamos a aceptar un trato así.
There’s no way we’re going to accept such a deal.

• Ándale (come on, hurry up)

¡Ándale, que llegamos tarde a la boda!
Come on, we’re running late to the wedding!

Ándale con esa escoba que quiero cerrar la tienda dentro poco.
Hurry up with that broom; I want to close the store soon.

• A poco (really, seriously)

– El profe dijo que todos reprobaron el examen.
– ¿A poco?
– The professor said that everybody failed the exam.
– Really?

¿A poco le dijiste a tu jefe que era un ratero?
Did you really call your boss a thief?

– No me gusta el café.
– ¿A poco? Estás mal, amigo.
– I don’t like coffee.
– Seriously? Something’s wrong with you, buddy.

¿A poco no van a ir de vacaciones en Semana Santa?
Are you seriously not going on vacation at Easter?

• Chingón / chingona (awesome, great, badass, fantastic)

Cristina se hizo un tatuaje muy chingón.
Cristina got a really awesome tattoo.

Mi hermano es un jinete chingón.
My brother is a great rider.

Regina es una bailarina chingona.
Regina is a badass dancer.

La película se ve chingona en 3D.
The movie is fantastic in 3D.

• Ahorita (right now, in a minute, a moment ago)

¿Ya llegaste a la estación? Ok, ahorita salgo.
You got in to the station already? Ok, I’m leaving right now.

Ahorita llamo a tu hermana.
I’ll call your sister in a minute.

La entrevista comenzará ahorita; tome asiento, por favor.
The interview will start in a minute; please take a seat.

Ahorita vi una ardilla que llevaba una calabaza entera en la boca.
A moment ago I saw a squirrel with an entire pumpkin in its mouth.

• Chavo / Chava (boy, girl, young)

A los chavos les gusta mucho esta discoteca.
Guys really love this nightclub.

Esa chava está en mi clase de física.
That girl is in my physics class.

Me casé estando muy chava.Tenía 21 años.
I got married when I was very young. I was 21 years old.

• No mames / No manches (You’re kidding!)

¿Encontraste $500 en la calle? ¡No mames!
You found $500 on the street? You’re kidding!

¿En verdad crees que vas a aprobar todas las materias sin estudiar? A ver, ¡no mames!
Do you really think you’re going to pass all your subjects without studying? I mean, you’re kidding!

Acabo de ver un unicornio.
– ¡No manches! ¿En serio?
I just saw a unicorn.
– You’re kidding! Seriously?

Hoy en el metro me bajaron 1000 pesos.
– No manches. ¡Qué mala onda, güey!
Someone stole 1000 pesos from me on the subway today.
– You’re kidding! That sucks, dude!

• Padre / Padrísimo (great, cool)

La película estuvo muy padre.
The movie was really great.

Esa camiseta es muy padre. ¿Te costó muy cara?
That T-shirt is really cool. Was it very expensive?

Nuestro viaje a Islandia estuvo padrísimo.
Our trip to Iceland was great.

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