Hey guys! How are you? So in today's video, I'm going to go over the most common slang words needed to navigate Colombia.
Ready?
So the first term would actually be ¨¡Estar moscas!¨ which would be
Which would mean to be like flies, which doesn't make very much sense
But if you think about the way that flies are, they're really quick and swift so here in Colombia
They use it as an advisement to be alert and on point. So the next would be ¡Ábrase!
So ¡Ábrase! in the literal translation would be to open up
So if you're like opening up a store: Está abriendo la tienda.
but in this case, they use it as like a commandment to leave like
If somebody's mad at you then ¨ ¡Ábrase!¨ like go away!
So the next word is ¨Berraquísimo¨ which literally translates to a wild boar, but here in Colombia
It's actually used to say something is awesome
so if someone asks you ¨How did the finca go?¨ - ¨Ah Berraquísimo parce!¨ it's like : Ah it was awesome my friend!
So the next one you'll actually hear a lot here in Colombia
Which is ¨chimba¨ so ¨Qué chimba!¨ is actually used to say some things are cool or like awesome
The literal translation of Chimba in English will be pussy or in if you use the masculine Chimbo which basically means like dick
But obviously it's used here in a more
very loose like slang setting. So then you have ´De Una´ so ´De Una´ literally translate to: Of one
But here in Colombia is actually used to say, yes!
Like absolutely, like let's do this!
Like it's an affirmative action to say yes
And then we have ¨Es una nota¨. So, Es una nota will literally translate to it is a note
Here in Colombia It's actually used to draw attention to something. So something like that is noted
´El es una nota hablando español´ like someone that's noted to talk Spanish well.
Next up we have ´Paila´which literally translates to like a ceramic metal pan
But it's used as a like an affirmative to say something is bad. So, ¨I ate in a bad restaurant yesterday.¨
¡Ah, que paila! it's like ah, that's too bad!
Then we have ¡Pilas!
So pilas! literally translates to batteries in Spanish, but here in Colombia, they use it to say like to stay alert. So
If you're going to like a bad part of town or if your if you're not paying attention on your phone,
you're walking down the street. Pilas! like, like pay attention like be alert! The next one's actually pretty funny ´Qué Gonorrea´.
So in English gonorrhea is actually a sexually transmitted disease and you automatically think it's something bad, right?
And that's normally the sense I've heard here in Colombia, when someone says ´Qué Gonorrea´ is like how disgusting or how how terrible!
But I've also heard it used in like a positive sense as well. So it really just depends on the situation. This next phrase
I actually use quite a bit on a daily basis. It's ´Qué mas?´
So, ´Qué mas?´ is like what's up or like what more... like what do you have to tell me?
So when you greet someone, you can say ¨¿Qué más parce¨- What's up, partner? What's up, friend?
And the next one is actually pretty similar ¿Quiubo, Parce? so ¿Quiubo, Parce? is like, what's up, bro?
It's a very informal greetings to say, you know, say hello to you to your close friends
And then we have ¨A la orden¨. So ¨A la orden¨ basically means at your service.
So when somebody says: ¨Gracias, A la orden! ¨ then, this is a very formal,
very heartfelt way of saying you're welcome. And then Colombians have a few different ways of saying cool
We've already went over a few like ´Que Chimba´, but then you also have bacano and chévere.
So you'll chévere a little bit more than bacano.
But both of them just basically mean cool so you can say ´¡Ah que chévere! ¨
It's like how cool. Then we have ´Billete´ So, billete kind of is just like it sounds it basically means bills.
So when the Colombians are talking about money, you can say like ´¡Ah este man tiene mucho billete!¨
Like this man has a lot of money. And then we have ¨Caer¨ which literally translates to fall
But here in Colombia
they use it more as like to hit on. So ¡Ay parce!
Caigale a esta chica, means like go hit on this girl. Next up
we have Changó which doesn't really have a literal meaning, it actually comes from a salsa club in Cali
So it's more used in Valle del Cauca
But basically means to go dancing. And then we have ´chiviado´which means kind of bootleg or a fake
so if you see someone with some
Some Nikes and the swish is upside down on the shoes,
I say it's like ´Ah estos zapatos son chiviados parce´ these shoes are fake.
This slang term is actually been like incorporated as a law here, not literally as a law, but as a
social law of the people, which is ´Dar papaya´
So ´Dar papaya´ would literally translate to, to give papaya which is a fruit, right?
But here in Colombia they use it as a a phrase basically say to don't put yourself in
dangerous situations or don't put yourself, to don't allow yourself to be taken advantage of, you know.
So if you're walking down the street with your head down into your iPhone and
you are ´dando papaya´ like
you're giving a thief a good opportunity to come up and to steal your cell phone
Then we have ´El parche´which literally translates to the patch
but it's used here in Colombia as they say like a group of friends and
So you can say like ´Nuestro parche está pidiendo para tomar
una cerveza esta noche´ So you can say like we're going, like our group of friends getting together to go drink some beers tonight
Next up we have ´Entucar´ which literally translates to kiss, but here in Colombia they use them more as like to smooch so
´Mira este man, se esta entucando con una chica.´
It's like he's like being smoochy with her, like being really close and affective.
So next up is actually a term that we use quite a bit in the U.S
At least the younger generation and it's to get lit or to get buzzed, you know to get tipsy.
So here in Colombia, they would actually say ´Estar prendido or prendida´ depending if masculine or feminine.
So you can say ´Ay parce, estoy prendido´ It's like Ay my friend I'm buzzed
and then we have ´estar tragado or estar tragada´depending on masculine or feminine and that
literally translates to be swallowed up by but in Colombia, it's more used to say like to to be lovestruck , almost like so
Esta esta mujer colombiana, me tragó. So like she loves struck me like, oh wow. Next up
We have ´Gallinear´ which literally translates to rooster
But in English, it can be thought of as like to peacock. So like a guy that is
´gallineando´ like he might be dressed nice, like he's on the move
He's looking for some some ladies to attract. Next up we have Colombia's most famous drink, which is aguardiente
Also known as fire water and the slang term of saying aguardiente is actually ´Guaro´
And if somebody offers you a little shot of guaro they can say ún guarito´.
So after having many guaros here.
You're probably be waking up with a hangover and that term.
Another way of saying hangover here in Colombia is actually ´Guayabo´.
So Guayabo literally translates to a guava tree, but here they use it as a term to say
Hangover, so the hangover is ´Un guayabo´
Estoy ´ Enguayabado´which is I am hungover. And then we have ¨Harto¨ which means a lot of
So basically you can use this in a lot of circumstances. Like for example, ´Hay arto fruits here in Colombia´
So there's a lot of fruits here in Colombia
So after having a lot of guaros with your parceros
You can actually say ´Estoy jincho or estoy jincha´ which basically means
I am drunk. Then we have ´La Olla´ which literally translates to the pot but, here in Colombia
They use it more to talk about the ghettos or the slums. Next up
We ´Los Tombos´, which is another way of saying the police
So you dont want a problem here in Colombia with Los Tombos. So a common name actually in the U.S
Is Lucas, including my younger brother
But in Colombia Lucas is actually used in place of Pesos so you can say one luca is like one peso.
1000 Lucas is like 1000 pesos.
So this is another way of calling the money here. So next up
We have ´Mamar Gallo´
Which literally translates to suck a rooster which I'm sure you guys can
put another word in place of rooster and imagine what they really mean.
But the actual slang like meaning of it, is to stop lollygagging
So they can say like, ah, no mames gallo! It's like - stop it. Stop lollygagging, like, let's cut it out,
let's get to it. Then we have two different ways to call a man or a woman
So in Colombia actually for a man, you're gonna say ´Man´ its the same as spelling just put the accent on it
and then we have for a woman you could actually say ´vieja´ which is more used in a
knowing setting right? You're not gonna call some random person. Oye Vieja! Like it literally translates to like old woman.
So as to somebody , someone usually that, you know. Next up we have ´Llave´ literally translates to key
But here in Colombia
they use it to call like a close friend like ´Mi llave
esta viniendo para la casa.´ Like my good friend is coming to my house
Then we have one of my favorite words, which is ´Parcero or Parce ´ which basically means partner
But it's used to describe someone that's a really good friends. So as you guys will see in all beginning all my videos
I always say ´Hola Parceros! ¿Como estan? Like hey my friends like how are you doing?
Then we have ´Parchando ´which basically translates to like we're chilling or hanging out. So, ´Estoy con mis amigos
parchando.´ Like I'm with my friends chillin. Another term for money is actually Plata and Plata literally translates to silver
So somebody can say like, ah, no tengo Mucha Plata. No puedo salir. It's like I don't have a lot of money right now
I can't go out. Then we have ´Pola´ which is another way of saying beer
So some friend of yours asks you: ´ ¿Vamos por algunas polas? ´they're asking you to go for a few beers
Then we have ´Rumbear and Rumba´ So rumbear means to party and
Rumba means like the party. So if some of your friends asked you ´Ah parce vamos para la rumba = like hey
Do you want to go into the party like you want to go? Then we have ´Sapo or sapa´
Which literally translates to a frog but here in Colombia is used as somebody that can't keep their mouth shut
Almost like a tattle-tale in a way. Then we have ´Te caigo ´which literally translates to fall
But you've been used in a sense almost like to fall through
so for example
´Escribeme mañana y te caigo.´ like write me tomorrow and I'll come fall through so like passing by or stop by
Then we have ´Toque´which comes from the verb Tocar ( Play) Play the guitar.
´El toque´would actually mean like the band itself. So, ´Vamos a escuhar este toque´
Like we are going to go listen to this band.
Then we have ´Un catorce´So, un catorce is actually the number fourteen in Spanish
But if someone asks you ´¿Para un catorce?´ they're actually asking you for a favor. Then we have ´Un chorro`
Which literally translates to like a drip.
So but here in Colombia they use it more like a swig. So ´dame un chorro de guaro´
it's like: Give me a swig of aguardiente. Then we have ´Una chuspa´which
Is used as like a word to say like a plastic bag, so when you're at the grocery store
They're most likely not going to use a chuspa
but
It's is another good term to know but basically this means like a plastic bag and lastly we have a word that is used quite
a bit here and in other parts of Latin America as well.
Which is ´Vaina´ so, vaina this basically means like stuff or thing
Like it literally can be used for anything
So, ´Esa vaina´ It´s like when you dont know how to say something.
Like, don't know how to categorize. You can say vaina.
That's what I've heard most Colombians do as well. So
You're always safe with ´Vaina´. Okay Parceros! Thank you for watching
I hope you guys learned a few new words you will be able to use here during your time in Colombia.
If I forgot any other words, please put them below in the comments.
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Thank you so much and until the next video. ¡Hasta luego!
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