The phrase dictionary
The words native speakers actually use — and your textbook skips. Real meanings, real example sentences, region by region.
Argentina31 phrases
Al pedo
Pointless, in vain — or idle, with nothing to do. Not the same as "en pedo".
Bardo
Chaos, trouble, drama — the mess itself or the act of stirring it up.
Birra
Beer — the casual Argentine word, borrowed straight from Italian.
Boliche
A nightclub — the place you go dancing, not a bowling alley.
Boludo
Dude, mate — or idiot, depending entirely on tone and who you say it to.
Bondi
Bus — the everyday Buenos Aires word for the city bus (colectivo).
Buena onda
Good vibes — a friendly, easygoing person, place, or gesture.
Chabón / Chabona
Guy, dude — Argentina's word for some bloke whose name you don't know or don't need.
Chamuyar
To sweet-talk, spin a line, or talk your way into (or out of) something.
Chanta
Unreliable, a con artist, all talk and no follow-through.
Che
Hey, mate, dude — Argentina's all-purpose attention-getter.
Cheto / Cheta
Posh, preppy, fancy — Argentina's word for the polo-shirt-and-private-school aesthetic.
Colectivo
The city bus — the standard Argentine word for urban public buses.
Copado
Cool, great, awesome — Argentina answer to Spain’s guay.
En pedo
Drunk — a very informal Argentine expression for being intoxicated.
Fiaca
Laziness, zero motivation — that heavy feeling of not wanting to do anything.
Guita
Money, cash — the everyday Argentine word for dinero.
Laburo
Job, work — the everyday Argentine word for trabajo.
Mango
A peso — money in general, especially when you have none of it.
Mina
Woman, girl — the standard lunfardo word every tango and every porteño conversation runs on.
Morfar
To eat — the classic Lunfardo verb for chowing down.
Pelotudo
Idiot, moron — boludo's heavier sibling, and much more likely to start a fight.
Pibe / Piba
Kid, guy, girl — the everyday Argentine word for a young person.
Posta
Really, for real, seriously — used to confirm truth or ask if something is genuine.
Quilombo
A mess, chaos, a big problem — Argentina’s go-to word for anything gone wrong.
Re
Super, really, so — the prefix Argentines glue onto everything: re lindo, re caro, re bien.
Remera
T-shirt — the Argentine word for a plain short-sleeved shirt.
Trucho
Fake, counterfeit, dodgy — anything that is not the real deal.
Viste
You know, right? — a tag word Argentines drop into almost every story.
Vos
"You" (informal singular) — Argentina’s replacement for tú, with its own verb forms.
Zarpado
Amazing, insane, over the top — or out of line, depending on context.
Bolivia8 phrases
Camba
A lowlander — someone from Santa Cruz, Beni or Pando, and half of the pair that cuts Bolivia in two.
Chango / changa
Lad and lass — the everyday Bolivian word for anyone young, and a homonym of "changa", a bit of casual work.
Cholita
An Aymara or Quechua woman in pollera and bowler hat — a reclaimed word worn with real pride, and still an insult in the wrong mouth.
Colla
A highlander — someone from the altiplano and the Andean valleys, and the other half of Bolivia's defining pair.
Jailón
A rich kid, a posh one — La Paz's word for the moneyed set, from English "high" with a Spanish augmentative bolted on.
Pucha
Damn, blimey, oh no — the polite stand-in for the swear word everybody hears anyway.
Trufi
A fixed-route shared taxi — Bolivia's middle rung of transport, between a taxi you own and a bus you don't.
Wawa
A baby — straight from Quechua and Aymara, and a trap for anyone who learned "guagua" in the Caribbean.
Chile14 phrases
Al tiro
Right away, immediately — Chile’s answer to ahorita, and rather more reliable.
Bacán
Great, cool, brilliant — the Chilean stamp of approval.
Cachái
You know? / Get it? — the tag Chileans hang on the end of half their sentences.
Cachureo
Junk, odds and ends — the useless stuff filling a Chilean drawer or garage.
Carrete
A party, a night out — and carretear, the verb for doing it properly.
Cuático
Over the top, intense, weird — a Chilean adjective for anything that is a bit much.
Fome
Boring, dull, lame — a Chilean word with no good equivalent anywhere else.
La raja
Fantastic, the best — Chile’s strongest everyday compliment, and a mildly rude one.
Luca
A thousand pesos — the unit Chileans actually count money in.
Once
Chile's evening tea — bread, avocado and conversation at about seven, instead of dinner.
Pega
Work, the job — what Spain calls curro, Argentina laburo and Colombia camello.
Po
Chile's all-purpose sentence-ending particle — a worn-down 'pues' that adds emphasis, obviousness or resignation.
Pololo / polola
Boyfriend / girlfriend — and pololear, the verb for going steady, which only Chile has.
Weón
Dude, mate — or idiot. Chile's most versatile word, and the one most likely to get you in trouble.
Colombia13 phrases
¿Qué más?
How's it going? — Colombia's standard hello, not a question about additional items.
Bacano
Really cool, awesome — Colombia's home-grown upgrade of chévere.
Camello
Work, a job — and camellar, to work hard. The camel carries the load.
Chévere
Cool, great, nice — the Caribbean-born word for anything good.
Dar papaya
To make yourself an easy target — and 'no dar papaya' is the national commandment.
Guayabo
The hangover — Colombia's word for the morning after the rumba.
Parcero
Dude, mate, buddy — Colombia's word for a friend, usually shortened to parce.
Pola
A beer — named after an independence heroine, ordered by the round.
Qué pena
Sorry, excuse me, pardon the bother — Colombia's all-day apology, not 'what a shame'.
Rumba
The party — and rumbear, to party. Where the guayabo begins.
Sumercé
'Your mercy' — the warm, colonial-era 'you' still alive in Bogotá and Boyacá.
Tinto
A small black coffee — not red wine. The fuel of Colombian life.
Vaina
Thing, stuff, problem, situation — the universal noun for everything.
Costa Rica8 phrases
Brete
Work, the job, the graft — with its own verb, "bretear". What Costa Ricans say instead of "trabajo".
Chunche
Thing, whatsit, doodah — and in the plural, all your stuff.
Diay
"Well…", "so?", "what can you do" — the contraction that opens half the sentences in Costa Rica.
Harina
Money, cash — literally "flour". The tico equivalent of English "dough".
Jupa
Head — the tico word for the thing on your shoulders, and for the sense inside it.
Mae
Dude, mate — the word young Costa Ricans put in every sentence, worn down from 'maje' (fool).
Pura vida
Hello, goodbye, thanks, you're welcome, I'm fine, and 'decent bloke' — Costa Rica's national phrase, holding down six grammatical jobs at once.
Tuanis
Cool, great, all sorted — the tico stamp of approval, with an etymology nobody has settled.
Cuba14 phrases
¿Qué bolá?
What's up? — the Cuban greeting, stressed on the last syllable and spelled at least three ways.
Asere
Mate, brother — the vocative that opens half the conversations in Cuba and the single most Cuban word there is.
Bisne
A deal, a hustle, a bit of private business — English "business", spelled the way Cuba says it.
Candela
Fire, literally — and in Cuba a person who is a force of nature, a situation that has gone badly wrong, or the grief you are giving someone.
Chama
A kid, a young person — Cuba's entry in the great Latin American competition to rename the young.
Fula
Hard currency — dollars. And, as an adjective, bad: "la cosa está fula" is Cuban for things being grim.
Gao
The house, home, your place — Cuban street slang inherited from Caló, the language of the Spanish Roma.
Guagua
The bus — the Caribbean and Canarian word for the thing the official signs call an ómnibus.
Jaba
A bag — the carrier bag every Cuban takes out of the house in case something turns up for sale.
Monina
Brother, mate — the older, heavier street cousin of «asere», and one of Cuba's clearest links to Abakuá speech.
Pincha
Work, a job — with its verb "pinchar", to work. The Cuban slot filled by "curro" in Spain and "chamba" in Mexico.
Socio
Mate, pal — a business partner in the dictionary and a friend in the street; the safest of the Cuban vocatives.
Temba
A person of a certain age — somewhere past forty, not yet old — usually with an implication of being established enough to pay for things.
Yuma
A foreigner — originally an American; with a capital and an article, "la Yuma" is the United States itself.
Dominican Republic8 phrases
¿Qué lo que?
What's up? — the Dominican greeting, abbreviated to "klk" in every message thread on the island.
Colmado
The corner shop that runs the neighbourhood — credit, delivery, cold beer, gossip and a speaker aimed at the street.
Concho
The shared taxi that runs a fixed city route — an elderly saloon with four in the back, two in the passenger seat and the fare paid on the way out.
Dique
Supposedly, allegedly, so-called — reported information the speaker does not believe for a second.
Jevi
Great, excellent, impressive — English "heavy", posted home from New York and naturalised.
Pariguayo
The man standing by the wall while everyone else dances — a sap, a wet blanket, a mug too slow or too soft to act.
Tíguere
The street-smart operator — resourceful, quick and admired, or a chancer you should not lend money to. Tone decides which.
Un chin
A little bit, a drop, a touch — the Dominican small quantity, and one of the first words a visitor hears.
Ecuador14 phrases
Achachay
"How cold!" — the Quichua interjection Ecuadorians say instead of a sentence about the weather.
Arrarray
"Ouch, hot!" — the Quichua interjection for heat and burns, and the mirror image of achachay.
Chiro
Broke, skint, without a cent — the Ecuadorian word for the last week of the month.
Chuchaqui
A hangover — Ecuador's own word for it, borrowed from Quichua and used by absolutely everybody.
Chumado
Drunk — with the verb chumarse for getting that way and la chuma for the state itself.
Chuta
Ecuador's all-purpose "damn!" — the polite exclamation that covers dismay, surprise, apology and mild disaster.
De ley
"Definitely", "for sure", "no question" — and sometimes "you have to", when the law in question is social.
El man / la man
"That guy" — an English noun wearing Spanish grammar, and one of the few Spanish words whose gender lives entirely in the article.
Full
"Loads of", "really" — an English adjective that Ecuador turned into a quantifier and an intensifier.
Guambra
A kid, a teenager, a young person — the highland Ecuadorian word, straight out of Quichua.
Ñaño / Ñaña
Brother / sister — by blood or by loyalty. Ecuador's warmest word for the people it counts as family.
Pelucón
A rich person, a posh person, one of the elite — an old word for powdered wigs that Ecuadorian politics reloaded.
Sapo
A toad — and therefore, in Ecuador, someone nosy, someone who tells tales, or someone impressively quick off the mark.
Shunsho
Daft, silly, slow on the uptake — a Quichua insult mild enough to use on someone you love.
El Salvador8 phrases
Bicho / bicha
A kid — in El Salvador. In Puerto Rico the same four letters are one of the crudest words in the language.
Chero / chera
Mate, buddy — the Salvadoran friend-word, and the one Salvadorans abroad recognise each other by.
Chivo
Cool, great, brilliant — the Salvadoran adjective of approval, and literally a goat.
Cipote / cipota
Kid — the Central American word for a child or teenager, and one you should not carry to Spain.
Guanaco
A Salvadoran — the national self-name, worn with defiance at home and heard warily when a foreigner uses it first.
Maje
Mate, dude — or idiot. The Salvadoran all-purpose word for a person, with the meaning supplied almost entirely by tone.
Puchica
Blimey, damn, wow — the Central American swear-substitute that lets you react hard without actually swearing.
Vaya pues
Right then, OK, see you — the Central American phrase that agrees, closes a conversation and gives in, all with the same two words.
Guatemala8 phrases
Canche
Blond, fair-haired, light-skinned — a description Guatemalans use as a name, to your face, from the first minute.
Cerote
Mate, bro — or a genuinely filthy insult. Literally a turd, and the difference is entirely who is saying it to whom.
Chapín
A Guatemalan — the national self-name, worn with more affection than the passport.
Chilero
Great, brilliant, cool — the Guatemalan all-purpose word of approval.
Clavo
A problem, a jam, a mess — the everyday Guatemalan noun for anything that has gone wrong.
Colocho
Curly, curly-haired — a description, a nickname and, in the plural, the things you talk yourself into worrying about.
Muchá
Hey, everyone — the Guatemalan way to address a whole group at once, whoever is in it.
Shute
Nosy, meddling — the person who sticks themselves into business that was never theirs.
Honduras8 phrases
Alero
Close friend, mate — the one who stands at your wing, or under the same eaves.
Andar hule
To be broke, skint — the Honduran way of saying there is nothing left until payday.
Catracho
Honduran — the name Hondurans give themselves, taken from a nineteenth-century general with a Catalan surname.
Cheque
"OK, got it" — English "check" naturalised into the commonest agreement word in Honduras.
Guaro
Cheap sugarcane liquor — the default spirit of Honduras and most of Central America.
Macizo
Excellent, brilliant, first-rate — the Honduran all-purpose word of approval.
Pijín
A party, a night out on the drink — and the verb "pijinear", to go out and have one.
Pisto
Money, cash — the everyday word for it in Honduras and across northern Central America.
Internet4 phrases
Crack
A legend, a star, someone brilliant at what they do — "eres un crack" is high praise everywhere.
Cringe
Secondhand embarrassment — the English loanword that conquered Spanish because "vergüenza ajena" needed a verb.
Literal
The Spanish "literally" — an agreement marker and intensifier that is almost never literal.
TQM
"Te quiero mucho" — the Spanish texting abbreviation for "love you lots".
Mexico32 phrases
A poco
Really? No way — Mexico's go-to expression of disbelief.
Aguas
Watch out! Heads up! — Mexico's all-purpose warning cry.
Ahorita
Right now, in a bit, or eventually — the famously elastic Mexican "now".
Ándale
"Come on", "that's it", "exactly", or "hurry up" — the Mexican multitool of encouragement.
Antro
Nightclub — the standard Mexican word for a club, no seediness implied.
Apapachar
To cuddle, pamper, and comfort someone with affection.
Chafa
Cheap, shoddy, poor quality — for knockoffs, junk, and anything that disappoints.
Chale
Damn, ugh, no way — the Mexican groan of disappointment compressed into two syllables.
Chamba
Work, a job — Mexico's everyday word for making a living.
Chela
Beer — the word Mexicans actually use when inviting you for one.
Chido
Cool, great, awesome — Mexico's everyday word for anything good.
Chingón
Awesome, badass — or, of a person, seriously good at what they do.
Cruda
Hangover — literally "raw", which is exactly how it feels.
Cuate / Cuata
Buddy, close friend — an Aztec word for "twin" that became Mexican for "mate".
Desmadre
Chaos, a total mess — or a gloriously wild party.
Equis
Whatever, meh — the letter X as a verdict of total indifference.
Fresa
Preppy, posh, stuck-up — literally "strawberry", applied to people and their style.
Gacho
Mean, lousy, ugly, or a bummer — Mexico's all-purpose adjective for anything bad.
Güey
Dude, mate — or idiot, depending on tone; the word that punctuates Mexican friendship.
Hueva
Laziness, boredom, can't-be-bothered energy — "me da hueva" is a whole Mexican mood.
Luego luego
Right away, immediately — doubling flips 'later' into 'at once'.
Mande
Pardon? Yes? — Mexico's polite way to answer a call or ask you to repeat.
Morro / Morra
Kid, young guy or girl — and, with a possessive, boyfriend or girlfriend.
Naco / Naca
Tacky, trashy, low-class — Mexico's most loaded insult, handle with extreme care.
Neta
The truth, for real — the Mexican way to swear something is true or ask if it is.
No manches
No way, you're kidding — the family-friendly Mexican exclamation of disbelief.
Órale
The all-purpose Mexican exclamation — wow, OK, come on, or hurry up, depending on tone.
Platicar
To chat, to talk — the everyday Mexican verb for conversation.
Qué onda
What's up — the standard casual Mexican greeting, literally "what wave".
Qué padre
How cool, how great — literally "how father", and completely normal in Mexico.
Qué pedo
What's up, what's wrong, or what the hell — Mexico's rudest, most versatile greeting.
Sale
OK, deal, sounds good — Mexico's word for sealing a plan.
Nicaragua8 phrases
Chavalo
A kid, a lad, a young person — the default Nicaraguan word for anyone younger than the speaker.
Chele
Fair-skinned, blond, pale — and, just as often, the name you call the fair-skinned person in the room.
Chochada
A thing, a whatsit — or nonsense, a triviality, something not worth the breath spent on it.
Dale pues
Right then, go on, agreed — the Nicaraguan way to accept a plan and close a conversation in three syllables.
Deacachimba
Brilliant, excellent, superb — the top of the Nicaraguan scale of approval, and a word to leave at the border.
Ideay
Well then? What? Come off it — the Nicaraguan opener that carries surprise, disbelief, greeting or mild reproach.
Nica
A Nicaraguan — the short, warm, everyday word Nicaraguans use about themselves instead of the official "nicaragüense".
Pinolero
A Nicaraguan — the affectionate self-name, taken from pinol, the toasted maize drink the country runs on.
Panama8 phrases
Arroz con mango
A shambles, a tangled mess — rice with mango, two things that were never meant to share a plate.
Buco
A lot, loads — the French "beaucoup", delivered to Panama by the Canal.
Chuleta
The Panamanian all-purpose exclamation — damn, wow, ouch, no way — literally a pork chop.
Diablo rojo
The retired American school bus, repainted end to end, that used to run Panama City — loud, fast and now largely gone.
Juega vivo
Getting ahead by cutting the corner and not getting caught — the habit Panama diagnoses in itself.
Offi
Agreed, understood, done — "oficial" clipped down to two syllables by young Panama.
Pelao / Pelá
Kid, lad, lass — and, in the right possessive, your boyfriend or girlfriend.
Yeye
A rich kid performing it — Panama for the moneyed, English-sprinkling, private-school set.
Paraguay8 phrases
Argel
Grumpy, off, unpleasant — the Paraguayan verdict on the person nobody wants to sit next to today.
Jopara
The Spanish-Guaraní mixture almost every Paraguayan actually speaks — and, the same word, the bean stew eaten on the first of October.
Kaigue
Listless, flat, wilted — the Paraguayan word for having no energy for anything, including explaining why.
Mbore
No chance, forget it — the flat Paraguayan refusal that closes a subject instead of answering it.
Nde
Guaraní for "you" — and the word Paraguayans put at the front of a sentence to grab you, scold you or exclaim.
Purete
Excellent, top-notch, the best there is — a Spanish root wearing a Guaraní intensifier.
Tereré
Yerba mate drunk with ice-cold water and crushed herbs — Paraguay's national drink and its main unit of social time.
Vyro
Daft, foolish, half-witted — the Guaraní insult Paraguayans use in the middle of Spanish sentences.
Peru14 phrases
Al toque
Right away, immediately — the Peruvian promise of speed, kept more often than Mexico's "ahorita".
Causa
Close friend, brother — the warmest word in Peruvian slang, borrowed from a potato dish.
Chibolo
Kid, youngster — the Peruvian word for anyone visibly younger than the speaker.
Chifa
Chinese-Peruvian food, and the restaurant that serves it — a cuisine Peru invented and then named.
Huachafo
Tacky, pretentious, trying too hard — Peru's most celebrated untranslatable word.
Jama
Food, grub — and "jamear", to eat: the Peruvian street register for its favourite subject.
Jato
Home, house, your place — where a Peruvian actually lives, in the register they actually speak.
Misio
Broke, penniless — the Peruvian state of the wallet at the end of the month.
Pata
Friend, mate — or just "some guy": the workhorse word for people in Peruvian Spanish.
Pe
The Peruvian sentence-final particle — "pues" worn down to one syllable, closing half the sentences in Lima.
Qué paja
Great, brilliant, cool — the young Peruvian seal of approval.
Roche
Embarrassment, shame, awkwardness — "qué roche" is the sound of a Peruvian wishing the ground would open.
Tono
Party — the Peruvian word for the night out, from house party to full production.
Yapa
The free extra — the handful the market vendor adds after the scale settles, from Quechua.
Puerto Rico8 phrases
Al garete
Adrift, out of control, gone to pieces — a boat with nobody steering, applied to plans, institutions and people.
Bregar
To deal with, handle, work on, cope with or hustle through anything — the verb Puerto Ricans reach for when English would need five.
Chacho
A clipped "muchacho" used as an all-purpose exclamation and sentence-opener — roughly "man", "blimey" or "well" depending on the day.
Chavos
Money — the everyday Puerto Rican word for cash, from an old Spanish copper coin, and older than the dollar it now counts.
Corillo
Your crew — the fixed group of friends you go everywhere with, and by extension any tight little circle.
Janguear
To hang out — English "hang out" naturalised as a fully conjugated Spanish verb, with its own noun, "el jangueo".
Pichear
To ignore someone or something deliberately — to blank a message, blow off a plan, or drop a subject entirely.
Wepa
The Puerto Rican shout of joy, approval and arrival — untranslatable, but somewhere between "yes!", "let's go!" and a raised glass.
Spain43 phrases
A tope
Flat out, at maximum, totally packed — or an enthusiastic "let's go!".
Apetecer
To feel like, to fancy — Spain's go-to verb for wanting something in the moment.
Apuntarse
To sign up for something or count yourself in — '¡me apunto!' is how you join a plan.
Botellón
An outdoor gathering, mostly of young people, to drink together in a public space before or instead of going to bars.
Caña
A small draught beer — the default order in any Spanish bar — plus a family of idioms.
Chaval / Chavala
Kid, youngster — and between friends, "man" or "mate".
Chulo
Cool or cute when describing things; cocky when describing people.
Chungo
Dodgy, sketchy, rough — or, of a situation, tricky and unlikely to go well.
Colega
Mate, buddy — in Spain it usually means friend, not colleague.
Curro
Job, work — the informal word Spaniards use instead of trabajo.
Cutre
Shabby, tacky, low-quality — done on the cheap.
De puta madre
Awesome, fantastic — a very vulgar phrase that means something is absolutely great.
En plan
Like, kind of, sort of — the filler younger Spaniards drop into nearly every sentence.
Finde
Weekend — the universal clipping of 'fin de semana'.
Flipar
To be amazed, shocked, or blown away — good or bad.
Guay
Cool, great, awesome — the everyday Spanish word for approval.
Guiri
A foreign tourist in Spain — teasing, but rarely hostile.
Hostia
Literally the communion wafer; in practice a Spanish exclamation of shock — or a slap.
Joder
Spain's all-purpose expletive — surprise, annoyance, admiration, or emphasis, dozens of times a day.
Liarse
To get tangled up, muddled, or carried away — and, colloquially, to hook up with someone.
Ligar
To flirt, to hook up — the verb for the early stages of romantic interest.
Majo / Maja
Nice, friendly, likeable — and, for things or kids, cute.
Mazo
A lot, really, loads — Madrid's favorite intensifier, literally a sledgehammer.
Mogollón
Loads, a ton, a huge amount — of anything.
Molar
To be cool, to really like something — used the way English speakers say "I love it".
Movida
A hassle, mess, or piece of drama — or, in another sense, a scene or happening.
No pasa nada
It's fine, no worries, no harm done — Spain's all-purpose formula for letting things go.
Ostras
Wow, whoa, oh my gosh — a mild exclamation of surprise, the polite stand-in for 'hostia'.
Pasta
Money, cash — Spain's everyday slang for 'dough'.
Petarlo
To smash it, be a huge hit — while 'petado' means packed full or broken.
Pijo / Pija
Posh, preppy — Spain's word for rich-kid style and the people who have it.
Puente
A long weekend created by bridging a midweek public holiday with an extra day off.
Qué fuerte
That's wild, unbelievable, insane — the default reaction to shocking news, good or bad.
Quedar
To arrange to meet up, to make plans with someone.
Rayarse
To overthink, spiral, or get weirdly obsessed — when your brain gets stuck like a scratched CD.
Resaca
Hangover — the morning-after consequence of a big night out.
Rollo
A drag or a bore — and, in 'buen/mal rollo', the vibe of a situation.
Sobremesa
The time spent lingering at the table talking after a meal is finished.
Tener morro
To have some nerve — the Spanish art of shameless cheek, measured in snout.
Tío / Tía
Dude, mate, man — an all-purpose informal way to address or refer to someone.
Vale
Okay, alright, got it — Spain's all-purpose word for agreement.
Vaya tela
Unbelievable, what a state, that's really something — a resigned reaction to something excessive.
Venga
Come on, alright then, let's go — a flexible filler that pushes a conversation forward.
Uruguay14 phrases
Bizcocho
The small bakery pastry eaten with mate — the Uruguayan word for the tray Argentina calls "facturas", and nothing like a sponge cake.
Bo
The Uruguayan vocative — "hey", "mate", "listen". One syllable, and the fastest way there is to place a speaker on the eastern bank of the river.
Botija
A kid, a youngster — the Montevideo word for a child, used for boys and girls alike, where Buenos Aires says "pibe".
Botón
A grass, a telltale, an informer — and, to older speakers, a police officer. An accusation, never banter.
Cebar
To serve the mate — fill the gourd, pour the water, hand it over and run the circle. The most socially loaded verb in Uruguay.
Championes
Trainers, sneakers — the word Uruguay uses where Argentina says "zapatillas". The most reliable border test in Rioplatense Spanish.
Chiquilín / chiquilina
A kid, a teenager, a young person — still completely ordinary in Uruguay, where in Buenos Aires it has faded towards the nostalgic.
De más
Brilliant, excellent, the best thing all week — "estar de más" turns an excess into a compliment. Elsewhere the same phrase means surplus to requirements.
Garrón
A hassle you did nothing to deserve — rotten luck, an unfair job, the short straw. And "de garrón", meaning for free.
Gurí / gurisa
Boy / girl — the interior and northern word for a child, a Guaraní loan that reached Uruguay through Brazilian Portuguese.
Ni ahí
Not a chance, no interest whatsoever, nowhere near — flat refusal delivered as a measurement of distance.
Pila
Loads, tons, a huge amount — the Uruguayan quantifier that works on nouns, verbs and feelings alike. "Te quiero pila."
Salado
Extreme, in either direction — outstanding and impressive, or steep, brutal and hard to swallow. The noun decides which.
Ta
The Uruguayan all-purpose "okay" — "está" filed down to one syllable, opening, closing and punctuating half the conversations in Montevideo.
Venezuela14 phrases
Arrecho
Furious — or brilliant, or aroused, depending entirely on which border you are standing on.
Bochinche
An uproar — noise, gossip, a chaotic row, or a party that has become one.
Burda
Loads, really, a huge amount — Venezuela's favourite intensifier.
Chamo
Mate, dude, kid — Venezuela's word for a young person and for whoever you are talking to.
Coroto
Stuff, things, belongings — the catch-all noun for objects you cannot be bothered to name.
Cotufa
Popcorn — and no other country calls it that.
Guachimán
The watchman — the security guard on the door, in the car park, or outside the building all night.
Jeva
Girlfriend — or, more loosely and more riskily, a woman.
Ladilla
A pain, a bore, a nuisance — a person or a situation you cannot shake off.
Na guará
Wow, blimey, good grief — the all-purpose exclamation of Lara state, now national.
Pana
A mate — and, as an adjective, the quality of being decent, warm and reliable.
Pantallero
A show-off — someone who performs their success for an audience.
Pasapalo
A nibble, canapé or snack served with drinks — Venezuela's answer to the tapa.
Sifrino
Posh and affected — the rich, drawling, eastern-Caracas kind of posh.