Dique
Supposedly, allegedly, so-called — reported information the speaker does not believe for a second.
Related lesson: Dominican Spanish: A Survival Guide.
Hear it in context
Dique va a llegar temprano, pero tú sabe cómo é.
He's supposedly going to arrive early, but you know how it is.
Me llamó dique para pedirme perdón.
He rang me, supposedly to apologise.
Ese es dique doctor.
He's a so-called doctor.
What It Actually Means
Dique flags something as reported rather than known — and, nine times out of ten, as reported by someone the speaker does not trust. It translates as supposedly, allegedly, apparently or so-called, but the tone matters more than the gloss: Dominicans deploy it to put visible distance between themselves and a claim. Dique está enfermo is not a neutral report of illness. It means the illness is a story, and the speaker has heard better ones.
Where It Comes From
This one has a real and traceable etymology, which is a relief after the rest of the shelf. It descends from dizque, itself from diz que — an old Spanish form of dice que, “says that”, using the archaic verb diz. The full form survives across Latin America, notably in Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador. The Dominican spelling and pronunciation simply reflect what Dominican Spanish does to a syllable-final -s or -z: it removes it. Dizque minus its consonant is dique.
How Natives Use It
Invariably, in any position before what it modifies, and constantly — it is one of the busiest words in Dominican conversation. It attaches to whole clauses (dique se mudó pa Nueva York), to infinitives of purpose (vino dique a ayudar) and to bare nouns (su novio dique). The delivery is usually flat and quick, with the scepticism carried by context rather than emphasis, which is precisely what makes it easy for a learner to miss.
Common Pitfall
Do not hear it as neutral hearsay. Repeating what someone told you with dique in front of it announces that you think they were lying, which is a strong claim to make by accident. And mind the homograph: el dique in standard Spanish is a dam or dyke, so context, not spelling, tells you whether the sentence is about scepticism or civil engineering.