Guayabo
The hangover — Colombia's word for the morning after the rumba.
Related lesson: Colombian Spanish — A Survival Guide.
Hear it in context
Hoy tengo un guayabo terrible.
I have a terrible hangover today.
Amanecí enguayabado; no me hables duro.
I woke up hungover; don't talk to me so loud.
Para el guayabo, caldo y una pola bien fría, dicen.
For a hangover: broth and a nice cold beer, they say.
What It Actually Means
El guayabo is the hangover. Wake up after a long night of rumba and you are enguayabado — deep in the guayabo, in need of silence, broth and forgiveness.
Where It Comes From
From guayaba (guava) — by way, the story goes, of the heavy, sickly-sweet feeling the overripe fruit suggests. Colombia also uses guayabo for emotional aftermath: missing someone can be a guayabo too.
How Natives Use It
“Tengo guayabo”, “¡qué guayabo!”, “estoy enguayabado”. The classic cure is caldo de costilla — rib broth — at dawn, a Bogotá institution known to taxi drivers and students alike. The bolder school prescribes a cold pola, on the fire-with-fire principle.
Common Pitfall
Every country names this differently, and none understand each other: Spain says resaca, Mexico says cruda, Colombia says guayabo. Ask for resaca remedies in Bogotá and you’ll be understood — but you’ll sound like you partied in the wrong hemisphere.