Laburo
Job, work — the everyday Argentine word for trabajo.
Related lesson: Argentine Spanish — A Survival Guide.
Hear it in context
Esta semana estoy a full con el laburo.
I'm flat out with work this week.
¿Cómo te va en el laburo nuevo?
How is the new job going?
Salgo del laburo a las seis.
I finish work at six.
What It Actually Means
Laburo means “job” or “work”, borrowed from the Italian lavoro by the huge wave of Italian immigration to Argentina in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s the word colleagues use with each other in everyday conversation — trabajo remains the neutral, formal option.
Where It Comes From
Argentine Spanish absorbed hundreds of Italian-rooted words through lunfardo, the slang that grew out of Buenos Aires’s immigrant neighborhoods. Laburo is one of the most common survivors, alongside its verb form laburar (“to work”).
Where Textbooks Get It Wrong
Standard courses teach trabajo/trabajar and rarely mention that Argentines reach for laburo/laburar by default in casual speech — “¿en qué laburás?” (“what do you do for work?”) is far more natural among friends than “¿en qué trabajas?”
Common Pitfall
Laburo is casual register — fine with friends and colleagues you know well, but switch back to trabajo in writing or with people you’ve just met.