Pana
A mate — and, as an adjective, the quality of being decent, warm and reliable.
Related lesson: Venezuelan Spanish: A Survival Guide.
Hear it in context
Él es mi pana desde el liceo.
He's been my mate since secondary school.
Qué pana eres, chamo, mil gracias.
You're a good sort, mate — thanks a million.
Nos vemos en la panadería con la panita de siempre.
See you at the bakery with the usual mate.
What It Actually Means
A pana is a friend: the one who lends you money, drives you to the airport and does not report the conversation afterwards. It is also an adjective — ser pana, qué pana, es muy pana conmigo — describing the whole cluster of warmth, loyalty and being easy to deal with. Venezuela’s other friendship words orbit it: panita (affectionate), pana mío (emphatic), mi pana (possessive and therefore closer).
Where It Comes From
Usually traced to English partner, worn down through the Caribbean into pana — a plausible route given the same coast produced guachimán from watchman, but not one that has been documented. A rival explanation ties it to pana the fabric (corduroy) by way of “cut from the same cloth”. Both are guesses; the honest answer is that the word is Caribbean and its parentage is unproven.
How Natives Use It
Venezuela uses it hardest, but pana is shared with the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Ecuador and parts of Colombia — one reason it travelled so easily with the diaspora. It works as vocative (gracias, pana), noun (un pana mío), adjective (es pana) and even adverb-ish praise (burda de pana). It carries none of the aggression of Chile’s weón or the edge of Argentina’s boludo: pana is the friendly end of the register with nothing hiding underneath.
Common Pitfall
Do not confuse the adjective with the noun. Es mi pana means “he’s my mate”; es muy pana means “he’s a good sort” and can be said of someone you met an hour ago — including a boss, which is the sense in which the word can go upward without embarrassment. And in Spain pana is only the fabric, so the compliment will be heard as a comment on your trousers.