Nos arreglamos el chongo

If you've always wanted to know what a chongo is, today's your lucky day.

And if you've never heard of the word chongo, today's still your lucky day.  And guess what else? You'll really impress your Mexican friends with this one.  Your cool points will go through the roof.  OK, it's not that cool, but you will surprise them.

Enough chit-chat, let's get to it.

Here's a picture of a chongo.

That's right, a chongo is a hair bun.  At least in Mexico it is.  In other countries chongo could mean something completely different, so make sure you know your audience.  Anyway, a more universal way to refer to a chongo would be moño de pelo, or simply un moño.

Here are some examples:

El chongo no es sólo para domingos relajados u ocasiones en las que haces ejercicio -- puedes arreglarlo de forma elegante para ocasiones en las que te quieras ver más formal.

The hair bun isn't just for lazy Sundays or when you workout, you can make it look elegant for the ocassions you want to look more formal.

¿Cómo puedo arreglarme mas? ... casi no me peino; me peino con un 'chongo' así equis, no me maquillo  no me gusta usar tacones.

How can I make myself up more?  I almost never do my hair.  I put it a bun, whatever. I don't put on make up and I don't like to wear heels.

Simple enough right?  But guess what?  There's more.  There are also a few expressions that use the word chongo, like agarrarse del chongo.

This picture should take all the mystery out of the phrase "agarrarse del chongo":

Although our female friend  in the black shirt (la de la camisa negra) is pulling the other girls cola (pony tail) , our phrase agarrarse del chongo  still applies because agarrarse del chongo  refers to a fight between women even if hair buns and pulling hair isn't involved.

Let's look at some examples:

Julia y Carolina se agarraron del chongo afuera de la escuela
Julia and Carolina were fighting outside the school

Las niñas estaban felices pero se agarraron del chongo por sus juguetes
The girls were happy but they started fighting over their toys

Lilia esta a punto de agarrarse del chongo con Marisa
Lilia is about to get into a fight with Marisa

Otra vez, ¿te agarraste del chongo con tu jefe?
You got into an argument with your boss again?

Sé que a veces somos como el agua y el aceite, nos agarramos del chongo por que a veces tu dices no y yo digo que sí, o tu dices sì y yo digo que no
I know that sometimes we're like oil and water, we argue because sometimes you say no and I say yes, or you say yes and I say no.

Did you notice that agarrarse del chongo doesn't always refer to a physical fight?

Well, now that your chongo is all out of place (literally or figuratively), it's time to arreglarse el chongo.

If you're not familiar with the verb arreglarse, add it to your list of verbs to learn because you'll hear it a lot and it has several different uses.  The definition we care about in this post is to fix yourself up or to make yourself look nice.

Keeping our definition of arreglarse in mind, arreglarse el chongo doesn't refer to fixing your hair (although it can),  in this context it refers to making things right, working things out or straightening things out between you and the people you were agarrando el chongo with.

Now we can translate today's expression means.

Nos arreglamos el chongo
We worked everything out

Arreglamos el chongo is very much a Mexican saying, so if you want something a little more universal, go with:

Arreglarse con alguien

Teresa peleó con Jose y no poder arreglarse por el orgullo de los dos.
Teresa fought with Jose and they're not able to straighten things out because they're both prideful.

Me arreglé con mi ex
I worked things out with my ex

And that just about wraps things up.  I'll leave you with a few other posts I wrote about hair:

Tengo el pelo chino and Soy pelimorado a rayos

That's it for today.  ¡Hasta la próxima!

Español en las calles de Tijuana

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but with 2016 now upon us I plan on being back in the saddle with a lot more of the posts you all have enjoyed over the years.

And with hopes of making up for my lack of activity, I'm going to share with you my first ever podcast.  I've posted the transcript and a translation below for you to follow if you need it.  I speak at a relatively slow and consistent pace, so it shouldn't be to hard to keep up with.

Click here download the podcast from iVoox, for free of course:  Español en las calles de Tijuana

Also, the transcript (not the translation) is part of the audio file to make it even more convenient for you follow along.  Please leave your comments below and let me know if you enjoyed it and whether or not you'd like to see me do more.

¡Que disfruten!

Español en las calles de Tijuana
My name is Rodney and in this podcast I’m going to talk about the Spanish I’ve learned during my visits to Baja Norte, or Northen Baja, primarily the city of Tijuana.  Over the years I’ve heard quite a few words and expressions that are unique to Mexico that I want to share with you.  You won’t find these words and expressions in your Spanish textbook, but you’ll hear them all the time as you travel throughout Mexico.
The rest of this podcast will be in Spanish, but don’t worry, you can follow along with the transcript if you need to.  OK, let’s get started.
Primero, para llegar a Tijuana, tienes que cruzar la frontera. Pero no se cruza la frontera, se cruza la linea. Eso se llama la frontera en Tijuana.	First, to get to Tijuana you have to cross the border.  But you don’t cross the border, you cross the line.  That’s what you call the border in Tijuana.
Y cuando quieres regresar a los estados unidos  puedes decir “Voy al otro lado” o “Voy a gringolandía“.	And when you want to go back to the United States you can say “I’m going to the other side” or “I’m going to gringo land“.
Bueno, ya estamos en Tijuana y una de las primeras cosas hay que saber para hablar como un buen Tijuanense, o sea, una persona nacida en Tijuana, es que mucha gente simplemente llama a la cuidad Tijuas.	Good, now we’re in Tijuana and one of the first things you have to know to speak like a tijuanense, or a person born in Tijuana, is that a lot of people simply call the city Tijuas.
Cuando te encuentras en la Avenida Revolución, o La Revu, lo que vas a escuchar mil veces es “Pásale Amigo, Pásale”.	When you find yourself on Revolution Avenue, or The Rev (La Revu), what you’ll hear a thousand times is “Pásale Amigo, Pásale”.
	* There really isn’t a translation for La Revu, but what I proposed above is  roughly the English equivalent.
En Mexico pásale significa “come in”.  Pero en pocas palabras, cuando dicen  “pásale amigo“ es una manera de decir “por qué no entras en mi tienda y echas un vistazo a la mercancía”.	In Mexico pásale means “come in”.     In short, when they say come in my   friend. It’s a way of saying “Why      don’t you come into my store and  take a look at the merchandise?”
Mientras caminas por las calles, es imposible no escuchar la palabra wey.	While you walk through the streets  it’s impossible not to hear the word wey.
Wey es una de las palabras coloquiales más usada en todo  México.	Wey is one of the informal words  most used throughout all of Mexico.
¿Y qué significa wey?	And what does wey mean?
Es una manera muy informal para llamar a alguien amigo, compa, o tipo. En ingles  la palabra más parecida es dude.	It’s an informal way to call someone friend, bro or guy. The most comparable word in English is dude.
Unos ejemplos:	A few examples:
- Wey, ¿Qué haces?	– Dude, what are you doing?
- ¿Cómo estás wey?	– How are you dude?
- Vamos por unas cervezas wey.	– Let’s go get some beers dude.
Ahora vamos de hablar de la expresión  “¿Qué onda”? que es un saludo muy común entre amigos y es uno de los saludos más usado en todo México. .	Now let’s talk about the expression qué onda.  It’s a very common greeting between friends and is one of the most used greetings in all of Mexico.
Qué onda es una manera muy informal para decir que tál, o en inglés, what’s up?	Qué onda is a very informal way of saying qué tal, or what’s up.
– ¿Qué onda wey?	– What’s up dude?
– ¿Qué onda con tu vida?	– What’s up with your life?
	* This may sound strange in English, but is very natural in Spanish
Ahora les voy a hablar de unas palabras que tienen un uso interesante en México.  La primera es el verbo ocupar.	Now I’m going to talk about a few words that have an interesting use in Mexico. The first is the verb ocupar.
En mexico, pues, por lo menos Tijuana, se usa ocupar como sinonimo de necesitar.	In Mexico, well, at least in Tijuana, ocupar is used as a synonym of necesitar.
Unos ejemplos:	Some examples:
- Ocupo trabajo	– I need work
- Ocupo dinero	– I need money
- Ocupo un taxi	– I need a taxi
Cuando estás hablando con alguien y no escuchas o no entiendes algo y	When you’re speaking with someone and you didn’t hear or don’t understand
quieres pedir que la persona repita lo que dijo, hay varias opciones:	something and you want to ask the person to repeat what they said, there are several options:
¿Qué has dicho?,  ¿Cómo dijo? , ¿Cómo? , ¿perdon?,  ¿Cómo dice?  ¿Disculpe?	What did you say?  What was that? (A very polite) What? Pardon? What’d you day?  Excuse me?
Pero en México casi siempre lo que vas a escuchar en vez de ese termino es ¿mande?.	But in Mexico what you’re almost always going to hear is “mande?”
Mande es una expresión de cortesía con la que aún hoy los padres corrigen a sus hijos	Mande is an expression of courtesy that even today parents use to correct their children:
- ¡No se dice “¿qué?”, se dice “mande”!	– You don’t say what, you say pardon me
	* Pardon me isn’t an exact translation, but mande is a more formal and polite way of saying what.
Si quieres andar por la cuidad, los taxis son muy baratos. A lo mejor estás acustumbrado a decir coger o tomar un taxi, pero en México se dice agarrar un taxi.	If you want to wander around the city taxis are very cheap.  You may be used to saying coger or tomar to talk about taking a taxi, but in Mexico you use agarrar to talk about taking a taxi.
Los autobuses estan aún más baratos, pero no se dice autobús, se dice camión.	The buses are even cheaper, but you don’t say autobús, you say camión.
Tijuana tiene una vida nocturna muy buena.  Pero en Tijuana nadie va de fiesta, sino van de party. Sí, party, exactamente como decimos en inglés.  En La Revu y la calle sexta hay muchos bares, restaurantes y antros.	Tijuana has a very good nightlife.  But in Tijuana no one uses the word fiesta, rather they say party.  Yes, party, exactly the same as what we say in English. On Revolución Avenue and Sixth street there are a lot of bars, restaurants and night clubs.
Por cierto, un antro es una disco.	* The dialog uses antro for nightclub, which in Mexican Spanish is used instead of discoteca. Please note that the word antro can have a different meaning in other countries.
Y claro la gente le gustan disfrutar de unas cervezas.  Puedes pedir sola una cerveza, pero pedir una cubeta de cerveza es mucho más común.  Una cubeta es un bucket, que usualmente vienen de entre cinco o doce cervezas, depende en el bar y lo que pidas.	And of course people love to enjoy a few beers.  You can order just one, but it’s much more common to order a cubeta of beer.  A cubeta is a bucket that usually comes with five to twelve beers, depending on the bar and what you
Otra palabra para cerveza es chela.  Y no puedes ir a Tijuana sin disfrutar de un buen caballito.  ¿Qué es un caballito?  Un trago, o sea un shot de tequila.	Another word for beer is chela.  And you can’t go to Tijuana without enjoying a good caballito.  What is a caballito? A swallow, or rather a shot of tequila.
Y para que sepas, también dicen shot.	And just so you know, they also say shot.
Tijuana no solo tiene buena vida nocturna, también una gastronomía de primer nivel.  Pero seguro que el hecho más conocido de la gastronomía mexicana es que a los mexicanos les encantan lo picante.  Pero a veces en vez de decir algo es picante, dicen pica.  Así que, en vez de preguntar si una comida o salsa es picante, puedes decir:	Tijuana doesn’t only have a good nightlife, they also have a first class gastronomy. But surely the most well known fact of Mexican gastronomy is that Mexicans enjoy spicy food.  But sometimes instead of saying spicy (picante),they say it bites (pica).  So, instead of asking if a dish or salsa is spicy,you can say:
– ¿Pica?	– Does it bite?
– ¿Pica mucho?	– Does it have a lot of bite to it?
– Quiero una salsa que pique.	– I want a salsa that has some bite to it
– ¿Hay una salsa que no pica?	– Is there a salsa that doesn’t have a bite to it?
Bueno, eso es todo por hoy.  Espero que hayan disfrutado esta pequeña lección del español mexicano.  Gracias por escuchar, ¡chao!	Well, that’s all for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed this small lesson on Mexican Spanish.  Thanks for listening, bye!

Eso que ni que

So there I was, texting away with my carnal:

Yo:  Hay que disfrutar la vida
Mi carnal:  Eso que ni que

By the way, carnal is Mexican Spanish for brother, either by blood or a close friendship.

Eso que ni que

I had never even seen that before. Clearly a literal translation wasn't going to work:

That what neither what

I didn't see his reply until a few hours later, so I wasn't able to ask him what it meant.

My mind was scrambling trying to figure that one out.  A few Google searches later and verifying my research with another of one my Mexican amigos, I finally found out what it meant.

Yo:  Hay que disfrutar la vida
Me: You have to enjoy life

Mi carnal:  Eso que ni que
My buddy: I totally agree

I won't say "I totally agree" is a direct translation, but it certainly captures the meaning.  Eso que ni que is way of saying you absolutely agree with what's being said or that something is very clear, leaving no doubt.

Here's another example:

Si me quitan ésta muela me dejara de doler
If they take this tooth out it'll stop hurting me

Eso que ni que
No doubt about it

It's very a common Mexican expression and if you want to say it in standard Spanish, it would be something close to definitivamente, no hay duda or sin duda, any way of expressing your agreement with the other person would work.

Well, another mystery solved.  But guess what?  It reminded me of a few other expressions involving que.

Eso que ni que is a statement of agreement and ni que nada is an expression of negation or denial, kind of like when we say "my foot", "no way"  or maybe even "in your dreams" to add emphasis.  You're saying that whatever it is they're asking for is not going to happen.

Party my foot 

There's a lot do around here

Let me point out the creator of our meme has some pretty bad ortografía (spelling).  Ay should be hay and aser should be hacer.  That aside, ni que nada is a very common expression, at least in Mexican Spanish.

Here's another example:

A: El me dijo que era contador
     He told me he was an account

B: ¿Qué contador ni que nada? Él no ha terminado la Universidad
     What do you mean an accountant?  He hasn't even finished college

 That brings us to our next expression, ni que ocho cuartos.  If you're attempting to translate it literally, forget it - Not even 8 rooms.  Nope, makes no sense at all.  But it's actually not that hard to understand.

Keep calm?

No way, Colombia is playing today

Ni que nada and ni que ocho cuartos are synonyms, used in the same way.

Here are a few more examples.

Your 13 year old daughter says she wants a boyfriend:

Que novio, ni que ocho cuartos
 Boyfriend? That's not gonna happen

¡Qué fiesta ni que ocho cuartos, ¡te vas a quedar en casa!
Party my foot, you're staying at home!

And like ni que nada, this is a very common expression. Both of them place a lot of emphasis on the fact that something is being denied.

Here are few more examples:

¿Puedo salir a jugar?
Can I go out and play?

¡Qué jugar ni qué ocho cuartos! ¡A hacer la tarea!
Go out and play my foot.! Go do your homework!

¿Me dejas quedarme en la casa de Pedro?
Will you let me stay at Pedro's house?

¡Ni ocho cuartos!
Absolutely not!

Well that's it for today.  Take these expressions and impress your Spanish friends with your new found knowledge.

Here a few other posts of Mexican expressions that you might also like:

  1. ¿Que me ves?
  2. ¿Por qué no te echas un coyotito?
  3. Ahorita vengo

Lastly, don't forget you can follow the blog on Facebook!

¡Hasta la próxima!

Pásale Amigo, Pásale

When you're walking up and down Tijuana's most famous street, Revolution Avenue, or La Revu as it is affectionately called by los tijuanenses, you'll hear the word pásale a thousand times.  It's said by the shop owners trying to convince you to come in and take a look their goods.

Pásale Amigo, Pásale
Come in my friend, come in

And if you happen to be walking in the direction of the border (la frontera), also informally called la linea, you'll hear "Taxi amigo?".  Actually, it doesn't matter which you're going, virtually every taxista you see is going to ask you if you want a cab.

There are a lot of other things you're going to hear when you walk up and down the streets of Mexico and start talking to people, and that's what this post is about, some of the interesting Spanish (well, interesting to me) I heard on my latest visit to Mexico.  Some of the things I heard weren't exactly PG, but they are words and expressions used everyday, and if you expect to understand and be understood, these are things you need to know.

Let's get to it.

We all know what this ugly little creature is.

The photo alone gives me the creeps.  But I digress.  The dictionary translates mosquito as mosquito.  That's the word I knew.  Easy, right?  Life is good and that's one less Spanish word to learn.  Well, life was good until someone threw out the words  zancudo and mosco. 


This one really threw me for a loop, the verb ocupar.  Oddly enough I heard it used in the context of "to need":

Cuándo ocupes taxi no hay, y cuando no ocupes hay taxis por todos lados
 When you need a taxi there aren't any, and when you don't need a taxi they're everywhere

This wasn't first time I heard ocupar used that way, but it stuck out like a sore thumb this time.  And if you're wondering why I find this so odd, it's because nowhere in the definition of ocupar does it say it means "to need".  And based on my research so far, Nothern Mexico seems to be the only place that uses ocupar in this way, but I'll write more about that another time.

While I was having margaritas at an old friends restaurant (yes, two of those were mine) we were talking about unusual and unpleasant jobs people have, and he threw out the phrase Hay que sacar la papa.  I had no idea what he meant by getting the potatoes out, so I had to ask.

Basically it means, at least in this context, to make a living.  And while I didn't realize it at first, I've heard the verb sacar used in a related, but slightly different fashion before:


Que onda wey, ¿saca las chelas no?
What's up dude, you're buying the beers right?


Agarrar la onda is another expression I heard. While it wasn't my first time hearing this, it was the first time I heard it in a context that helped me figure out what it means.

Agarrar la onda, to catch on, get the hang of things. 

Estás agarrando la onda
You're getting the hang of things


My daughter asked me for a few things, so I found myself shopping at the swap meet in Tijuana.  Yes, they have swap meets in Tijuana and I presume in all of Mexico as well.  Don't feel bad, I was as shocked as you.  Anyway, as I was walking through the maze of passageways a vendedor tried to get my attention by shouting out:

Que tranza holmes

Surprisingly, It wasn't the que tranza that got my attention.  I've heard that expression before, it's a very colloquial, and I assume Mexican, way of saying what's up.  Holmes, on the other hand, I haven't heard since the 90's.

Ruca is a word you'll hear frequently, at least in a conversation between guys talking about women.  It started off referring to an older woman, una antigua, but now it's just a way of referring to a woman.

Vieja is used the same way.  Although with vieja, you can use it to refer to your mom, wife or girlfriend as well.  Keep in mind that they may not appreciate that, but if you're talking with friends it's OK. 

Fodongo is another word I heard pop up a few times.  I wrote about it a few years back.  Take a look.

Simón is a very informal way of agreeing with someone.  It's the equivalent of yeah.

Carnal is something like bro and used when you consider someone a good friend.  It can also mean brother, as in your real brother.

Your Spanish book will tell you ¿Cómo? is the proper way to ask some what they said, but in Mexico what you're going to hear instead is ¿Mande?  Honestly, I think I was the only person in the entire country using cómo. 

Nothing says Mexican like the word Órale.  If you plan on spending a lot of time in Mexico or talking to Mexicans, you'd better get a good handle on this word.  I've written about órale as well.

There's a great little place to have breakfast in Tijuana right off of Revolution Avenue.

I've forgotten exactly what it was I ordered, but when I was paying the bill the gentleman at the caja (register) asked me ¿Te late?.  To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention and what he said didn't click until a few hours later.

Te late is a very informal way of saying te gusta.  He was asking me if I enjoyed my meal.  But you can use te late anytime you want to ask someone if they like something.

¿Te late la comida mexicana?
Do you like Mexican food?

This next one isn't really polite, but you'll hear in it conversations with real people in Mexico.

Eres puto


If you know what the word mujeriego means, then you'll have no problem understanding this usage of the word puto.  It's a way of calling a man a womanizer, or player.  He messes around with a lot of women.  A friend of mine was the "victim" of this phrase but it was a fun conversation and we got a lot of laughs out of it.  You can also use the word golfo.

I blogged in detail about the word puto in one of my sister blogs,  No Seas Pelangoche (all about bad words in Spanish), because even though this usage is innocent enough, it's still a bad word and has several other meanings, which is why it belongs on No Seas Pelangoche.  By the way, if you're easily offended No Seas Pelangoche is not for you, because I give you the most accurate translations possible, in very frank and direct language.  Otherwise I think you'll find it a fun and interesting site.

Take a look at this picture.

In Spanish this beautiful bird is a called a cotorra, or parrot in English.  And we've all heard the expression about people who talk like a parrot.  Apparently our Spanish speaking friends have heard this one too. 

Tengo una amiga catorra
I have a friend who's a chatterbox

I wouldn't say that's a literal translation, but it certainly conveys the spirit of the word.

Wey is another high percentage word you'll hear on the street, which means dude.  I don't think I could possibly count the number of times I heard this a day.  Read my post on the word wey. 

Cabrón is another word you'll hear which has a variety of meanings depending on the context of the conversation.  It's another one of those words that's not exactly for polite company but highly used between friends and in very informal conversations on the street.  Yeah, you guessed it, I wrote about cabrón before too, you can read about it on No Seas Pelongoche. 


Pinche is basically the equivalent of the F bomb in English.  You'll very often hear it combined with the word wey.  Pinche wey.  And yeah, you guessed it, you can read about it on No Seas Pelangoche if you want more detail.

I think we've covered enough bad words and you've probably figured out where to go to learn more.  Let me close things out with an interesting phrase I picked up.

¿Cómo estás?
Bien, en lo que cabe

Bien, en lo que cabe translates to something like "given/under the circumstances",  "as well as can be expected" or "considering".  It implies that the person is having some degree of issues or problems, but outside of that is doing just fine.

Well, that's it! I hope you found this post helpful and gave you a little more insight into Mexican Spanish.  I'll leave you with this list of books in Amazon on Mexican Spanish.  I have them in my collection and found them really helpful.

¡Hasta la próxima!

Ya colgó los tenis

Nobody likes it, but tarde o temprano, we have to talk about someone who's "in a better place".  Not my favorite topic, but it's something you should know.

The a very common way to refer to people who have died is with one of two verbs, morirse or fallecer.

La actiz se murió
The actress died

Se murío is rather direct and to the point.   Fallecer is what you'll hear on the news.

La actríz falleció
The actress died

But in all honesty, you've probably seen those in your Spanish book.  We're here to learn about a few of the more creative ways to talk about el fallecido (la fallecida for a woman), so let's get to it.

Se colgó su tenis

Colgar los tenis literally means to hang up your tennis shoes.  Figuratively it means someone died.

Oye, hace mucho tiempo que no hablo con Pedro, ¿Cómo está?
Uyyy, ¿no sabias?  Pedro se colgó los tenis hace un año.

Hey, it's it's been a long time since I spoke with Pedro, how is he?
Oh, you didn't know?  Pedro died a year ago.

Colgó los tenis is very informal, so if you need to break the news to someone gently, this probably isn't the expression you want.

You can also say ya colgó los tenis.

Here's a fun one, ponerse el traje de madera.

If you don't have a clue as to what Pijamas de madera are, here's a hint.

Wooden pajamas refer to a coffin, or ataúd in Spanish.

Se puso el pijama de madera
He put on his wooden pajamas

Estirar la pata is generally accepted as the best translation for the English phrase to kick the bucket.

Ya estiró la pata
He kicked the bucket

Entregar el equipo is useful if you want to use a sports related phrase.

Ya entregó el equipo
He turned in his equipment

And remember, you shouldn't use any of the above expressions when you need to be caring and sensitive.

There are actually many more ways to talk about death, but why not hear them from real Mexicans with your own ears?  Here's link to some guys who run a YouTube channel called ZMG for U, and they give the run down on everything you should know, including a few cultural tips to help keep you out of trouble.

Let's close out today's post with something fun.  Here's a phrase we use all the time in English.

¿Que traes en la bolsa, una cadáver?

What do you have in your purse/bag, a body?

You may be tempted to use cuerpo instead of cadáver, but don't. 

Well that's it for today.  Don't forget you can also follow this blog on Facebook.   Also don't forget to check out my sister blog, Helping You Learn Spanish where I take a stab at simplifying the textbook side of Spanish so you can learn more faster without all the grammar double-talk.

¡Hasta la próxima!

¿Pichas las caguamas?

If you don't know what a caguama is, let me help you out:

It's a species of sea turtle.  And since we're on the subject of creatures that live in the water, let's talk about one more, a ballena.

Yep, a ballena is a whale.

Yeah, I know, you're thinking, "Rodney, where are you going with this?".  OK, vamos al grano (Let's get to the point).

A caguama in Mexico is not just a sea turtle:

A caguama is any brand (marca) of beer that comes in a botella (bottle) of roughly 900-1000ml, or 33oz.  Carta Blanca is just one brand of beer that sells caguamas, but there are others.  Here are a couple of corcholatas (bottle caps) from Sol and Tecate.

If you're thinking "that's a lot of beer", well, you're right.  If you're thinking "well that's a good start", then you'll be happy to know that there's something bigger than a caguama, which is a caguamón.

A caguamón has roughly 1200ml, which hopefully is enough to quench your thirst.  Let's put the difference between a caguama and caguamón in perspective.

Wow.  That's a lot of beer.  I'm pretty sure most people know the word for beer in Spanish is cerveza, but in Mexican Spanish you have a few other ways to refer to a cerveza.

Vamos por unas chelas
Let's go get some beers

¿Qué me toca pagar las chelas?
What do you mean it's my turn to pay for the beers?

There's also the word cheve.

Vámonos a echarnos unas cheves
Let's go have some beers

This next one is universal.

Quiero una fría
I want a cold one

Know any colloquial words for beer?  Share them in the comments.

We're almost done, the only thing we have left to talk about is the word ballena.

A ballena, aside from being a whale, is just another name for a caguama when it comes to beer.  And a ballenón is the same as a caguamón.

And again, let's put things in perspective.

By the way, we still have to cover the title of this entrada (post).

 ¿Pichas las caguamas?

Pichas comes from the verb pichar, which means to treat or to pay for.  With that in mind, let's translate our phrase.

 ¿Pichas las caguamas?
 Are you buying the beers?

Regarding the verb pichar, I need to leave you with a word of warning.  It can have more then one meaning among Spanish speakers.  You can read about it's meanings at Así Hablamos.  Remember, know your audience.

Whew, that's finally it.  I'll leave you with one last thing, a video of what I think is is a pretty impressive feat.  Personally, it would take me a week or more to finish a caguama, much less a caguamón.  This gentleman puts it away all at once.  And on top of that he does it with no hands.

If you don't see the video, here's the direct link.

Here are a few other posts related to chelas.

1.  Pisteando en mi casa con mi kerida
2.  ¿Por qué estás chiquiteando wey?

Having drinks with the locals is always a great way to practice and learn some Spanish, so you might want to check out the My Spanish Phrasebook app (for Android devices) to have some great bar related phrases (and a whole lot more) at your fingertips while you're out.



Now go forth and (responsibly) have a few cheves.

¡Hasta la próxima!

El Caló Mexicano, Parte 2

Not too terribly long ago I wrote about El Caló Mexicano, or Mexican slang.  Rather than write yet another top 10 list, I decided to write about some very common Mexican slang that your average gringo probably isn't aware of.  Today I'm going to fulfill the promise I made about writing a part two.

Let's cover a few greetings first.

You've probably heard of the expression Qué onda, which means what's up, but here's a couple that might have escaped you.


¿Qué tranza?

¿Qué show?

¿Qué pex?

I don't know that any of these have a direct translation, they're just additional ways to say what's up.  These are very slangy and will most likely shock your Mexican friends when they hear you say this.

¡Que oso!

Literally speaking, this means what a bear.  But if you're not having a conversation about bears then this means how embarrassing.

That's embarrassing.  I don't know you.

We know these as a Volkswagon.  But in Mexican Spanish you'll probably hear it referred to as a vocho.

 You'll hear people talk about dinero (money) all the time, but they may be doing it with words you aren't familiar with.  Feria and varo.

No traigo varo wey
I don't have any money dude

Prestame una feria wey
Loan me some money dude

While not uniquely Mexican, there are other ways to talk about money.  I blogged about this a while back - Más minutos menos lana.

Let's keep going.


In standard Spanish to say you don't like someone you can use caer bien or caer mal.  But in Mexican Spanish you say....

Ese wey me cae gordo
I don't like that guy

If you really like someone then you can say...

Tu amiga me cae a todo madre
I really like your friend

And keep in mind with the expression caer bien we're talking about if you like someone, not if you like like them.  For that you need gustar.

If you find yourself flipping a coin, you can say Águila o sol - Heads or tails

Here's a good one.  The next time someone asks you cómo van las cosas (How are things going), you can reply....

Atole con lo mismo 
The same as always

And finally, when your friends ask how you know all of this , you can tell them...

Porque soy más mexicano que el chile
Because I'm more Mexican than the chile

And that's it for today.  Make sure you subscribe via email or follow the blog and keep reading for more Mexican slang and other great posts!

El Caló Mexicano

So what is El Caló Mexicano?

El Caló Mexicano is nothing more than Mexican slang.  And there's a lot of it.

I've written about a lot of Mexican slang over the years, but I've finally decided it's time I put together some kind of Mexican slang list. I thought about doing a top 10 list, but how many times has that been done?  Besides, I couldn't narrow it down to just 10 anyway.

So instead I'm going to write about some common Mexican slang that the average gringo may not have heard before.  Some of these words I use on a regular basis, some of them I just like the sound of.  Either way, I'm going to share with you my favorite caló mexicano.

Let's get to it.  BTW, these are in no particular order, I'm just writing them down as they come to mind.

Chaparrita - this word is a diminutive of chaparra, and it's a way of referring to a short woman.  Use chaparrito if you want to talk about a short man.

Me gustan las chaparritas
I like short girls

Simón - This is another (very informal) way of saying yes.  It's probably closer to yeah. 

Nel - An informal way to say no.  And now that I think about, nel is short for nel pastel. It's kind of like how we say no way Jose.  Try this on your Mexican friends and enjoy the laughs you're going to get.

Pica - You'll hear this quite a bit to refer to spicy food.  The universal word is picante, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard (and used) this word.

¿Pica?
Is it spicy?

¿Pica mucho?
Is it very spicy?

Carnal - If you've got a really good friend you can refer to him as carnal.  This is also a way of referring to a person who actually is your brother.

¿Qué onda carnal?
 What's up bro?

Una chela - More commonly known as cerveza 

Vamos por unas chelas
Let's go get some beers

You're probably going to want that chela to be nice and cold, so you could ask for a chela bien fría.   But that's not going to impress anybody.  Instead ask for a chela bien muerta.  Muerta means dead.  So why would you ask for a dead beer?  The short version is dead bodies are cold, so you want your beer as cold as a dead body.  Creepy, I know, but you'll sound muy mexicano. 

Me vale - I don't care.  Don't ask me why, but I think this is way more fun than saying no me importa.

Me vale lo que piensas
I don't care what you think

Neta - In my book this word is way cool.  To be honest I'm surprised I haven't blogged about this before.   Neta can be used in many different ways, here are some common examples.

¿Neta wey? 
Really dude?

Es la neta
It's the truth

Stay tuned, I'm going to post about neta in the very near future.  It's a versatile word that deserves some special attention.

Morra, Morrita - A way of referring to a woman.  You can use morro to refer to a man.

Ahí nos vidrios - This is a play on words for Ahí nos vemos (see you there)

Mocoso - Snot nosed brat. Mocosa for girls.  Read my earlier post about this one.

Chupar - You have to be careful with this one, but you can use it to mean go drinking.  ¡Vamos a chupar wey! Think of this as going to suck down a few beers.  In fact, chupar means to suck.  I'll let you use your imagination and you'll quickly figure out why you need to be careful with chupar.

You can learn more about drinking in Mexican Spanish in this post.

Let's get back to the subject of alcohol.  If you want to order a shot at the bar you could ask for a trago (literally a swallow), but it you want to give your Mexican Spanish a little workout, ask for a caballito.

Un caballito - A shot.  I love this word.  Un cabillito de [favorite drink goes here].

¡Bartender!  Un cabellito de tequila

Yes, they do say bartender.

Si tomas demasidos caballitos, vas a tener la cruda
If you drink too many shots, you're going to have a hangover

Güero - It means blonde, or even a fair skinned person.  And here in the US it's also a way to refer to white Americans.

Your Spanish book will tell you that jefe means boss, and may not even mention the word jefa, which would be your female boss.  But guess what?  In Mexico there's another use for the word  jefa.  Jefa or jefecita can refer to your mom. 

I'm going to get my mom and I'll be back.

We all know casa means house, but so does cantón.

Voy a pasar por tu cantón
I'm going to stop by your house

You could talk about your coche or carro, but you might hear a Mexican talk about his nave.

Let's talk about a few expressions.

Te voy a partir tu mandarina en gajos

If you hear this,you've made somebody awfully mad.   A mandarina is a tangerine, and a gajo is a slice or section.  So to split (partir) a mandirina (you) in gajos, means you're about to get your butt kicked.

El que no tranza no avanza - This translates to something like "if you don't cheat you don't get ahead".  I first heard this in the movie La Ley de Herodes, it's a great movie, you should check it out.

El burro hablando de orejas - I can't actually be sure that this is uniquely Mexican, but it's a nice spin on the pot calling the kettle black.

Es más cabrón que bonito - I also heard this for the first time in La Ley de Herodes too.  Literally it's something to the effect of "He's smarter than he is handsome".  You can use this for women to, but it changes to "Es más cabrona que bonita".  And if you want to talk about yourself just change es to soy. 

Soy más cabrona que bonita, y mira que soy muy bonita
I'm smarter than I am beautiful, and look at how beautiful I am

This post could go for a while, as there is certainly no shortage of caló mexicano, but I think it's time to wrap things up.  And don't worry, part 2 will be coming soon.

I wanted to avoid some of the more well known Mexican slang, so I'm not going to talk about the word Órale, but it's super important and you need to know about it.  Luckily I've already blogged about it - Órale wey.  Check it out.

If you want to pick up some more Mexican Spanish Amazon has a nice collection of books on Mexican Slang.  I also recommend you click here to take a look at the great post my friend TC (He's the author of No Hay Bronco) has written on Mexican slang. Be sure to read the comments, there a lot of them with even more info.

And of course you can read my other posts on Mexican Spanish.

What's your favorite caló mexicano?  Post it in the comments.

Nos vidrios in part 2!

Está curada

Every time I go to Mexico, I learn something new.  The things I learn are like that box of chocolates Forest Gump talks about, you never know what you're going to get.  Sometimes it's useful, sometimes it's just interesting and fun.  The one thing I have learned however, is that no matter how strange or useless I may think a word or expression is, I always end up hearing it again later on.  With that said, let's get started.

Está curada

Curada means to be cured, as in curing meat.  It also means to cure someone of something, like an infection.  Except in this example, that is.

Está curada
It's cool

Ese coche está curado
That car is cool

Tu camisa está curada
You shirt is cool

A few related expressions would be:

Que padre, que chido, que bien

It's my understanding that this is an expression used in Northern Mexican, especially in Tijuana.  Toss it around with your Mexican friends and see what happens, I'll bet it leads to a few laughs, a great conversation and someone asking you, "where did you learn that?"

Up next we have the word chiloso.

¿Está chiloso?
Is it spicy?

And by spicy I mean spicy hot.  Here are a few other related terms:

Enchiloso is another word for spicy.  Enchilar is to season food specifically with chili's.  I'm not sure how wide spread these words are in Mexico much less the Spanish speaking world, but everyone should understand the words picante and pica.

¿Está picante?
Is it spicy?

¿Pica mucho?
Is it spicy?

So much for my adventures in food.  Surprisingly the next word I'm going to tell you about I learned while checking in to my hotel.  It's not much of a story, but here's what happened.

After I finished checking in, the young lady behind the desk turned on the intercom and called for botones.

Instantly I thought, buttons?  OK, a half second later I realized she wasn't randomly screaming out buttons in the hotel lobby.  No one responded to her, so I wasn't able to figure out what the heck she was talking about.  I had to wait until I got to an internet connection to solve that riddle.

Botones simply means bell hop.  Now you won't have the same stupid look I had on my face when I heard this.

By the way, if you're not familiar with the Spanish you need to check into a hotel, read my entry,
¿A qué hora es la hora de entrada?.

As a tourist, I take a lot of taxi's to get around.  And I learned long ago that in Spanish you use the verb tomar to talk about taking a taxi.

Tomamos un taxi
Let's take a cab

Too bad my Spanish books never told me there's more than one way to catch a cab in Spanish.

So there I was telling someone that I was going to take a taxi, and I'll never forget the answer I got.

En México no tomas un taxi. Agarras un taxi.

Agarrar is the verb, and it's typically means to grad or to hold on.

¿Dónde puedo agarrar un taxi?
Where can I catch a taxi?

Agarra un taxi, no es caro
Grab a taxi, it's not expensive

After that, I heard people using agarrar to talk about catching taxi's and buses every time I turned around.  You can also coger a taxi, but to my knowledge this isn't widely used in Mexico, but it is most certainly understood.  And don't worry, even though many people in Mexico use agarrar to talk about catching a cab, many people use tomar as well.

Before I let you go, you may have noticed the new About Me button at the top of the page.  Or maybe not.  Anyway, if you've ever been wondering about the man behind the curtain, err, blog, you can simply click on that button to get the answers to your deepest, darkest questions about me.  Or you can just click here.  And be sure to follow my other ramblings, Helping You Learn Spanish and No Seas Pelongoche.  Although I must warn you that No Seas Pelangoche is for those of you who want to know all about bad words in Spanish.

That's it for today!  I hope you learned something new.

¡Hasta la próxima!

¿Qué me ves?

Today we're going to take a look at the verb ver, to see.  It seems simple enough, but I've discovered some surprising usages.

¿Qué me ves?

This is another one of those situations where a literal translation wouldn't make any sense, "What you seeing me?".  It's best we throw that translation out and start over.  In fact, let me help you.

¿Qué me ves?
What are you looking at?

What are you looking at?  I'm pouring water on my sandal....and?

Isn't she cute?  But that look on her face tells me you'd best not upset her.

If you happen to notice someone staring at you (maybe because you're wearing some of your lunch) this is the perfect phrase.

Let's take a look at some other ways to use ver.

¿Cómo lo ves?
How do you see it?

As a literal translation this one comes close.  A better translation would be:

¿Cómo lo ves?
What do you think?

En mi opinon, la película estuvo bien, ¿Cómo lo ves?
In my opinion, the movie was good, what do you think?

And if you find yourself speaking with a Mexican you may hear this as simply:

¿Cómo ves?

Ella habla muy bien español, ¿no?  ¿Cómo ves?
She speaks really good Spanish right?  What do you think?

While the sentences above are kind of interesting, I didn't find them surprising.  This usage of ver did surprise me.

Te veo triste
You look sad

Te veo cansado
You look tired

Te veo delgado
You look thin

To talk about  how you look you use verse.

¿Cómo me veo?
How do I look?

Me veo horrible
I look horrible

How many times have you asked someone this in English:

Do I look stupid?

Now you're about to learn how to say it in Spanish.

¿Me ves cara de tonto?
Do I look stupid?

Actually, you can talk about any type of facial expression.

¿De verdad me ves con cara de aburrido?
Do I really looking boring?

Before I wrap things up, take a look at this really cute image.

I don't see anything, but it's best they take you to the doctor.

While there's nothing earth-shattering about what I wrote, you'll hear all the above at some point and now you won't be taken by surprise.  Don't hesitate to toss a few of these expressions around, your Spanish friends will definitely notice!

Well, that's it, ¡Hasta la próxima!

Órale wey

When it comes to Mexican Spanish, you almost can't get any more Mexican this.

No cabe duda (there's no doubt) that when you hear the word Órale you're either speaking to a Mexican or speaking to someone who spends a lot of time with Mexicans.

Back in the days when I had a tutor, almost every time we talked on the phone she would end the call with:

Órale, chao or Órale, nos vemos

 One day I decided to ask her about it, and she gave me a not so direct  answer (I got this type of answer a lot).  She said "It depends, it can mean a lot things".  Well, eventually everything started to make sense, but let's see if I can save you some heartache by telling you about the most common uses.

Órale, chao
Ok, bye

Órale, nos vemos
Ok, see you later

Here are a few more examples:

Te llamo despues
Órale

I'll call you later
Ok

¿Quieres ir al cine?
Órale, vamos

Do you want to go to the movies?
Ok, let's go

Voy al super, ahorita vengo
Órale

I'm going to the store, I'll be right back
Ok

You can use it to tell someone to get the lead out.

¡Órale!, No tengo todo el día
Hurry up, I don't have all day

When you see something amazing, like a super cool car or a huge one punch knockout in a boxing match:

¡Óoooraleeee!
Wow!

You've really gotta drag it out to get the best effect.

It can also mean cool, great or fantastic.

Saqué un 100 en mi examen
¡Órale!

I gotta 100 on my exam
That's great !

You can use it for disbelief:

Estoy saliendo con Selma Hayak
Órale wey

I'm going out with Selma Hayak
Yeah right

It's perfect for when someone surprises you with news you weren't expecting.

Mi novia esta embarazada
Órale wey! ¿Neta?

My girlfriend is pregnant
Seriously dude! Really?

And lastly you can use as with the intention of "please, come on"

Papa, préstame el coche, órale 
Dad, let me use the car, come on

As you can see there a number of ways to use órale.  It's meaning changes based on context and more importantly your tone of voice.  By the way, órale, wey and neta is very informal Spanish.  And just so you know, the correct spelling of wey is güey, but you'll probably see wey written far more than the correct spelling.

While I'm on the topic of Mexican Spanish, many people ask me "where did you learn all this stuff?"  Well, it's time to share my secrets.

OK, I'm busted.  The truth is I don't have any secrets.  Most of my knowledge of Mexican slang and colloquialisms come from partying hard in the bars and streets of Mexico, from talking with my local Mexican friends and my old tutor.  But I did have some extra help along the way from some pretty good books.

All of the books below are about Mexican Spanish and have been pretty useful.  I own them all.  In fact, I have a ton books about learning Spanish, it's an addiction.   Anyway, let's get on with it.

Speaking Spanish Like a Native is really a great book, it's one of my favorites even though it took me a long to realize it.  It talks about greetings, goodbyes, partying, swearing, and all sorts of Spanish for situations you'll need that you probably haven't even thought of yet, like to refresh your memory, to put someone to the test, to be sick of, fed up, kill the mood, be in the same boat, and way too many others to mention.  And the good news a lot of this stuff is actually fairly neutral Spanish you can use with anyone.

Spanish Lingo for the Savvy Gringo is another book dedicated to Mexican Spanish.  And again, even though it targets Mexican Spanish, a lot of it is pretty neutral.  It covers a variety of topics you don't see in other books like groceries, seafood, cooking, housing, housework, driving, the mechanic and a ton more, so if you're an ex-pat in Mexico this book may be what the doctor ordered.

Mexican Slang plus Grafiti.  This book stands out in my mind for several reasons.  Right now the number one reason is because I know I bought it and I can't find it.  That makes me angry, but that's not your problem.  The other reason is because it's also a very good book.  With chapters like sex, drugs, rock and roll and party time, how can it not be a good book?



Any one or all of those books will help you impress your friends and make you sound like you were born Mexican.  I've rambled on long enough, but I'll leave you with one more place you can go to learn Spanish in general, as well as Mexican Spanish.

SpanishPod101.com - Learn Spanish with Free Podcasts

I've rambled on enough, so I'll let you click on the link and check it out.  And yes, the podcasts are free, there's no catch involved.  I download them all the time and they help a lot.  It's good stuff.   But like any business, they are out to make a buck.  The podcasts are free, but PDF transcripts are not.  I will say the price is reasonable (maybe $60/yr for a basic subscription) and you get access to a huge library of Spanish lessons that have been built up over several years.  I've been a long time user and customer of that site.  What I find most impressive is it's the only site I've seen that has lessons on regional Spanish...Spain, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru and even Argentina.

Órale pues, this has gone on too long.  Go try out what you just learned with your friends and have fun.

¡Hasta la próxima!