Spanish · 11 phrases
The Basics
The first-hour survival kit. These aren't the shocking ones — they're the words that make you sound like you belong: the "no manches" of mild disbelief, the "órale" you can throw at anything, the "güey" that punctuates every Mexican sentence. Master these ten and you've stopped sounding like a textbook. Most are clean enough for anyone; a couple lean coarse, and we flag which.
¡Aguas! AH-gwahs Watch out! / Careful! / Heads up! Chido CHEE-doh Cool / awesome / great ¿Neta? NEH-tah For real? / Seriously? — or as a statement, 'the honest truth' No hay bronca noh eye BRONE-kah No problem / no worries ¡Órale! OH-rah-leh Alright! / Wow! / Let's go! / Get on with it! ¿Qué onda? keh OWN-dah What's up? / What's the vibe? Sale SAH-leh OK! / Deal! / Sounds good Güey GWEY (rhymes with 'way') Dude / man (filler); also 'idiot' when aimed ¡No manches! noh MAHN-chess No way! / Come on! (the polite twin of no mames) ¿Qué pedo? keh PEH-doh What's up? / what's the deal? / what's your problem? ¡No mames! noh MAH-mess No way! / You've got to be kidding me!