Spanish · Joy & Hell-Yes
De poca madre
deh POH-kah MAH-dreh · /de ˈpo.ka ˈma.ðɾe/
Freaking awesome / the best
3/5 Watch your audience
genuinely rude; friends only, never at work
Literally
"Of little mother"
Word-for-word — which is rarely what it means.
How to use it
A perfect lesson in Mexican "madre" logic: "madre" is worthless, so having "little mother" means it's off the charts good. "Está de poca madre" = it's fantastic. Watch the flip side though — "me vale madre" (it's worth mother to me) means "I couldn't care less." Same word, opposite poles, all about the phrase around it. Mildly vulgar.
Heard in the wild
El concierto estuvo de poca madre.
The concert was freaking awesome.
Where it lands
Mexico (universal)
Quick answers
- What does "De poca madre" mean?
- In Spanish, "De poca madre" means "Freaking awesome / the best". Literally it's "Of little mother". A perfect lesson in Mexican "madre" logic: "madre" is worthless, so having "little mother" means it's off the charts good. "Está de poca madre" = it's fantastic. Watch the flip side though — "me vale madre" (it's worth mother to me) means "I couldn't care less." Same word, opposite poles, all about the phrase around it. Mildly vulgar.
- Is "De poca madre" offensive?
- It's genuinely rude — a 3/5 (Watch your audience) on the Punch-o-Meter. Fine among friends, never at work or with people you've just met.
- How do you pronounce "De poca madre"?
- Say it "deh POH-kah MAH-dreh" — capitals mark the stressed syllable. In IPA: de ˈpo.ka ˈma.ðɾe.
Related in Spanish
The same idea, elsewhere
Via concepts like "That's awesome".
- French Ça déchire ! That rocks! / That's awesome!
- German Geil! Awesome! / Sick! / Hell yes!
- Greek ρε μαλάκα Hey man / dude / bro — the affectionate-insult greeting between friends.
- Italian Figo! Cool! / Awesome! / Sick!
- Japanese やばい Insane / crazy / no way — good OR bad, from context
- Korean 존나 Fucking / hella — the vulgar intensifier that goes in front of everything.
- Polish zajebisty Fucking awesome / badass — the great slang-POSITIVE of the jebać family.
- Portuguese Do caralho Fucking awesome — OR, with 'casa do', the middle of nowhere
Reviewed by native speakers. Rate it differently? Tell us what we got wrong.