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Argentine
Spanish Slang Dictionary
Legend
[m] = masculine noun, [f] = feminine noun
[v] = verb, [i] = intransitive, [t] = transitive, [ps-ref]
= intransitive pseudo-reflexive
[adj] = adjective, [adv] = adverb, [interj] = interjection
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letter:
A to C / from D toL
/ from M to Z
macana [f]
1 a bad thing to happen, an inconvenience, a pity (quite standard
and accepted by now); 2 a bad thing that has been done, a
screwup, a mistake (esp. in the phrase mandarse una macana).
macanudo/a [adj, interj] (nothing
to do with macana) very good (esp. a deal, an arrangement),
nice and friendly, open (a person).
mango [m] 1 fig. a unit of currency,
esp. in the phrase No tener un mango 'Not have a (single)
mango'. Etymology uncertain, probably related to the fruit
of the same name (though not widely known in Argentina at
present). 2 [fixed phrase] al mango (of a machine, a domestic
appliance, a car, a recorder) at the maximum possible setting
(at full speed, at full volume, etc.); saturated, at the most,
al palo.
ma' qué [interj?] [not polite]
surely a rapid speech-form of mas, ¿qué...?
'but, what...?'. Difficult to explain except with an example:
--Fuimos al shopping y... --¡Ma' qué shopping,
si es un supermercado grande! '--We went to the mall and...
--What mall? It's a big supermarket!'. Note: if you can explain
this better, tell me! This phrase is plain Italian, though
its usage is somewhat different.
metejón [m] a passion for
an object, person or issue; a strong yearning. From meterse
'to get oneself into [a place]' = 'to fall hopelessly in love'.
Used as tener un metejón con 'to have a yearning with
= for'.
meter [vt] [fixed phrase] meter la
pata 'to get one's leg in', to do something stupid, to make
a mistake, to manage a situation badly. Can be completed with
hasta el fondo 'down to the bottom' for emphasis.
micro [m] in Buenos Aires, a bus;
in Rosario, a short distance, urban bus, and only if mentioned
in the media (the usual word is colectivo or, less commonly,
ómnibus).
milico/a [m, f][slightly derogatory]
a member of the millitary. From the beginning of militar 'millitary
person' and the seemingly despising suffix -(i)c-.
mina [f] [Lunfardo] a girl, a woman.
Mainstream, standard colloquial way of referring to a female
from her teens on. Not rude, but not accepted in formal speech
either. Cf Castilian Spanish tía.
minga [interj] [rather uneducated]
of course not! ... Y si me pide otro favor más, ¡minga!
'... And if he/she asks for any other favor, (I'll tell him/her)
of course not!'.
mishadura [f] [Lunfardo, probably
from miseria 'bad economic situation' and dura 'hard'] bad
economic situation, esp. when generalized to the whole country;
economic crisis, recession, lack of opportunities for employment
and trade.
morfar [v] to eat. From the same
root: morfi [n] food, something to eat, a meal.
mufa 1 [f] bad luck, esp. in games
and gambling; 2 [m, f, uncountable, no article] a person who
brings bad luck, a jinx. (Argentine ex-president Carlos Menem
was said to be mufa; whenever he shook hands with an Argentine
tennis player or went to see a football match of a favourite
team, they lost.)
ñaupa [Quechua ñawpa,
'before'? 'ago'?] used only in the fixed phrase el tiempo
de ñaupa: long ago, in a long-gone (maybe legendary)
past, esp. in humoristic exaggeration.
orto [m] [taboo] 1 lit. ass, butt,
butthole; 2 good luck, esp. in games. Same as culo in both
senses, though this is more of a taboo word.
palo [m] 1 an amount of one million
items (esp. one million pesos, or whatever currency unit is
in vigour); see also gamba, luca. 2 lit. (a blow given with)
a stick; a critique, esp. when strong and/or in public; related
to 3 a barely concealed suggestion, an insidious hint, esp.
when talking of sentimental business; an act (of seduction)
at a particular person so that s/he cannot fail to catch it
(this is called tirar un palo 'to throw a stick [blow]');
4 in card games, a suite; fig. a group of similar people,
only in the phrase ser del mismo palo (que) [usually derogatory]
'to be of the same kind (as)'.
pancho [m] a hot dog, Argentine style.
Often sold in street stands (carritos), with varying degrees
of hygiene. Young people flock to these stands to buy panchos
or superpanchos after dancing at discos.
pantallazo [m] a general explanation,
a brief display of a subject. The root pantalla means 'screen'.
pata [f] 1 lit. (animal) leg; [colloquial,
not rude] a person's leg; a pata on foot; en patas barefoot;
por debajo de las patas ('under one's legs') fig. swiftly,
without one having the chance to notice (esp. in the context
of spending money); 2 support, help, esp. from a friend. The
typical context involves waiting (and covering for) someone
else (hacer pata, cf gamba, aguante); 3 [phrase] meter pata
(usually imperative) (in a car) drive faster (get one's foot
into the accelerator), fig. hurry up, speed things up. Not
to be confused with meter la pata (see meter).
patota [f] a group of violent people,
esp. any group of young mobbers (patoteros) who bother people
in the street, threatens them and/or rob them, or a group
of fans of a football team before or after a match, etc. In
general, a derogatory expression for any group of people that
tries to achieve things by violent methods and using the force
of number, but without any visible structure. There's also
the media-coined fused compound patrioterismo, from patriotismo
'patriotism' and patoterismo, meaning violent nationalism,
populistic right-wing tendencies, etc.
patovica [m] a person who guards
the access to discos, clubs, etc., and/or are in charge of
taking drunkards and discriminated minorities out; often associated
with gym-trained, medication-enhanced muscular types.
pendejo/a 1 [m, f, adj] [rude, but
not insulting] child, kid, boy/girl; [usually appreciative]
(someone who looks like) a young person; [derogatory] childish,
improper for an adult person, esp. used of something made
out of whim and arbitrariness (pendejada [n]); 2 [m] [generally
only used among boys, very rude] a pubic hair. (Note well,
the first meaning is not an insulting term of address as in
Mexican Spanish.)
petiso/a [adj] [colloquial, usually
non-derogatory] short, of small stature. Used also as a noun
and an addressing term.
pibe/a [m, f] kid, child, boy/girl,
youngster. (Sounds a bit rude for girls.)
pifiar [v] to fail, to have a bad
shot, to throw something and miss the target. (This word is
not really only Argentine slang; it's well known in the mainstream,
and I know that at least RPGers in Spain use it for the same
thing as we do -- e. g. what you get in MERP when you throw
a low number in the dice and your weapon does something weird...,
that is, a pifia [f]). In general, a failure or mistake of
any kind.
pila [f] lit. a battery; energy,
disposition for work, awareness of things to do; usually in
the phrase ponerse las pilas 'to put some batteries on': to
assume responsibility and start to work; to take charge of
one's situation; to get up, think carefully and do what is
expected. Lately also found as ponerse media pila 'to put
on half a battery' (ironical).
pinturita [f] lit. 'little picture';
una pinturita [fixed phrase] perfect, sharp, 'squeaky clean';
in very fine condition.
piquetero/a [m, f] [colloquial at
first, now mainstream] a person (generally unemployed or sub-employed)
that participates in piquetes to protest his/her condition.
A piquete is a gathering of such people, usually blocking
some important way and demonstrating, noisily and sometimes
violently. Piquete is a mainstream Spanish word; piquetero
was coined (by the media?) when the economic crisis reached
new depths during Carlos Menem's second period (1995-1999).
At this time unemployment became a symptom of social breakdown,
and piqueteros started blocking, not entrances to factories
or government buildings, but national highways, sometimes
attacking passing drivers. During the last four years or so,
the piqueteros have become a social movement and (for some)
acquired darker features, such as the appearance of charismatic
leaders with inflammatory speech and extreme ideological biases.
There are so many unemployed people in Argentina that the
unemployed have become unionized! Piquetero was a neologism
at first (used in quotes); now the media have incorporated
the word as part of their common vocabulary.
pirulo [m] [colloquial] a year (used
only as a unit for people's age).
podrido/a [adj] lit. rotten; podrido
de tired of; podrido en full of, up to one's ears in (something
good, usually money).
ponja [m/f, adj] Japanese (thing,
person, language). From syllable inversion of Japón
'Japan'.
porro [m] a marihuana joint.
porrón [m] a bottle of beer,
and its contents. Originally a special kind of container for
liquids, now applied to beer only, though the bottles are
not really different.
posta 1 [f] a piece of news, esp.
gossip; hearsay or a prediction that the speaker assures to
be true and from a trustable source; 2 [interj] (esp. repeated)
this is sure, I'm sure. Example: Te tiro una posta: esta yegua
hoy gana 'I'll drop you a hint/I assure you: this mare will
win today' (at the races, obviously). See fija. --¿En
serio? --¡Posta posta! '--Really? --Damn sure!'.
quichicientos [numeral] (ficticious
number) large number, a lot, a gazillion.
quilombo [m] [rudish]: (from an African
language?, kimbundu 'bungalow') 1 [old-fashioned, rare] brothel,
whorehouse; 2 (a) mess, scandal, terrible noise, disorder.
A messed-up place or a complicated situation is said to be
enquilombado/a.
rajar [vi] and more usually rajarse
[ps-ref] to leave, esp. hastily; to flee, to escape esp. when
a complicated problem is approaching; [derog] to leave abandoning
someone, to escape like a rat.
rata [f] lit. 'rat'. Same meaning
as chupina [becoming rare], skipping school.
raspando [adv] lit. scratching (a
surface); barely, by one hair's breadth, just enough.
rebotar [v] lit. to bounce, to bounce
off; 1 [t] to reject, to return, to give back for review (for
example, Me rebotaron el pedido de crédito 'They rejected
my credit application'); [i] to bounce, to be rejected, to
be returned (El cheque rebotó 'The check was bounced');
2 [i] to be rejected by somebody one has sexually advanced
on.
reverendo [adj] used as an emphatic
mark esp. in insults, as in reverendo hijo de..., more or
less 'you big fat son of a...'. Probably because it sounds
like a title, it lends importance to the rest of the phrase.
romper [vi] lit. 'to break' (which
is supposed to be transitive); used as intransitive, it means
'to annoy, to bother', as an euphemism to the complete expressions
romper las pelotas or romper las bolas 'to break (someone's)
balls' (= testicles). Used by women, too!
ruso/a [m, f, adj] Jewish; a Jew;
someone with a common Jewish surname or presumed Jewish descent;
lit. Russian (most Jewish immigrants came from Russia?)
sanata [f] long speech, long text,
boring lecture about things that are made to look important
and deserving a lot of words. Similar to bolazo. Used by students
about dense texts they have to read, and the things they write
in exams when they don't know what to write but need to fill
some space. Derivatives: sanatear [vi], sanatero/a [m, f]
performer of sanata. Cf guitarrear.
sarparse [ps-ref vi] probably syllable
inversion of pasarse; (an action) to go beyond the limits,
go too far, say or do improper or too much things for the
occasion. For example ¿Sabés que tu hermana
está re-buena? -- ¡No te sarpés! 'Your
sister's really hot, you know! -- Don't go too far!'.
sobrar [vt] in standard usage, intransitive,
'to be left over, to be more than enough, to be innecesary';
in slang, used with a personal direct object: to make fun
of someone while pointing out the superiority of the speaker
in some matter; to speak contemptuously or mockingly to someone
as if they were of lesser value. One who does this is a sobrador.
sota [f] the ten card in a Spanish
deck; used figuratively in the phrase caérsele una
sota (a uno) 'to drop a ten-spot', meaning 'to lie grossly
about one's age'.
sota [m] [fixed phrase] hacerse el
sota 'to hide oneself, to make oneself unnoticed, to pretend
one's got nothing to do with things'.
tano/a [m, f, adj] Italian (thing,
person; not the language).
timba [f] the institution and concept
of betting on the lottery or gambling in general. Derived
verb timbear [vi] to bet, esp. often or regularly.
tocado [adj] lit. 'touched' in the
sense of 'slightly crazy'; a bit drunk.
tomárselas [ps-ref v + -las
'them (fem.)']: lit. (oneself) to take them; to go away, to
leave; to run away, to flee. Probably from tomar(se) las de
Villadiego (I don't know the origin of this, but it probably
means 'to take the ones (roads?) to Villadiego'). For example:
Me las tomo 'I'm leaving', Tomátelas de acá
'Get out of here' (not kidding), Se las tomaron hace rato
'They went away long ago'.
toque [n] [fixed phrase] al toque
'instantly, in just a moment, immediately, almost simultaneously'.
Generally used of past events: Llegó y al toque la
vio 'He came and right at that moment he saw her'. Also un
toque (just) a moment, (just) a bit; for example, Bancáme
un toque 'Wait a sec'.
tordo/a [m, f] doctor (from syllable
inversion of dotor, the uneducated pronunciation of doctor
'(medical) doctor'. The feminine torda is analogical.
truchada [f] something that is or
has been made trucho; a fake, a bad-quality forge.
trucho/a [m, f, adj] fake, phony,
made up, false, artificial, ersatz, forged; (of software,
CDs, DVDs, etc.) pirated; (of people) a scammer, a quack.
tubazo [m] lit. a hit with a tube
or pipe; a phone call (from one of the senses of tubo 'phone
speaker'; the action is pegar un tubazo.
tubo [m] lit. 'tube, pipe', and also
the body of a telephone speaker; 1 a bottle of wine; 2 (generally
pl.) a muscular arm, an arm with well-developed biceps and
triceps; 3 como por un tubo [fixed phrase] 'as if through
a pipe', fig. massively and swiftly, in great amounts and
uncontrolled, for example: Este mes se me fue la plata como
por un tubo 'This month my money went away as if through a
pipe'.
turco/a [m, f, adj] Arabian (thing,
person); lit. Turkish. Often applied as an addressing form
and nickname to people with an Arabian surname or presumed
descent (notably, for a while, former president Carlos Saúl
Menem).
turro/a [m, f] [rude] (general expletive)
a bad, evil, obnoxious, or deceiving person. Originally meaning,
and probably originated in, perra 'bitch' (first applied to
women, then also to men). The suffix -rro, -rra seems to be
derogatory in many words (like curro).
vaquita [f] lit. little cow; the
action and result of collecting money (hacer una vaquita)
among friends, workmates, etc., esp. in small amounts, to
buy something that the group or one of its members needs.
The non-diminutive basic form vaca is also used.
yapa [f] a free addition;
de yapa for free, together with another item (also used figuratively).
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