Medellín, Columbia Street Slang

I just finished the 78th and final episode of “Lady, la Vendedora de Rosas”.  This show came on at the same time and station as my previous telenovela (Rosario Tijeras – IMDB rating 6.4).  The title “Lady, la Vendedora de Rosas” sounded stupid and I couldn’t imagine it would be any good. For the hell of it, I checked its rating on IMDB.  It got an 8.9 rating.  Telenovelas hardly ever get ratings that high.   It is currently being aired on UniMás – Univisión and is also available on Netflix. This is an excellent Telenovela.  I got hooked on it right away and binged the series on Netflix.   This was the same thing that happened to me with “The Walking Dead”.  It sounded stupid but had sky-high ratings.  I checked it out and found out why they were so high.  The child actors in “Lady, la Vendedora de Rosas” are incredibly good.

The Telenovela takes place in the ghettos of Medellín, Columbia.  Knowledge of “standard” or “regular” Spanish will not suffice if you wish to follow the Spanish soundtrack.  (You do have the option of turning on subtitles in either English or Spanish).  To aid those wanting to familiarize themselves with the street slang I compiled a list of slang words and phrases.  The list is not complete, but if you learn it, you will be able to understand what is being said.  Without it, you will swear they are speaking some language other than Spanish.

It seems that lately, half the books I read end up taking place, partly or fully in Medellín, Columbia.  Prior to recently, I had never heard of it.

 

Parce, Parcero, Parcera: buddy, pal, friend, dude

Tomba:  death

¡Qué más?: What’s up? How’s it going?

Man:  guy, dude

Vieja:  woman between 15 and 50 years  (In regular Spanish it means “old woman”).

Bacano / Chévere: cool, really good, nice

Rumbear:  to party

Parche: A group of friends getting together to do something.

Desparchado: Without a parche to get involved with.

Guaro:  A popular alcoholic drink.

Harto:  a lot of, a ton of

Vaina: stuff, thing

¡De una!: yes absolutely, yes let’s do that

Arrecharse: to be horny

¿Qué hubo?   or  Quíubo: What’s up?

¡Qué oso!: How shameful!, To make a fool out of oneself.

Sapo: gossipy, snoop

Mamera: annoyance, laziness

Dar papaya: lowering your guard, being imprudent, making yourself an easy target

Bobo: silly, fool

Verraca: fantastic, incredible, stupendous, courageous

Chimba: cunt

Chimbear: to con

Linchar: to lynch

Candela: fire

A lo bien: Seriously?, Really?

Culicagao: Shitty ass.

No me mames gallo: No, you’re pulling my leg.

Deli: delicious

Listo: Ok

Tenaz: difficult, challenging

Tinto: a small cup of black coffee

¿Qué has hecho?: What have you been up to?

Todo bién: Everything is fine. All’s good.  (They really overuse this expression)

Qué pena: Sorry, Excuse me.

Me prestas el baño, por favor: May I use the bathroom, please.

Me regalas: Used when purchasing something or asking to borrow something for just a moment.

La Mañanita: Very early in the morning.

La plata: money

Huevón: lazy or stupid person.  (can be inoffensive between friends)

Marica: gay, sissy, pansy. (can be inoffensive between friends)

Gonorrea: something unpleasant, sucks, disgusting

Carechimba: asshole (literally it means vagina face)  (can be inoffensive between friends)

Vos=Tú

Mono: Nickname for a person with blonde or light colored hair.