Category: Language

Funny Word: Cuchibarbi Sounds like: Coo-Thchee-barh-bee Means: A woman of a certain age who dolls herself up (like a Barbie doll) Example: Esa vieja parece una cuchibarbi! (that woman looks like an old Barbie!) Origins: From cucha or older lady and the Mattel toy. […]

Word: Parche Sounds like: Pahr-tcheh Means: A gathering of friends Example: Hacemos un parche esta noche, amigos! (Let’s get together tonight, friends!) Also can be used as a verb: parchar The above is copyrighted material. Republishing all or any part of it […]

Expression: El vivo vive del bobo y el bobo de su bobada Sounds like: Ell bee-boh bee-beh del boh-boh ee ell boh-boh deh soo boh-bah-dah Means “The swindler lives off the dummy, and the dummy off his stupidity” This popular expression has […]

WORD: CHIVIAO (FEM: CHIVIADA) Sounds like: tchee-vee-ah-oh/dah The real word is chiviado/a, and it means fake, counterfeit or phony. Example: Eres un paisa chiviao! (I was told this today when I joked that I’m a paisa — all in good humor!) The expression could be […]

WORD: CONCHUDO/A Sounds like con-tchoo-dough/dah May be derived from the word “concha” which means shell. In its Colombian meaning, it’s used to describe a person who is taking advantage of a situation and not in a good way / A freeloader. Atrevido/a, aprovechado/a, descarrao/a might be synonyms. For […]

WORD: MECATO Sounds like Meh-cah-toe Mecato is another of those peculiar words you’ll hear mostly Paisas use. It means “snacks”. Candy bars, potato chips, etc. The processed and junk food kind! Example: “Comes mucho mecato, vas a engordar” – You eat a lot of snacks, you’ll […]

WAYS TO SAY “AWESOME” Chévere : Sounds like tchEH-veh-reh : Same as in Venezuela Bacano : Sounds like bah-cah-no Súper : Sounds like SOO-pair. Can also be used in a super-superlative like “super chevere” Genial : Sounds like hey-knee-al. Note: There’s a raspy G at the beginning, but that sound doesn’t exist in English! […]

EXPRESSION: PÁRAME BOLAS Sounds like PA-ra-meh bowl-ass Means listen to me / pay attention to me, although the actual words mean “stop my balls” There’s variations on this expression in various parts of Latin America, but the above version is the most used here.

WORD: GUACHE Sounds like Goo-ah-tcheh Means vulgar / crude. Example: El es tan guache (he’s so vulgar) Synonyms might be grosero, rudo If someone asks you “guache is your name?” they’re having fun at your expense!!

WORD: DESCARAO/DA Sounds like: Dess-cah-rah-oh/dah Example: Que descarao! You’ll hear this a lot. The real word is descarado, meaning a shameless person, but as with many words ending in do, the tendency, especially in Antioquia, is to not pronounce the D. It can also be […]