Top 100 Colombian Slang Words
Colombia is known for having a very clear dialect of the Spanish language, therefore, it’s a very attractive country for those who want to learn Spanish. However, each region has a different accent and slang so it can be quite a challenge.
Even for those who speak Spanish, it can be a bit confusing, since despite being the same language there are words that have a different meaning in countries like Chile, Mexico, or Peru.
If you want to speak Spanish like a native, take a look at the following slangs and put them into practice!
1. A la Orden
Slang meaning: at your service
It’s a question before the service. A la orden, ¿cómo puedo ayudarlo? – How can I help you?
It’s an exclamation after the service. ¡Gracias por venir, a la orden! Thanks for coming, at your service
2. Abrase!
Literal meaning: to open up
Slang meaning: to leave, scatter, get out
¡Abrasé! — Get out!
3. Amañado / Amañada
Literal meaning: fixed, rigged
Slang meaning: cozy, comfortable (enjoying a situation)
Estoy muy amañada en mi nueva casa – I’m really enjoying my new house
4. Arrecho / Arrecha
Slang meaning: to be horny
Estoy muy arrecho, no he tenido sexo en mucho tiempo – I’m so horny, I’ve not had sex in a long time
5. Bacano / Bacana
Slang meaning: nice
Compraste un carro nuevo, que bacano – You got a new car, that’s nice
6. Berraco / Berraca
It can either be a negative or positive remark.
Slang meaning: obstinate, brave,
Salió sin mi permiso, ¡qué berraca! – She went out without my permission, she’s an obstinate
Tuvo el ascenso en su trabajo, ¡qué berraca! – She got the promotion in her job, she is so good!
7. Cachivaches
Slang meaning: junk, trash
Tengo muchos cachivaches en mi habitación, necesito limpiarla – I have a lot of trash in my bedroom, I need to clean it up
8. Caer
Literal meaning: to fall
Slang meaning: to flirt
Ve y coqueteas con ese chico – Go and flirt with that guy
9. Camello
Literal meaning: camel
Slang meaning: job
Este camello me cansa – That job tires me
10. Canson / Cansona
Slang meaning: annoying, pain in the butt
Ese niño es muy cansón – that boy is so annoying
11. Cantaleta
Literal meaning: whinning
Slang meaning: complain about a situation and give many explanations
Mamá por favor, ya deja la cantaleta – Mom please, stop to complain about it
12. Cascar
Slang meaning: to hit, to smack, to give a whooping
No le vayas a cascar al niño – Don’t hit the child
13. Charro
Slang meaning: too bad
Que charro que terminó contigo antes de San Valentin – Too bad, he broke up with you before Saint Valentine
14. Chevere
Literal meaning: Great, fantastic
Slang meaning: Awesome
Te dieron el trabajo, ¡que chévere! – You got the job, that’s awesome!
15. Chicanear / Chicanero / Chicanera
Slang meaning: vain, stuck up, smug
Míralo es un chicanero con su nuevo carro – Look at him, he is so vain with his new car
16. Chichi
Slang meaning: to urinate, pee
Necesito hacer chichi – I need to go pee
17. Chimba / Chimbo
This word can be used either be a negative or positive remark.
Literal meaning: Homemade gun
Slang meaning: Cool / Fake
¡Qué chimba! — That’s cool or awesome
Me estafaron el anillo compre salio chimbo – They ripped me off the ring that I bought a ring is fake
18. Chino / China
Literal meaning: Chinese
Slang meaning: child
Mis chinos siempre se portan mal en el colegio – My kids are always misbehaving at the school
19. Chiviado / Chiviada
Slang meaning: fake
Ese reloj es chiviado – That watch is fake
20. Chucha
Slang meaning: bad B.O
El no usa desodorante y tiene mucha chucha – He doesn’t use deodorant so he has bad B.O
21. Churrias
Slang meaning: diarrhea
Tengo churrias – I have diarrhea
22. Chuspa
Slang meaning: plastic bag
Me regala una chuspa de leche – Could you give me a milk bag?
23. Chuspa
Slang meaning: jerk
No seas conchudo y consigue un trabajo – Don’t be a jerk and get a job
24. Cuadremos
Literal meaning: to square up
Slang meaning: to schedule, to plan
Cuandremos una reunión para mañana – L et’s plan a meeting for tomorrow
25. Cucho / Cucha
Slang meaning: cucha (mom) / cucho (dad) or an old person
María no salgas con él, está bien cucho – María you should not date him, he is too old for you
26. Culicagado / Culicagada
Slang meaning: youngster
Mi amiga Martha tiene 40 años y su novio tiene 22 años, ¡es un culicagado para ella! My friend Martha is 40 years old and her boyfriend is 22 years old, he is youngster!
27. Dar Papaya
Papaya is a South American fruit. The slang means take care of your personal stuff. Don’t be an easy target for thieves.
Literal meaning: to give papaya
Slang meaning: to ask for it
Salió en la noche solo y le robaron el cedular, dio papaya. – He went out alone last night and the thieves robbed his cellphone, he asked for it.
28. ¡De Una!
Slang meaning: yes, absolutely! Yes, let’s do it!
¿Vamos a rumbear este viernes? Si, ¡De una! – Would you like to go out this Friday? Yes, absolutely!
29. Desparchado / Desparchada
Slang meaning: bored, doing anything
Estoy desparchado – I’m doing anything
30. El Parche
Literal meaning: the patch
Slang meaning: the crew, the homies
Me voy de fiesta con mi parche – I’m going to the party with my crew
31. Embarrar
Literal meaning: smear
Slang meaning: to mess up, ruin
¡Yo la embarré! – I messed it up!
32. Emberracarse
Slang meaning: to be miffed
Me emberraqué con él, es un mentiroso – I’m miffed with him, he is a liar
33. ¡Estar Moscas!
Literal meaning: to be flies
Slang meaning: be alert!
Tenemos que estar moscas, es un barrio muy peligroso – We must be alert, it’s a dangerous neighborhood
34. Estar Prendido / Estar Prendida
Literal meaning: to be lit
Slang meaning: to be buzzed
No quiero tomar más guaro, ya estoy prendida – I don’t want to drink more aguardiente, I’m buzzed
35. Estar Tragado / Estar Tragada
Literal meaning: to be swallowed
Slang meaning: to be head over heels / in love
Samuel es muy lindo conmigo, estoy tragada – Samuel is wonderful with me, I’m in love
36. Foquiado / Foquiada
Slang meaning: passed out, knocked out
Anoche caí foquiada, estaba muy cansada – I passed out last night, I was so tired
37. ¡Fuchile!
Sland meaning: yuck!
¡Fuchile! Huele a orina de gato – Yuck, it smells cat urine
38. ¡Guacala!
Slang meaning: gross, ew!
¡Guácala! Tienes pecueca – Groos! You have stinky feet
39. Guaro
Slang meaning: aguardiente
El guaro es la bebida nacional, hecha de caña de azúcar y anís, se toma en pequeños tragos – Aguardiente is the national drink, made from sugar cane and anise, it’s taken in shots.
40. Guayabo
Literal meaning: A guava tree
Slang meaning: to be hangover
Anoche bebí demasiado, ¡tengo mucho guayabo! – I drank too much last night; I have a hangover!
41. Hacer una Vaca
Literal meaning: to make a cow
Slang meaning: to collect money
Hagamos una vaca para pagar el guaro – Everybody need to put some money to pay the aguardiente
42. Hacer una Vuelta
Slang meaning: do an errand / to have sex with someone
Yo creo que él me quiere hacer la vuelta – I think he wants to have sex with me
Mamá ya vengo, voy a hacer una vuelta – Mom I’ll right back, I’m going to do some errands
43. ¡Huevon!
Slang meaning: dummy!
¡No seas tan huevón! Don’t be a dummy
44. Jartar
Slang meaning: drink alcohol
Antonio hueles a alcohol, ¿estuviste jartando, otra vez? Antonio, you smell alcohol, were you drinking again?
45. Jincho / Jincha
Literal meaning: ignorant
Slang meaning: to be drunk
Ya estás todo jincho – You are already drunk
46. ¡Juepucha! / ¡Juemadre!
Slang meaning: Dang! Danm!
¡Juepucha! No le envié el informe a mi jefe – Dang! I didn’t send the report to my boss
47. Juicioso / Juiciosa
Slang meaning: well behaved
La niña es muy juiciosa en el colegio – The girl is well behaved at school
48. ¡La Cague!
Literal meaning: I poopet it
Slang meaning: I screwed up
¡La Cagué! No debí terminar mi relación con él, es el mejor hombre que he conocido – I screwed up! I shouldn’t have finished my relationship with him, he’s the greatest man I’ve ever met
49. La Olla
Literal meaning: the pot
Slang meaning: the slums
This is the Colombian way to talk about the slums, ghetto, drug-ridden neighborhoods, etc.
El centro de la ciudad solía ser una olla – The downtown of the city used to be a slum
50. Listo / Lista
Literal meaning: smart
Slang meaning: okey, to be ready
¿Ya estás listo? Tenemos que salir en 5 minutos – Are you ready? We’re leaving in 5 minutes
Ella es la más lista de su clase – She’s the smartest in her class
51. Loba
Literal meaning: wolf
Slang meaning: trashy, tacky
Mira esa mujer, que loba con ese vestido – look at that woman, so tacky with that dress
52. Los Tombos
Slang meaning: cops
¡Corran! Ahí vienen los tombos – Run! The cops are coming
53. Lucas
Slang meaning: Colombian pesos
Parcero, presteme 20 lucas – Dude lend me 20.000 Colombian pesos
54. Malparido / Malparida
Slang meaning: bastard
¡Es un malparido! La engañó con su mejor amiga – He is a bastard! he cheated on her with her best friend
55. Maluco / Maluca
Literal meaning: Malukan (Island)
Slang meaning: sick, bad taste
Me comí ese pescado y ahora me siento maluco – I ate fish and now I feel sick
56. Mamado / Mamada
Literal meaning: sucked
Slang meaning: tired, exhausted
¡Hoy trabaje hasta tarde, estoy mamada! – I worked until late today, I’m so tired!
57. Mamar Gallo
Literal meaning: suck a cock (suck a rooster)
Slang meaning: lollygag, waste the time
¡Deje de mamar gallo! – Stop lollygaging!
58. Marica
This word has different meanings depending on the context. It’s very popular among friends like dude or fella, or when someone is playing dumb. It’s also a rude way to call a homosexual.
Marica, vamos a cine en la tarde – Dude, let’s go to the movies this afternoon
Se está haciendo el marica, él fue quien hizo la broma – He is playing dumb, he did the joke
59. Me Regala
This slang is very common to buy stuff in small shops.
Literal meaning: gift
Slang meaning: to give, to sell
Vecino, me regala dos cervezas , por favor – Could you give two beers? please
60. Mecato
Slang meaning: snack
¿Qué trajiste de mecato? – What did you bring for snack?
61. Mi Llave / Llaveria / Llavero
Literal meaning: my key / key chain
Slang meaning: my good friend
El es mi llave – He’s my good friend
62. Michicato / Michicata
Slang meaning: stingy
El nunca paga la cuenta, es muy michicato – He never pays the check, he is stingy
63. ¡Miercoles!
Literal meaning: Wednesday
Slang meaning: Shit!
¡Miércoles! Olvidé llamarte – Shit! I forgot to call you back
64. Mono / Mona
Literal meaning: monkey
Slang meaning: light-skinned, fair-haired
Mami mira ese mono – Mom look at that light-skinned
65. Ñapa
Slang meaning: extra, bonus, for free
¿Qué me da de ñapa si como 10 aguacates? – What do you give me as an extra, if I buy 10 avocados?
66. Paila
Literal meaning: a frying pan
Slang meaning: too bad! Screwed, all out of something
Si tu amigo quiere salir a rumbear pero no tienes dinero puedes responder, no paila, no puedo – If you friend want to go out but you’re broke, you could say, that’s too bad! I can’t.
67. Parar Bolas
Literal meaning: to stand ball
Slang meaning: to give attention to, listen
¡No le pares bolas! – Ignore him!
68. Parcero / Parcera
Slang meaning: bro, dude, my man
Matias es mi parcero – Matias is my dude
69. Parchando
Slang meaning: chillin, hanging out
¿Qué haces? En la casa de mi amigo parchando – What are you doing? I’m at my friend’s house hanging out
70. Pecueca
Slang meaning: stinky feet, foot odor
Tienes pecueca – You have stinky feet
71. Pelado / Pelada
Slang meaning: young
Ella es una pelada para salir con él, él es muy viejo – She is so young to dating him, he is too old
72. Pelota
Literal meaning: ball
Slang meaning: idiot
¡Que pelota eres! – What an idiot you are!
73. Pieza
Literal meaning: piece
Slang meaning: bedroom
Hijo limpia tu pieza, por favor – Son clean up your bedroom, please
74. ¡Pilas!
Literal meaning: batteries
Slang meaning: keep your eyes peeled!
¡Pilas! Es un partido muy importante, debemos ganar para jugar la final – keep your eyes peeled! It’s an important match, we need to win to play the final game
75. Pillo
Slang meaning: bad behaved, rascal
Ese Mario es un pillo, deja de salir con el – Mario is a rascal, stop dating him
76. Plata
Literal meaning: silver
Slang meaning: money
Papá necesito plata – Daddy I need money
77. Pola
La Pola was the nickname of Policarpa Salavarrieta, a heroine and important character in Colombian independence from Spain. A Colombian Brewing named one of its beers as La Pola in her honor. The beer doesn’t exist anymore but Colombians still called beer as Pola.
Slang meaning: beer
¿Vamos a tomarnos unas polas? – Let’s go for some beers
78. ¡Que Berraquera!
Literal meaning: brave, gutsy (berraco)
Slang meaning: cool!
Cerraste el negocio tu solo ¡Que berraquera! – You closed the deal on your own, that’s cool!
79. ¡Que Gonorrea!
It can either be a negative or positive remark and it has multiple meaning depending on the context.
When something bad happens – ¡Qué Gonorrea!
When someone make something stupid, they call them Gonorrea
This a very common word but just used between friends.
80. Que Jartera
Slang meaning: exhausting, boring
Que jartera, no quiero ver más esa película – I’m bored, I don’t want to keep watching that movie
81. ¡Que Nota!
Literal meaning: It’s a note!
Slang meaning: it’s awesome!
Estuviste en Tailandia en tus vacationes, ¡que nota! – You were in Thailand for vacations, that’s aweome!
82. ¡Que Oso!
Literal meaning: what a bear!
Slang meaning: it’s making a fool of yourself
¡Qué oso! Se cayó en frente de toda la oficina – he made a fool of himself, he fell down in front of all the office
83. Que Pecado
Slang meaning: what a pity
Que pecado, lo despidieron antes de navidad – What a pity, he was fired just before Christmas
84. Quiubo (Que Hubo)
Slang meaning: what’s up? how’s it going?
Quiubo parcero – What’s up bro?
85. Rancho
Literal meaning: a farm
Slang meaning: home
Me voy pal’ rancho – I’m going home
86. Recochar / Recochero / Recochera
Slang meaning: to make jokes, amusing
Él es muy recochero – He’s amusing
87. Rumba
Slang meaning: the party itself
El viernes pasado me fui de rumba con mis amigos – Last Friday I went to party with my friends
88. Rumbear / Rumbiar
Literal meaning: wander
Slang meaning: to go out, to party
Vamos a rumbiar – Let’s go party
89. Sapo / Sapa
Literal meaning: frog
Slang meaning: snitch, rat, a person who can’t keep a secret
Porque le dijiste a mamá, ¡Eres una sapa! – Why you told mom, you are such a snitch!
90. Sardino / Sardina
Literal meaning: sardine
Slang meaning: young man, young woman
El nuevo colega es un sardino – The new coworker is a young man
91. Sumerce
It’s a pronoun derived from from the Iberian your mercy (su merced)
Sumerce, puede ayudarme a encontrar esta direccion – Could you help me to find this address
92. Te Caigo
Literal meaning: to fall
Slang meaning: to stop by, drop by
Yo te caigo en tu casa en la tarde – I’ll stop by at your house in the afternoon
93. Tener Buena Pinta
Literal meaning – to have a good paint
Slang meaning – to be good-looking, handsome
Mira ese hombre, tiene Buena pinta – Look at this guy, he is very handsome
94. Tinto
Literal meaning: red (wine)
Slang meaning: dark coffee
Me gustaría un tinto, por favor – I would like a black coffee, please
95. Toque
Literal meaning: touch
Slang meaning: a concert, a band
Vamos al toque de Andrés el jueves en la noche – Let’s go to Andres’ concert on Thursday night
96. Un Catorce
Literal meaning: a fourteen
Slang meaning: a favor
Hágame un catorce – Do me a favor
97. Un Chorro
Literal meaning: a stream
Slang meaning: a swig (of alcohol)
Dame un chorro de ron – Give a swig of rum
98. Vaina
This is used to describe something if you don’t know what it is.
Literal meaning: a sheath (a case)
Slang meaning: thing
Pásame esa vaina que esta sobre la mesa – Give me that thing which is on the table
99. Vecino / Vecina
Colombians usually call “vecino” the informal, street and small shops seller.
Literal meaning: neighbor
Slang meaning: seller
Vecino me regala una gaseosa – Could you sell me a soda?
100. Zunga
Slang meaning: a woman who is “easy”
No se si deberías salir con ella, dicen que es una zunga – I’m not sure if you should date her, they say she’s easy
