Mexican Spanish Slang Phrases to Help You Sound Like a Local

Learning Mexican Spanish slang phrases is a great way to prepare yourself for a trip to Mexico to both better understand the people and the culture. Once you know how words and phrases like “órale” are used, you’ll be one step closer to sounding like a Mexican, or at least closer to impressing the locals with some vocabulary they aren’t expecting you to have.

In this video you’ll learn how to use órale, ahorita, chido, hueva, chafa, me cae gordo, fresa, and many other super Mexican words and phrases.

¡Órale! = Wow! / Hurry up! / Alright! / Yes / Ok…

¡Órale! Me gustan tus zapatos. = Wow! I really like your shoes.
¿Quieres ir al cine? -Órale = Do you want to go to the movies? – Ok / Lets go

Ahorita = Right now / In a little while / At one’s earliest convenience / Soon / Tomorrow / A passive aggressive ‘no.’ ¿Puedes arreglar la luz por favor? -Ahorita. = Can you please fix the light? -In a little while / Soon / Tomorrow…

¡Qué padre! = How cool!
¡Mira ese coche! ¡Qué padre! = Look at that car! How cool!
¿Has estado en Guanajuato? -Sí, está muy padre. = Have you been in Guanajuato before? – Yeah, it’s very cool.

¿Qué onda? = What’s up?

Hueva (Tener hueva / Echar la hueva / Qué hueva) = Being lazy / To hang around doing nothing / How boring
No quiero salir, solo quiero echar la hueva. = I don’t want to go out, I just want to be lazy. No quiero ir a ese evento, ¡qué hueva! = I don’t want to go to that event, how boring!

¡Aguas! = Watch out! / Heads-up! / Careful!

Chafa = Low quality / cheap / Bad
¿viste la película anoche? -Sí, pero estuvo chafa. = Did you watch the movie last night? Yeah, but it was bad.

Chido / Qué chido = Cool / How cool. Can also be used to answer or agree with someone. Nos vemos al rato. -Chido = See you later. -Cool

El mal del puerco = The curse of the pig
Tengo el mal del puerco = I have the curse of the pig. / I’m very full.

Caer gordo = Not standing someone or something.
Jaime, tú eres amigo de Juan, ¿verdad? -¡No! Me cae gordo. = Jaime, you’re friends with Juan, right? -No! I can’t stand him.
Algo que me cae gordo es que la gente coma con la boca abierta. = Something I can’t stand is when people eat with their mouth open.

¿A poco? = Really? / No way!

Ni modo = Whatever / There’s nothing to do about something

Luego luego = Right away / Pretty close
¿Cuánto va a tardar mi sandwich? -Luego luego = How long is my sandwich going to take? -It’ll be right out.
¿Qué tan lejos está el mercado del museo? -Está luego luego. = How far is the market from the museum? -It’s pretty close.

Related: