Latin American Spanish Slang by Country: Colombian Words First (Parce, Bacano, Qué Chimba) and What to Say in Lima, Santiago and Buenos Aires
Colombian slang first: parce, bacano, qué chimba, hágale pues. Then Peruvian, Chilean (te tinca, bacán) and Argentine words, with tone notes for each.
"¡Qué chimba, parce!" If someone in Bogotá says that to you, they're telling you something is great, and that you're among friends. Two words, a lot of warmth, and one of them needs a careful note before you borrow it.
Colombian slang got a burst of attention in early October 2026, when members of BTS spoke to crowds in Bogotá using parce, bacano, qué chimba and hágale pues, as El Heraldo reported.
This guide goes country by country: Colombia first, then Peru, Chile and Argentina. Every word comes with an example line you can say out loud, an English gloss, and a tone note, so you know whether it belongs with friends, with strangers or nowhere near your boss. If you're still building the basics, start on our Spanish hub and come back for the fun part.
Colombian slang: the words to know first
These are the words you'll hear first in Colombia. Each one is listed with a Colombian regional mark in the Real Academia Española's Diccionario de la lengua española or in the academies' Diccionario de americanismos.
| Term | Meaning | Say it | In English | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| parce / parcero | friend, buddy | ¿Qué más, parce? ¿Todo bien? | What's up, buddy? All good? | Casual. Marked as young people's speech; use it with friends and people your age. |
| bacano / bacana | great, cool | La comida estuvo muy bacana. | The food was really great. | Casual, friendly, fine in most everyday chat. |
| ¡qué chimba! | how great, awesome | ¡Qué chimba este café! | This coffee is amazing! | Very informal. Another sense of chimba is vulgar. Friends only. |
| hágale / hágale pues | go for it; sure, let's do it | —¿Nos vemos a las ocho? —¡Hágale pues! | "See you at eight?" "Sure, let's do it!" | Casual and friendly. |
| chévere | great, nice | Qué chévere que viniste. | So nice that you came. | Casual, and heard well beyond Colombia. |
| ¿qué más? | what's up? how's it going? | ¡Hola, Camila! ¿Qué más? | Hi, Camila! How's it going? | A greeting for people you already know. |
Parce is a shortened form of parcero, which the Diccionario de americanismos defines as a close friend and also lists as a form of address among young people. It marks the word for Colombia and Ecuador, so "only Colombian" isn't quite right.
Qué chimba is where you need the tone note. The Diccionario de americanismos gives Colombian chimba the sense "something good or excellent", and in a separate sense it's a vulgar word for the genitals. Among friends, ¡qué chimba! just means "how great". With strangers, at work, with older relatives or in anything written, say ¡qué bueno! or ¡qué chévere! instead.
Hágale is the polite usted command of hacer with le attached, but in this use it's an everyday, casual expression. The Diccionario de americanismos records two Colombian uses: urging someone on ("go for it") and agreeing to something ("sure, deal"). Adding pues makes it warmer.
Say it out loud. Read each line once slowly, then say it again at a normal speed:
- ¿Qué más, parce? ¿Todo bien? (What's up, buddy? All good?)
- La comida estuvo muy bacana. (The food was really great.)
- —¿Vamos mañana? —¡Hágale pues! ("Shall we go tomorrow?" "Sure, let's do it!")
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Peruvian slang for Lima
Lima has its own word for almost everything, and several of them are about friends. All five below carry a Peru mark in the academies' dictionaries.
- pata: friend. Voy a salir con unos patas. (I'm going out with some friends.) Colloquial; the DLE marks this sense for Bolivia, Cuba and Peru.
- causa: buddy. ¿Qué tal, causa? (How's it going, buddy?) Casual and friendly. The same word names a Peruvian starter of cold mashed potato with yellow ají and lime, so context does the work (Diccionario de americanismos).
- jato: house, someone's place. Vamos a mi jato. (Let's go to my place.) Slangy; keep it for friends (Diccionario de americanismos).
- chamba: work, a job. Mañana tengo chamba temprano. (I've got work early tomorrow.) Colloquial and shared with Mexico, Central America and other countries (Diccionario de americanismos).
- bacán: great, cool. El ceviche estuvo bacán. (The ceviche was great.) Casual; marked as young people's speech in Peru and Chile (Diccionario de americanismos).
You'll hear chévere in Lima too. The DLE lists it for Peru as well as Colombia and Venezuela.
Chilean slang for Santiago
In Santiago, a handful of short words turn up in almost every casual chat with friends.
- ¿cachái?: you get it? you know? Mañana no puedo, tengo que trabajar, ¿cachái? (I can't tomorrow, I have to work, you know?) It comes from cachar, "to understand what someone said" (Diccionario de americanismos). The ending is Chilean verbal voseo: the Diccionario panhispánico de dudas lists forms like cantái(s) and notes they belong to familiar, informal speech, while formal registers use tú. You'll often see it written cachai. Informal; avoid it in meetings. The verb cachar also has a separate vulgar sense in Chile and Peru (Diccionario de americanismos), so stick to the tag question ¿cachái? and leave the verb alone until you hear locals use it.
- al tiro: right away. Te llamo al tiro. (I'll call you right away.) Everyday and friendly, and also heard in several other countries (Diccionario de americanismos).
- ¿te tinca?: do you feel like it? are you up for it? ¿Te tinca ir al cine mañana? (Do you feel like going to the movies tomorrow?) The Diccionario de americanismos records Chilean senses of tincar that include "to appeal to someone" and "to make a good impression on them", and it gives those senses no register label. So the dictionaries don't say how formal it is. Use it with people you know until you hear locals use it first. The DLE lists only a different Chilean sense, intuir ("to sense"), so the "fancy" meaning isn't there.
- fome: boring, dull. La película estuvo fome. (The movie was boring.) Casual. The DLE marks fome as Chilean.
- pololo / polola: boyfriend / girlfriend. Te presento a mi polola. (This is my girlfriend.) Everyday. The DLE defines it as someone in a relationship less formal than noviazgo and marks it for Bolivia and Chile.
- bacán: great, cool. Qué bacán tu casa nueva. (Your new place is great.) The same word you met in Lima. The DLE lists it for Chile as muy bueno in young people's speech, and the Diccionario de americanismos gives the same youth mark for Chile. Because both dictionaries mark it as young people's speech, use it with friends and people your age. Neither gives this sense a vulgar mark.
Argentine slang for Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires Spanish has a sound of its own, and part of it is grammar. Argentines use vos instead of tú, with its own verb forms: vos sos (you are), vos tenés (you have). The Diccionario panhispánico de dudas notes that in Argentina these forms are accepted across all social classes. ¿Vos de dónde sos? (Where are you from?) is a perfectly normal question.
- che: hey. Che, ¿vamos a tomar algo? (Hey, shall we grab a drink?) Used to get someone's attention or ask something of a person you're on easy terms with (DLE; Diccionario de americanismos).
- re-: really, very. Está relindo el día. (It's a really lovely day.) The Nueva gramática describes this intensifying re- as especially productive in young people's speech in the River Plate area: relindo, redivertido, regrande. You'll often see it written as a separate word, re lindo, but FundéuRAE recommends writing it joined.
- copado / copada: cool, great. Tu amiga es muy copada. (Your friend is really cool.) Casual; marked as young people's speech in Argentina and Uruguay (Diccionario de americanismos).
- laburo: work, a job. Salgo del laburo a las seis. (I get off work at six.) Colloquial (DLE: coloq. Arg. y Ur.).
- boludo: dude, among close friends; idiot, everywhere else. The DLE labels it offensive (malsonante) in the sense of "stupid". The Diccionario de americanismos also records it as a way young Argentines address a friend. Treat it as friends-only. Don't use it unless you're close and they've used it with you first. Never use it with strangers, at work, or when you're annoyed, because then it's simply an insult.
How to use slang without sounding off
Slang is about who you're talking to. A rough ladder:
| Who you're talking to | What works |
|---|---|
| Close friends, people your age | Most words here, including qué chimba, bacán and, in Argentina, boludo if they use it with you. |
| Strangers, shop staff, taxi drivers | Friendly, mild words: chévere, al tiro. Skip anything with a vulgar sense. |
| Work, older people, anything written | Neutral Spanish: muy bueno, genial, amigo, trabajo, casa, aburrido, enseguida, novio / novia. |
A few habits help. Let locals use a word first, then match their level. One slang word per sentence is plenty; stacking them sounds like a phrasebook. And if a word is tied to one country, using it in another just tells people where you picked it up. That's not a mistake. These are regional words, as much a part of Spanish as anything in a textbook.
Practice saying them
Slang only sticks when it leaves your mouth. A routine that fits in five minutes:
- Read the example line and its English gloss.
- Notice before you speak. In your Spanish course, say a line out loud first; for the slang here, notice the words when they come up in shows, songs or chats with friends.
- Say it out loud slowly, syllable by syllable, then again at normal speed, as if you were answering a friend. Our Spanish pronunciation guide helps with sounds like the r in parcero.
- Retry with one word swapped: ¿Qué más, parce? becomes ¿Qué tal, causa? in Lima or Che, ¿todo bien? in Buenos Aires.
The slang lives in this article. VoiGu's Spanish course is where you build the everyday Spanish it sits on: five-minute lessons and practice with Gu that has you say each line out loud. If you're planning a trip, our Spanish travel phrases cover the polite basics you'll use far more often than any slang.
FAQ
Is chimba rude?
It can be. In Colombia, ¡qué chimba! means "how great" and is common among friends, but chimba also has a vulgar sense. Keep it for friends, and use ¡qué bueno! or ¡qué chévere! with strangers, at work and with older people.
Is parce only Colombian?
Mostly Colombian, but not only. The Diccionario de americanismos marks parcero and its short form parce for Colombia and Ecuador, as young people's speech for a close friend.
Will people in Spain understand these words?
Don't count on it. Dictionaries mark most of these words as belonging to specific Latin American countries. In Spain, neutral words like genial, amigo and trabajo are the safer choice.
Should a beginner learn slang first?
No. Learn core Spanish first and add slang for listening and fun. Greetings, questions and everyday verbs carry you much further, and our Spanish for beginners guide is a good place to start.
Ready to practice everyday Spanish out loud? Start Spanish free on iPhone (App Store) and Android. The first two units are free.
