Cachai, yapo, huevon…..you don’t understand? It is also Spanish.
A little guide to speaking Chilean language.
When I first moved to another country the most important thing for me was to learn the language. Little did I know that I would need a guide to speaking the Chilean language.
What is the worst thing for someone who loves talking so much, like me for example, if it’s not being able to communicate verbally with locals? Even when I travel to a foreign country I try to learn some basic phrases and words that would enable me to communicate better and make my experience richer. And it is fun! I am also sure that it is well appreciated by the people you meet, fact that you put some interest and effort into knowing their language and culture.
I find it quite fascinating the whole business of language learning. Sometimes though, you think you can speak the language, let’s say…Spanish for example, you travel to Chile…and boom! You feel as if you landed in some other country. They don’t prepare you in a classroom to survive in the Chilean jungle, as the author of the book “How to Survive in the Chilean Jungle“, Alvaro Taboada, used to say.
To make life a little easier for some of you who are planning to visit Chile, I have prepared a list of some Chilenismos (Spanish Chilean language) – slang words and phrases used in Chile. You are a fluent Spanish speaker? Well, as some of my native Spanish friends admit, speaking in Chile is a whole other story. Endow yourself with those phrases before going to Chile.
A little guide to the use of Spanish in Chile.
Chilenismo Direct translation Real meaning
- A donde la viste? Where did you see that? I don’t believe it/ No way!
- Agarrar papa Grab a potato To take advantage of a situation
- Arreglarse los bigotes To sort out your moustache To arrange something in secret
- Al tiro To pull Right now
- Andar con el dragon Walk with the dragon To have a bad breath
- Avispate! Wasp yourself Wake up!
- Buena onda A good wave Great stuff; Cool.
- Cachai? To catch To understand/ Got it?
- Creerse la muerte One thinks he is death One loves himself
- Curado Cured Drunk
- Dedos crespos Curly fingers To be unhelpful
- Dejar la escoba To leave a broom To make a mess
- Echar al agua To throw out water To let the cat out of the bag
- Esta peluda la prueba The test is hairy The test is really difficult
- Estoy pato I am a duck I have no money
- Huevon Big egg Idiot, stupid
- Marca chancho A piggy label A no name label for clothes, shoes, etc
- Mermelada(o) Jam Stupid
- Mina/o Mine (as for minerals) Good looking woman/men
- No estar ni ahi To not be even there To not care
- Patas negras Black feet A lover
- Péscame Fish me Listen to me
- Picado/a Chopped Spiteful
- Plata Silver Money
- Sacar la cresta To pull the comb I am going to kill you
- Salta pa’l lado Jump to the other side I don’t believe it
- Ser seco para algo To be dry for something To be the best at something
- Ser pesado To be heavy To be annoying
- Ir al chancho To go to the pig To be ludicrous, unrealistic
- Tener cueva (mala/buena) To have a cave (good/bad) To have good/bad luck
- Te voy a subir y bajar I’m going to take you up and down I am really going to tell you off
- Que papa! What a potato! Really easy
- Que plancha! What an iron. How embarrasing!
And some more…
- ¡Bacán! – Cool!
- Caña -Hangover
- Carretear – To party
- Chabela – Goodbye
- Fome – uncool, boring
- La hueva – Stuff
- La raja – Awesome
- Pololo/Polola – Boyfriend/Girlfriend
- Pololear – To be in a relationship
- Yo me rajo – I pay/ it’s on me.
- 1 luca = 1000 pesos
- Sipo / Nopo /yapo – Yes , no , ok
- “Po” – This is a “filler word” and has no meaning and does not add anything to the meaning at all. It is used at the end of words or phrases, for example: “Si po”, “hola po” etc.
- “Cachai” is being used as a full stop at the end of every sentence.
See also:
Keep calm and go to Chile…What you need to know before your trip.
Caleta Buena. In search for penguins and discovering hidden gems of Chile.
Chilean bucket list. What to see and do in Chile.
Ode to coffee- why the coffee in Chile is so bad.
Understanding Chilean accent
Apart from the dialect that is so extensively used in Chile, it is spoken so fast that it is hard to differentiate particular words. It seems that people here take a deep breath and try to squeeze as many words as possible to say aloud in that one breath.
Another thing I struggled with at first is that they ‘eat’ some consonants, for example: “pescado” (fish) is pronounced here “pescao”; “helado” (ice cream)- in Spanish pronounced ‘elado’, in Chile: “elao”. For all plural words, the final ‘s’ is being eaten too. For someone who is not fluent in Spanish, it is quite a big deal to follow and understand the full meaning of the conversation. I hope this will help you a little bit while you are trying to figure out what they mean when talking to you.
Thank you for visiting. I hope this little guide helps you a little while travelling to Chile. Enjoy and have fun!
Favourite travel resources:
- Booking.com for searching best prices on accommodation.
- Discover Cars is a great website as they search both local and international car hire services, so you can choose the best deal for yourself. Make sure though, that the company has a good reputation and reviews.
- Get Your Guide is my place to go for searching and booking tours and excursions, especially when I travel solo.
- World Nomads travel insurance. I like them because they have quite extensive coverage of different activities.
- Jack’s Flight Club is a service that can save you hundreds of dollars on flights, it works especially well in Europe.
- Trivago where you can search and save on hotels.
- Go City is a perfect site for booking bucket list experiences and attractions all in one to avoid paying for multiple tickets. Easy and saves money.
- Trip Advisor– amazing for good quality recommendations.
- Skyscanner is a perfect website for searching flight routes and comparing prices.
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Super i bardzo pomocny post ! Poproszę więcej !!! 🙂
ja też proszę o więcej świetne 🙂
This is so cool! Thanks so much! My husband and I are learning Spanish and it is always hard to learn the slang stuff. Do you think that any of these carry over to other Latin American countries like Costa Rica?
Yes, slang can be tricky. I think every country has its own slang, so it is a neverending learning. I will focus on that in Costa Rica as I will be going there soon.
juajaujauaja so funny!!! just one correction! isn’t Mermelado is Amermelado! even worse xD haha
The word “po” is a mispronunciation of the word “pues”
“Ya pues”
“Si pues”
“No pues”
Word which is generally used as a conjunction in formal contexts. However, as you say it is a sort of filling word that we Chileans overuse.
Good blog
Thanks Marco. I have learned later what ‘po’ means, but still often in a sentence seems like is not adding anything. Thatk you for your clarification, much appreciated.
Great post! 🙂
I have something to add, “qué papa” is short for “qué papaya” (“what a pawpaw”), so it really is pawpaw (fruit), not potato, haha, we chileans love to shorten words!
I´m not sure this is true but I heard this saying means “extremely easy” because apparently papayas are quite hard to peel or to cook or whatever… so yes, ironies are another thing that we chileans love… :p
Hehe that’s a good one. Thank you, Mica, for that and for visiting us.
As a chilean, I really think you “cachaste” how we talk.
Great article.
Thanks 🙂
Muy bueno el artículo. “He cachado todo”. ¡¡¡Ja ja!!!
Great post. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! The mountain picture here looks surreal. It’s great to get some language lessons before going somewhere too:)