#separator:tab #html:false #columns:Front Back parce buddy, mate (very common, esp. Medellín/Antioquia, now national) parcero / parcera buddy, close friend (m/f) llave / llavecita close friend, best mate (esp. Cali) pana friend, pal man guy, dude mijo / mija affectionate address, lit. 'my son/daughter' cucho / cucha older person, parent (affectionate) pelado / pelada kid, young person teso / tesa expert, someone very good at something vieja / viejo affectionate address to a woman/man (lit. old woman/man) chévere cool, great (shared with Venezuela, Ecuador) bacano / bacana cool, great, easygoing chimba awesome / rubbish depending on context (versatile slang) qué chimba how cool! (exclamation) nota / qué nota great, cool / how great! tenaz tough, hardcore, impressive (colloquial sense) berraco / berraca tough, determined, impressive person qué berraquera how impressive! what a big deal! duro / dura skilled, tough (lit. hard) arrecho / arrecha fired up, intense (context-sensitive; vulgar in some countries) vaina thing, stuff (all-purpose filler noun) qué vaina what a mess / what a pain guaro aguardiente, the national anise liquor aguardiente anise-flavored Colombian liquor tinto black coffee (small cup, no milk) guayabo hangover enguayabado / enguayabada hungover camello job, hard work (lit. camel) camellar to work hard parchar to hang out, to chill el parche the crew, the hangout group/spot rumbear to party, to go out dancing la rumba the party, night out la farra the party, night out plata money chino / china child, kid (regional; from Chibcha per encyclopedic sources) dar papaya to expose oneself to unnecessary risk no dar papaya don't make yourself an easy target estar en la olla to be broke / in trouble (lit. to be in the pot) a la orden at your service / you're welcome (used constantly in shops) ¿qué más? what's up? (greeting) ¿qué hubo? / quiubo what's up? (contracted greeting) ¿bien o qué? you good? how's it going? el combo the group, the crew la vuelta the errand, the task, the deal hacer la vuelta to run an errand, sort something out cuadrar to arrange, set up a plan or meeting el cuento the story, the situation fresco / fresca relax, don't worry, chill out estar mamado / mamada to be exhausted, fed up mamar gallo to mess around, kid someone, waste time vacilar to joke around, tease, flirt montar to tease, mock someone (colloquial) tumbar to rip off, cheat someone (colloquial) sapo / sapa snitch, gossip (lit. toad) echar los perros to flirt with someone estar prendido / prendida to be tipsy, buzzed juepucha damn! shoot! (mild oath) qué pena how embarrassing / sorry to bother you (Colombian sense differs from standard) qué pena con usted sorry to bother you (polite apology) hágale go for it! sure! let's do it! no joda no way! come on! (mild vulgar intensifier) bobo / boba silly, dumb (mild) pandebono cheese bread from Valle del Cauca buñuelo fried cheese ball, Christmas snack arepa corn cake, Colombian staple food ajiaco iconic Bogotá potato-and-chicken soup bandeja paisa large traditional Antioquian mixed platter chontaduro peach-palm fruit common in Cali canelazo hot spiced aguardiente drink empanada fried stuffed pastry, common snack lulada cold lulo-fruit drink typical of Cali chicha traditional fermented corn drink changua Bogotá milk-and-egg breakfast soup sancocho traditional Colombian stew gaseosa soda, soft drink (general Colombian usage) sumercé deferential/affectionate 'you' (Cundinamarca, Boyacá) vos familiar 'you' (voseo; Paisa region, Valle del Cauca) usted (ustedeo) 'you' used even among close friends/family in many regions cachaco / cachaca person from Bogotá (regional nickname) rolo / rola person from Bogotá (regional nickname) paisa person from Antioquia / the coffee region costeño / costeña person from the Caribbean or Pacific coast llanero / llanera person from the Eastern Plains (Llanos) valluno / valluna person from Valle del Cauca (Cali) pastuso / pastusa person from Nariño (Pasto) opita person from Tolima or Huila santandereano / santandereana person from Santander gonorrea (¡cuidado, vulgar!) very strong insult/slang intensifier — vocabulary for recognition only, not polite use ñero / ñera streetwise, from a rough neighborhood (context-dependent) ¡uy! wow! oh! (surprise) ¡qué pecado! what a shame! poor thing! (lit. what a sin) hasta ahorita see you in a bit ahorita in a little while / right now (diminutive of ahora, flexible timing) gatico little cat (regional -ico diminutive after /t/) momentico just a little moment (regional diminutive) de pronto maybe, perhaps (Colombian usage) ¿sí o qué? isn't that right? / well then? (tag question) ¿cómo así? what do you mean? how come? berraquera toughness, grit, impressive feat la olla rough/dangerous neighborhood (colloquial) or 'the pot' el bus / la buseta the bus / small city bus la tienda the corner store, small neighborhood shop el man / la vieja (slang couple) the guy / the woman (very colloquial) caer bien to like someone, get along well mono / mona blond(e) or light-skinned person (Colombian usage; not 'monkey') gomelo / gomela posh, preppy person (slang) cambuche makeshift shelter, shanty (regional) cantaleta nagging, scolding chuzo street food stall / grilled skewer (regional) pola beer (colloquial) levantar to pick someone up (romantically, colloquial) verraquera toughness / impressive feat (variant spelling) mecato snacks, junk food (regional) polas y picadas beer and appetizers (social gathering) carrito little car / any small vehicle (diminutive) man'itico just a tiny bit (extended diminutive) hola hello buenos días good morning buenas tardes good afternoon buenas noches good evening / good night ¿cómo estás? how are you? (informal) ¿cómo está usted? how are you? (formal) bien, gracias fine, thanks mal bad, unwell más o menos so-so gracias thank you muchas gracias thank you very much de nada you're welcome por favor please perdón sorry, excuse me lo siento I'm sorry con permiso excuse me (to pass by) sí yes no no adiós goodbye hasta luego see you later hasta mañana see you tomorrow chao bye (informal) ¿cómo te llamas? what's your name? (informal) me llamo... my name is... mucho gusto nice to meet you igualmente likewise yo I tú you (informal singular) él he ella she nosotros / nosotras we ustedes you all (plural, general in Colombia) ellos / ellas they usted you (formal, and widely used informally in Colombia) mi / mis my tu / tus your (informal) su / sus his/her/your (formal)/their hombre man mujer woman niño / niña boy / girl bebé baby madre / mamá mother / mom padre / papá father / dad hijo / hija son / daughter hermano / hermana brother / sister abuelo / abuela grandfather / grandmother tío / tía uncle / aunt primo / prima cousin esposo / esposa husband / wife novio / novia boyfriend / girlfriend amigo / amiga friend familia family agua water comer to eat beber / tomar to drink pan bread arroz rice frijoles beans papa potato plátano plantain / banana fruta fruit verdura vegetable carne meat pollo chicken pescado fish (as food) huevo egg queso cheese leche milk café coffee azúcar sugar sal salt desayuno breakfast almuerzo lunch cena dinner uno one dos two tres three cuatro four cinco five seis six siete seven ocho eight nueve nine diez ten once eleven doce twelve veinte twenty treinta thirty cuarenta forty cincuenta fifty cien one hundred mil one thousand primero first segundo second tercero third ir to go venir to come ser to be (identity/traits) estar to be (state/location) tener to have hacer to do / to make decir to say / to tell ver to see oír to hear hablar to speak saber to know (a fact) conocer to know (a person/place) querer to want / to love poder to be able to / can dormir to sleep leer to read escribir to write trabajar to work estudiar to study vivir to live caminar to walk correr to run comprar to buy vender to sell pagar to pay necesitar to need ayudar to help entender to understand pensar to think sentir to feel llegar to arrive salir to leave / to go out volver / regresar to return empezar / comenzar to begin terminar / acabar to finish buscar to look for encontrar to find dar to give tomar to take / to drink llevar to carry / to take (something/someone) traer to bring poner to put bueno / buena good malo / mala bad grande big pequeño / chiquito small, little caliente hot frío / fría cold bonito / bonita pretty feo / fea ugly rápido / rápida fast lento / despacio slow / slowly nuevo / nueva new viejo / vieja old fácil easy difícil difficult feliz happy triste sad cansado / cansada tired ocupado / ocupada busy importante important interesante interesting ¿qué? what? ¿quién? who? ¿dónde? where? ¿cuándo? when? ¿cómo? how? ¿cuánto / cuánta? how much? ¿cuántos / cuántas? how many? ¿por qué? why? ¿cuál? which? y and o or con with sin without pero but porque because también also tampoco neither, not either siempre always nunca never a veces sometimes hoy today mañana tomorrow / morning ayer yesterday ahora now después after, later antes before tarde late / afternoon temprano early noche night semana week mes month año year lunes Monday martes Tuesday miércoles Wednesday jueves Thursday viernes Friday sábado Saturday domingo Sunday casa house apartamento apartment puerta door ventana window mesa table silla chair cama bed cocina kitchen baño bathroom calle street ciudad city país country mundo world escuela / colegio school universidad university trabajo work, job dinero money tiempo time / weather día day carro / coche car bus / autobús bus avión airplane tren train aeropuerto airport cabeza head mano hand pie foot ojo eye boca mouth corazón heart cuerpo body rojo / roja red azul blue verde green amarillo / amarilla yellow negro / negra black blanco / blanca white morado / morada purple naranja orange (color/fruit) uno mismo oneself perro dog gato cat pájaro bird vaca cow caballo horse cerdo pig mar sea río river montaña mountain cielo sky sol sun luna moon lluvia rain viento wind frío (clima) cold (weather) calor heat libro book papel paper lápiz pencil teléfono telephone computador / computadora computer internet internet música music película movie fiesta party baile dance canción song cuidado careful, be careful peligro danger seguro / segura safe, sure médico / doctor doctor hospital hospital policía police iglesia church mercado market tienda store, shop restaurante restaurant plaza town square parque park playa beach montañas (Andes) mountains (the Andes, defining Colombian geography) café (bebida y cultivo) coffee (drink and crop, key to Colombian identity) vallenato traditional Colombian folk music genre cumbia traditional Colombian dance/music genre salsa popular dance/music genre strong in Cali champeta Afro-Colombian dance/music genre from the Caribbean coast