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These expressions vary by neighborhood. For example, the expression: 'chafa' (low quality) can be heard as 'chafaldrana', 'chafoso', or 'chafarrafa'. The use of some "classic" pachuco slang words
from the 1930s and 40s has survived while others have not. A [ top ] a ponemos chancla (from chancla, Nahuatl for sandal) "Let's dance". The grammar is deliberately incorrect. águila (lit. "eagle") "Be alert" aliviane a form of help "Aliviáname - help me" aguas "to be alert, be careful". ¡Agua! ("Water!) is the cry of sellers of dodgy items when police are spotted. Araisas Arizona A.T.M. a toda madre (great, fantastic, out of sight); expression antedates the abbreviation for "automated teller machine" B [ top ] baro coin, money. bironga beer, booze borracho A drunk or someone on a bender. bolillo derogatory term for "white boy" or "white guy," similar to "cracker" in American slang. Derived from the white dinner roll of the same name. bola A dollar. "Prestame un bola." "Lend me a dollar." bomba (also "bomb") a lowrider car or truck from the 1930s - mid-1950s bote (literally: "can") jail or prison; also, a lid of marijuana. borlo dance, party. "Vamos al borlo." "Let's go to the dance/party." bronca trouble or a problem with someone else Burque a contraction of the old spelling of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Originally spelled "Alburquerque" C [ top ] cabulear to "bullshit"; to "chew the fat with" Caile Come Here,Go To Cali (also "Kali") California Califas California. In standard Spanish, it means "caliphs". calcos shoes Calecia a fond name referring to the border city [[Calexico, California in the US, The highest percent of Mexican residents of a city in the US Caló a language used by Chicanos or Mexican-Americans, derived from the name of the Spanish Gypsy (gitano) dialect, Caló canicas (lit. marbles) love; balls, genitals(male); also "andar a canicas"(walking around naked). cantón home; house; apartment carnal brother; close friend; homeboy, from primo carnal, "first-grade cousin". careja all at once, burdon, blows Carucha Car,Your Ride cagua beer catos fistfight, fisticuffs chafa low quality chale a form of disagreement chavala (from Gypsy/Gitano Calo) little girl; also used as an insult for a man that lacks courage. chavalo (from Gypsy/Gitano Calo) little boy chela beer chorra penis clecha school con safos (frequently abbreviated as "c/s") "Nobody can mess with this" (possibly from Arabic-derived Spanish zafo = unobstructed, clear, safe, intact) cuete gun D [ top ] dalass Dallas, Texas dale gas step on it, go for it de aquellas (lit. "from those over there") "the best" descuéntate beat it, get lost descuéntatelo hit him descontar to hit, irregular conjugation (descuento, descuentas, descuenta, descuentan, descontamos) Dispensa excuse me drapes orig. 1930s Harlem African American for stylish clothing; syn. for "zoot suit" (see below) E [ top ] East Los East Los Angeles, California echa la cookie fast, as in running fast El Pasiente El Paso El Chuco El Paso El Valluco Rio Grand Valley, Tejas El Footdale see machin empanzonar impregnate ene short for Norteno ena short for Nortena enjaular to lock up. Standard Spanish. entacucharse to dress up, more specifically, to wear a tuxedo or suit escamado scared. Standard Spanish. escuelín school esquina help, give a hand esquinar help out. ésa chola ése (lit. "that one", "that guy") cholo; dude; guy; man esponjes lie as in no esponges ese esponjes angry, as in no te esponges == "don't get angry" F [ top ] fajates blew it feria (lit. "fair", as in "county fair") but directly references the homonym "fare") money filero knife. Spanish filo means "edge". firme cool (as in "hip"); good. In standard Spanish, "firm". frajo cigarette fresa prep fusca gun G [ top ] gabacho/a (also "gavacho") very insulting term for a white person. In Spain, "Frenchman". gacho mean or in bad taste grifa marijuana (whence the US slang word "reefer"; derived from "grifo") grifo (lit. "faucet") marijuana addict; someone who is always "prendido", or "lit" güacha (also "wacha") "Look"; "Watch" güaino Wino güero (also "huero" or "weddo") white person; light skinned, blue eyed/blond person güisa (also "wisa" and "weesa") woman; girlfriend güey Homboy,Closefriend or just dude. H [ top ] homeboy (also "homie") 1) a very close associate usually identified as someone from one's own barrio or neighborhood; 2) a person with whom one identifies closely with implying a strong loyalty toward; possibly derivative of Spanish hombre homes (also "holmes") variation on the word "homeboy", used to identify a friend also "vato" hyna a girl, or girlfriend J [ top ] jaina (also spelled "hyna", "heina", and "hayna") woman; honey; girlfriend jale a job jefa/jefita mother jefe/jefito (lit. "boss") father jura police L [ top ] lacra low life individual lambache suck ass lambiscón suck ass lana (lit. "wool") money la neta "the truth" or an unquestionable axiom (as in "es laneta" means "that's the truth"), also tends to be followed with "que" as its universal conjunction to other words such as "laneta que el otro dia..." meaning "the truth is that the other day…". From la neta verdad, "the pure truth". lanzar chingadazos throw blows laquiar to lock leño marijuana cigarette. In Spanish, "wood block". leva coward llantas (lit. "tires") a term for homemade sandals or beat-up shoes, also used to refer to extra fat acquired around the waste (similar to "rolls" or "love handles") llevanate behave, be cool, chill out litro cigarette lighter lisa shirt loc (pronounced "loke") short for "loco"; a street crazy; hardcore street tough, also maddogs or heavily tinted sunglasses locochón crazy Longos Long Beach, CA Los Los Angeles, CA M [ top ] machín excellent, high-achieving, outstanding manflora (also manfi) derogatory for lesbian, dyke máscara face. In Spanish, "mask". mayate/mayata derogatory for a dark-skinned male/female, usually African American; der. from mayatl (Nahuatl) an irridescent black scarab mayatero someone who tries to "act black" such as saying the word nigga, mexa from a Mexican origin miclo light-skinned Mexican mojado wetback. Any immigrant crossing the Rio Grande river (mostly Mexican). Literally, "wet". mono movie mono the devil; demon. Literally "monkey". mota slang for marijuana N [ top ] naranjas no. Literally "oranges". In Spain the phrase "naranjas de la China" means "no way". narices no. Literally "noses". In Spain the phrase would be "y unas narices". negro/a (lit. "black") a somewhat affectionate term for a darker skinned individual of whatever race, e.g. chicano, African American or others (e.g. "vamos mi negro"), can be softened in the diminutive (negrito/a) as negro can also be derogatory nel no niqle Five cents. From the English word nickle. no manches don't mess around no hay pedo no problem; no sweat norteño northerner; street chapter of the Nuestra Familia prison gang, associated with the color red and the number 14. no te quetes don't get depressed O [ top ] Órale "Right on"; "Alright!" Ojete asshole [example: ya no seas ojete] Oklas Oklahoma City or 405 used mainly by SSVL 25 P [ top ] Pachuco a native or resident of El Paso, Texas, later extended to mean all Mexicans and Mexican Americans adopting aspects of Pachuco culture such as dressing in zoot suits and speaking Caló. paisa (from 'Paisano') (also "border brother") a somewhat affectionate term for recent immigrants from Mexico panocha pussy pancho (orig. nickname for the first name "Francisco") crying or complaining, used with the verb "hacer" i.e. "tu haces mucho pancho!" meaning "you do a lot of complaining" panzón fat man. Standard Spanish, compare English paunch. panzona fat woman; pregnant woman pásame las tres Literally, "pass me the three". "Let me have a drag" (of a cigarette) pase slang for cocaine pedo (literally "fart") intoxicated; 'estar pedo' pedo problem; 'no hay pedo' perico slang for cocaine perromount paramount pestaña (pestañear) (lit. eyelash) to sleep phoeniquera slang for Phoenix, Arizona picaste did you "get" some (from Sp. picar, to poke) pinta jail; prison (more specifically) pintando paredes to masturbate pisto beer; can of beer (more specifically); also general term for alcoholic beverage. In Spanish, "soup" placa1 tattoo placa² (literally "badge") police placa³ a person's graffiti tag ponerse al alba "to put oneself to the dawn", to get with it ponerse zafado to get high on marijuana ponte las pilas get your stuff together Poros Porterville Califas putazo a big punch. prendido "lit on", high on drugs; high on marijuana (most common) Q [ top ] ¿qué onda? "what's up?" quemar llanta to burn rubber (as in driving) Quilmas San Quentin prison ¿Quiubo? (Quíhubo, Qiobo. quióboles. Q-vo) (from "Qué hubo" meaning "What was there?"} "What's going on?"; "What's up?" Q-vo: wats up R [ top ] ranfla car; lowrider car (more specifically) rifamos "We rule" refin food refinando eating refinar to eat rola song ruca (literally: "old woman") girlfriend; woman ruco Old man S [ top ] Sacra Sacramento, CA safis Oops! Some type of error. Salas Salinas, CA Sancha Girlfriend on the side; secret (or not) lover Sancho Boyfriend on the side; secret (or not) lover San Jo (pronounced "San Ho") San Jose, California San Anto San Antonio, Texas San Fran San Francisco San Pancho Frisco San Pipas San Pedro San Quilmas San Anto, Tejas sawrucha saw sentirse aviador "to feel as an airman", to feel high or drunk Serio/a "seriously", for real (also spelled Cerio/a) simón "Yeah", often combined with ese: simonese soda slang for cocaine soflamera whiner songas songs Swata Idiot Sureño southerner, street chapter of La eMe (or Mexican Mafia), associated with the color blue and the number 13. Estéicis (from shoe manufacturer "Stacey Adams") a brand of dress shoes favored by pachucos and swingers; a generic term for polished dress shoes T [ top ] ta con madre shortened form of "está con madre" (lit. "is with mom") the best, or something really good, outstanding. tacuche (literally: "suit") zoot suit; fancy clothing talonear "to heel", to walk, also to con tecato heroin addict tirando chancla dancing your ass off tira police tirar la masa (lit. "to throw corn dough") to defecate tirarlo a león (lit. "to ignore") to blow off, to forget about it tirar tripa (lit. "to throw guts") to vomit TJ "jerry-rigged" or of inferior workmanship, (from the initials for Tijuana, a California border town where Americans go for cut-rate dentistry, auto body repair, and upholstry) toleco Fify-cent piece. torcido (lit. "twisted") jail time; locked up in prison (most specifically) torta (lit. "cake") derogatory slang for a fat female tortilla lesbian traer cola "to carry a tail", to be on parole tragazón food, especially in large amounts. From tragar, "to swallow". tramos pants trinquetiar to cheat; to mess (someone) up trola cigarette lighter, match trucha (lit. "trout") "Watch out"; smart; wise tubos "tubes". Socks turiquear to get along; to communicate U [ top ] un Abril (also "un abro") a year's jail sentenceV [ top ] valluco Rio Grande Valley, South Texas vasquear to vomit vaisa grip (possibly derived from vise grip) varrio neighborhood or 'hood (misspelling of barrio) vato dude; guy; man verga (lit. "mast", "pole"), "dick" "penis" "cock" vieja (lit. "old lady") girlfriend, wife volar (lit. "to fly") to hurry W [ top ] Watson Watsonville, CA weso westside Wilmas Wilmington, CA wilo, güilo skinny wilo, güilo male prostitute wino term for someone consuming large amounts of alcohol Y [ top ] yesca (also "yeska") marijuana. In Spanish, "a fungus to light fire". yonka bike ¿Y qué? "And what?"; "So (what)?" (used to question, add emphasis, or challenge someone) "ay wey" " oh, shit" Z [ top ] zafado goofy zafo I'm out, I bail out. (used when asking for volunteers); derived from/related to con safos (see above) zoot suit an outfit of male clothing consisting of large pants which become narrower towards the bottom, a stylish, a nice looking jacket which matches with the pants, and a long chain running from the pocket
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