By: Jake Steffens ´12
When one travels to another country, it is going to be really hard to fit in if they dont know what they are saying. When i first got here, i thought i was going to be able to carry on a conversation pretty well. But it turns out the Argentines have a language of their own. A language within a language. It is their slang. There is not only slang but different ways to say things.
It can be as simple as changing the word "chicas" to "minas," which really threw me off. Or from saying "Cómo Andas" instead of "Cómo estas." Because saying Cómo estas is somehting like speaking in old english to them. Teens translate cómo estas to something like "How are you on this fine day."
Probably the most spoken words that i have heard here are the words "Che Boludo!" It seems like Argentines cannot get through a sentence without using these two words. The translation literally means "Hey Jerk!" But it is basically used to say "Hey, Dude." you can say either one be itself. The best example to show you how much this is used is by this book:
What the man is doing in this photo is a hand motion that is unique to here. It signifies "What the heck does that mean?" It is one of many hang signals that they use here. Others can mean "you are scared" and "Its all good."
There are also many other words and phrases that are different in Argentina. Some of the most prominant are:
Minas- girls (i asked a couple of boys to translate this word into english and they all said "chicks.")
Fachero- Sweet talker (James Bond would be a Fachero)
Copado- cool
Genial- great (there are many ways of saying "great, or "cool" here)
Bichero- Guy who likes ugly girls (The boys here say that this word is not supposed to be used as an insult. It is used between friends and is not suppoosed to be used against someone else to tear down their feelings)
Guacho- It means a little boy.
Croto- This word literally means a homeless person. But they use it between friends also to describe if a guy wears scraggly clothes. Or if he acts out of the ordinary.
Rompebolas- At first i didnt think i could put this in my blog but the boys from argentina say that it is not a bad word at all. The meaning in english is used for calling someone really annoying. But it litterally means that someone is a ball breaker.
Cheto- this word is used to describe a person who is flashy and wears stylish clothing.
(for instance: Me and Pedro were at the mall and we saw a boy with a neon green shirt on and silver shoes. Pedro immediately said "Qué cheto." I asked him what it meant and he said it basically meant that that person was a Flogger. Those are the kids who tipically like to wear those kinds of clothes."
Toda la honda- It means everythings good! No problems! But youwouldnt say this to a teacher if you were a student. It is mainly used between teenagers.
In Argentina, the language is quite different than most of the other spanish speaking countries. When i asked my host brother if they used most of the words here in other countries, and he said that they only used them in the neighboring country of Uruguay, It is a very unique country as you can tell already, and most of the time you have to ask about words you dont understand. They might not be in the dicitonary.
By: Jake Steffens ´12
When one travels to another country, it is going to be really hard to fit in if they dont know what they are saying. When i first got here, i thought i was going to be able to carry on a conversation pretty well. But it turns out the Argentines have a language of their own. A language within a language. It is their slang. There is not only slang but different ways to say things.
It can be as simple as changing the word "chicas" to "minas," which really threw me off. Or from saying "Cómo Andas" instead of "Cómo estas." Because saying Cómo estas is somehting like speaking in old english to them. Teens translate cómo estas to something like "How are you on this fine day."
Probably the most spoken words that i have heard here are the words "Che Boludo!" It seems like Argentines cannot get through a sentence without using these two words. The translation literally means "Hey Jerk!" But it is basically used to say "Hey, Dude." you can say either one be itself. The best example to show you how much this is used is by this book:
What the man is doing in this photo is a hand motion that is unique to here. It signifies "What the heck does that mean?" It is one of many hang signals that they use here. Others can mean "you are scared" and "Its all good." There are also many other words and phrases that are different in Argentina. Some of the most prominant are:
Minas- girls (i asked a couple of boys to translate this word into english and they all said "chicks.")
Fachero- Sweet talker (James Bond would be a Fachero)
Copado- cool
Genial- great (there are many ways of saying "great, or "cool" here)
Bichero- Guy who likes ugly girls (The boys here say that this word is not supposed to be used as an insult. It is used between friends and is not suppoosed to be used against someone else to tear down their feelings)
Guacho- It means a little boy.
Croto- This word literally means a homeless person. But they use it between friends also to describe if a guy wears scraggly clothes. Or if he acts out of the ordinary.
Rompebolas- At first i didnt think i could put this in my blog but the boys from argentina say that it is not a bad word at all. The meaning in english is used for calling someone really annoying. But it litterally means that someone is a ball breaker.
Cheto- this word is used to describe a person who is flashy and wears stylish clothing.
(for instance: Me and Pedro were at the mall and we saw a boy with a neon green shirt on and silver shoes. Pedro immediately said "Qué cheto." I asked him what it meant and he said it basically meant that that person was a Flogger. Those are the kids who tipically like to wear those kinds of clothes."
Toda la honda- It means everythings good! No problems! But youwouldnt say this to a teacher if you were a student. It is mainly used between teenagers.
In Argentina, the language is quite different than most of the other spanish speaking countries. When i asked my host brother if they used most of the words here in other countries, and he said that they only used them in the neighboring country of Uruguay, It is a very unique country as you can tell already, and most of the time you have to ask about words you dont understand. They might not be in the dicitonary.
By: Jake Steffens ´12
