🇨🇴 Colombian Spanish
How Colombia says it — Medellín, word by word
Pelao, Rumba, Pitillo. 27 everyday things and the word Medellín uses for each, beside what Buenos Aires, Santiago, Medellín, Santo Domingo, Madrid, Mexico City, Lima and San Juan say. Click any row for the full comparison and its sources.
Medellín word by word
| In English | In Medellín | Elsewhere |
|---|---|---|
| a kid informal | pelao Bogotá: chino | pibe cabro chico carajito chaval chamaco chibolo nene |
| a party / going out | rumba | joda carrete teteo fiesta / salir de marcha peda tono jangueo / un party |
| a straw | pitillo | sorbete bombilla calimete pajita popote cañita sorbeto |
| dude | parce Bogotá: parce / parcero too, plus ñero, compa (one poster, country not stated) | che weón manín tío güey causa pana |
| what's up? | ¿Qué más? | ¿Qué hacés? ¿Cómo estái? ¿Qué lo que? ¿Qué tal? ¿Qué onda? ¡Habla! ¿Qué es la que hay? |
| a T-shirt | camiseta | remera polera franela playera polo t-shirt |
| ok / sure | listo | dale ya po ta' to' vale sale ya dale |
| popcorn | crispetas Bogotá: maíz pira | pochoclo cabritas cocaleca palomitas palomitas canchita popcorn |
| right away | de una | ya mismo al tiro ahora mismo enseguida ahoritita al toque ahora mismo |
| a job | camello | laburo pega trabajo curro chamba chamba trabajo |
| cool | bacano | copado bacán chévere guay chido chévere |
| gas station | bomba | estación de servicio bencinera gasolinera gasolinera grifo |
| money | plata | guita cuartos pasta lana chavos |
| the bus | bus | colectivo micro guagua autobús pesero micro guagua |
| a beer with friends | not sourced yet | birra chela una fría una caña chela chela una fría |
| a birthday cake | not sourced yet | torta torta bizcocho tarta pastel torta bizcocho |
| a hangover | guayabo | resaca la caña resaca resaca cruda resaca hangover |
| a pen | lapicero Bogotá: esfero | birome lápiz pasta boli pluma pluma |
| a traffic jam | taco Bogotá: trancón | embotellamiento tapón atasco embotellamiento embotellamiento tapón |
| beans | fríjoles | porotos porotos habichuelas judías / alubias frijoles frejoles habichuelas |
| a banana | banano | banana plátano guineo plátano plátano plátano guineo |
| eyeglasses | gafas | anteojos lentes espejuelos lentes lentes espejuelos |
| a car | carro | auto auto coche coche |
| a swimming pool | piscina | pileta alberca |
| an apartment | apartamento | departamento departamento piso departamento departamento |
| avocado | aguacate | palta palta palta |
| sneakers | tenis | zapatillas zapatillas zapatillas zapatillas |
Each row links to the full eight-country comparison with its sources. Grey = the standard dictionary word is the local word too.
Talk like a paisa
The in-app «Talk like a local» guide for Colombian Spanish — the words and turns of phrase Medellín's characters use in conversation, so you recognise them when they come at you at speed.
| They say | It means | You'll hear |
|---|---|---|
| tinto | small black coffee (elsewhere: café solo) | ¿Me regala un tinto, por favor? The big false friend. In Colombia "un tinto" is a little cup of black coffee, drunk all day long; in Spain and most of Latin America "tinto" means RED WINE. Ask for a tinto in Madrid and you will be handed a glass of wine. |
| arepa | flat maize cake | Un tinto y una arepa con quesito. Eaten at any hour. The paisa version is thin, plain and white, split and buttered or topped with "quesito" — not the thick stuffed Venezuelan kind. |
| buseta | small city bus (elsewhere: autobús) | Coja la buseta en la esquina. The little privately run bus; a full-size one is a "bus" and Medellín's rail system is simply "el metro". |
| plata | money (elsewhere: dinero) | No cargo plata en efectivo. The everyday word for money across Colombia — literally "silver". "Dinero" sounds like a bank form. |
| camello | work / a job (elsewhere: trabajo) | Conseguí camello en el centro. A job, especially a hard-slogging one; the verb is "camellar". Literally "camel" — the animal that plods on and on. |
| guaro | anise liquor (elsewhere: aguardiente) | Nos tomamos unos guaros en la finca. Antioquia's own drink, sold as Aguardiente Antioqueño. "Guaro" is the affectionate short form everyone actually uses. |
| saco | sweater / jumper (elsewhere: suéter) | Lleve saco que en la finca hace frío. In Colombia a "saco" is a knitted sweater; elsewhere the same word can mean a suit jacket or a sack. |
| cuadra | city block (elsewhere: manzana) | La panadería queda a dos cuadras. Directions in Colombia are counted in "cuadras", never in "manzanas". |
| carro | car (elsewhere: coche) | Dejé el carro en el parqueadero. "Carro" throughout Colombia; and the car park is a "parqueadero", not an "aparcamiento". |
| celular | mobile phone (elsewhere: móvil) | Le paso el número a mi celular. "Celular" everywhere in Colombia; "móvil" is the Spain word. |
Everyday phrases
- usted (con todo el mundo) — the paisa ustedeo — "usted" even with the people closest to you THE thing to unlearn in Antioquia. Textbooks teach tú = close, usted = distant. Here it is not so: a mother says "usted" to her small child, spouses say "usted" to each other, lifelong friends say "usted". So "usted" is simply what you call everyone, and staying on it as a conversation warms up is correct — switching to "tú" to sound friendlier is the Spain reflex and lands oddly. "Vos" ("vos sos", "vení", "mirá") is the other live pronoun between paisa peers who already know each other; "tú" is the rare one in Medellín. Plural is always "ustedes" — "vosotros" simply does not exist here.
- ¿Qué más? — How are you? / What's up? The standard paisa greeting, not a real question about news. Often "¿qué más pues?". Answer with "bien, ¿y usted?" and you sound local immediately.
- ¡Hágale! — Go ahead! / Do it! / OK, let's go All-purpose green light: permission, encouragement, agreement. "Hágale pues" closes a plan warmly.
- ¡Qué pena! — Sorry! / How embarrassing In Colombia this is an APOLOGY, and "pena" means embarrassment — not "what a shame", which is what it means in Spain. "¡Qué pena con usted!" is the polite way to open an interruption or own a small mistake.
- ¿Me regala…? — Could I have…? (ordering) Nothing is being given away — "regalar" is simply how Colombians order and hand things over. The server says it back: "le regalo la cuenta".
- Con mucho gusto — You're welcome / my pleasure The Colombian answer to "gracias", far more common than "de nada". In a shop you will also be greeted and thanked with "a la orden".
Practise it with someone from Medellín
Paisa Spanish does something no textbook prepares you for: it uses «usted» with everybody — your friends, your mother, the dog. Not distance, just how affection sounds here. Wílmar opens Panadería La Aurora before six, greets you with «¿Qué más? ¿Cómo amaneció?», and will have poured you a tinto before you have decided anything. The politeness runs on «¿Me regala…?» and «con mucho gusto», and it is genuinely one of the easiest accents to follow.
Meet Wílmar in Medellín →