Same thing, eight ways to say it
How to say “money” in Spanish — country by country
The dictionary word is dinero — The DLE headword; every cell is a colloquial substitute. The DLE pasta entry lists the whole slang family as synonyms (cuartos, guita, lana, tela, parné, billete…) with NO regional marks, so country attribution rests on DAMER, DEM, Tesoro, DiPerú and native posts. plata is the ordinary Latin-American word (DLE «Am. Dinero o riqueza») rather than slang, which is why three cells share it. Here is what you'll actually hear in eight cities, with the source for every cell.
What people actually say
| Where | They say | Also · notes |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina Buenos Aires | guita | Also: plata (the everyday Am. word) Lunfardo; «lenguaje muy informal» per a Buenos Aires native. Unknown in Mexico and Colombia. |
| Chile Santiago | plata | Also: luca = 1,000 pesos (DAMER Ch) The normal Latin-American word; not really slang. luca (una luca, cinco lucas) is the everyday unit word. |
| Colombia Medellín | plata | Also: lucas (DAMER Co pl. «Dinero. pop.»); picho de plata = loaded (DAMER Co) The Am. word. No Medellín-specific slang was sourced; a Cali native says guita is «Desconocida por estos lados». |
| Dominican Republic Santo Domingo | cuartos | Also: chavos (DAMER Cu, RD, PR) DAMER localises the living singular cuarto = dinero to RD; DLE keeps cuartos pl. as unmarked coloq. No Dominican native reached. |
| Spain Madrid | pasta | Also: guita (still heard, less than 20 years ago per one Spain-based poster); cuartos; parné; tela (all DLE synonyms) DLE coloq.; pasta gansa = a lot of money. Nobody posts about pasta because it is unremarkable in Spain. |
| Mexico Mexico City | lana | Also: varo / baro (DEM Popular: 1 peso, 2 money; DAMER baro Mx) DEM Popular. A CDMX native maps the Rioplatense guita straight onto lana. |
| Peru Lima | plata | Also: billete (DLE synonym, no region) DiPerú headword; the ordinary word. lucas is DAMER-marked for Colombia, not Peru, so it stays off. |
| Puerto Rico San Juan | chavos | Also: pesos (PR uses pesos for dollars — not sourced here) Tesoro marks it Espontáneo; singular chavo = one cent, money only in the plural. |
Grey = the pan-Hispanic dictionary word is what people really say there. Blank = we couldn't source it yet.
Watch out
- pasta (the Spain word) = cocaine paste in Peru: DLE pasta 15 «f. coloq. Perú. pasta básica de cocaína»; also 14 «El Salv. Pastilla de droga». Asking for pasta in Lima is not asking for money. [1]
- varo (the Mexican also-word) = penis in El Salvador: DAMER varo «I. 1. m. ES. Pene. euf.» The money word is baro in DAMER (Mx, ES, Cu) and both spellings circulate in Mexico (DEM «varo… (También baro)»). [1][2]
- lana = an opportunist or con artist in Central America (DAMER lana I.1 «Gu, Ho, ES, Ni. Referido a persona, oportunista»; II.1 «Ho, ES, Ni. Referido a persona, timadora») and moss in Costa Rica (DLE 7). DAMER has no money sense for lana at all — that lives in the DLE (6 «coloq. dinero»). [1]
- guita is Rioplatense plus Spain, unknown in Mexico and Colombia (JeSuisSnob, CDMX: «Por acá no se usa»; oa2169, Cali: «Desconocida por estos lados»), and in El Salvador the variant güita is criminal argot (DAMER «m. ES. Guita, dinero. delinc.»). DLE's first sense is literal: «Cuerda delgada de cáñamo». [1][2]
- luca = 1,000 pesos in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, but plain money (plural lucas) in Colombia: DAMER luca «I. 1. Ar, Ur, pop; Ch … Cantidad de dinero equivalente a mil pesos. 2. f. pl. Co. Dinero. pop.» Diez lucas is ten thousand in Santiago and just some cash in Medellín. [1]
- cuarto(s) is a historic Spanish coin (DLE 11 «Moneda de cobre española … cuatro maravedís»), so Spaniards understand cuartos too; and chavo in PR is one CENT in the singular (Tesoro «Centavo de dólar»), money only in the plural — while in Mexico a chavo is a young man. [1][2]
- plata is pan-American enough to carry proverbs: DAMER «la ~ llama la ~» (Ni, Ec, Bo, Ar, Ur) and «por la ~ baila el mono» (Ho, Ni, RD, Ec, Bo, Ur). It is the safe word everywhere in Latin America; only Spain finds it odd. [1]
- Register: guita, pasta, lana and varo are informal but not rude; cuartos, chavos and plata are everyday spoken register (DAMER pop + cult → espon).
Hear it in the city
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Start speaking — freeSources
Every cell above is backed by human-authored lexicography or a native speaker who says where they're from — ASALE's Diccionario de americanismos, El Colegio de México's Diccionario del español de México, the Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, the Peruvian Academy's DiPerú, and country-stated posts on language forums. Nothing here comes from a model's recall. Spot a mistake? Tell us — corrections from native speakers go straight in.
- Argentina — guita
- DLE:
guita … 3. f. coloq. Dinero contante.
↗ - WordReference · claramolin (Español-Argentina, Buenos Aires):
'guita' es plata. O sea, Rulo está poniendo toda la plata. Es un lenguaje muy informal.
↗ - WordReference · JeSuisSnob (Mexico City):
Por acá no se usa en el sentido de 'dinero'. Ese uso solamente se lo he escuchado a gente del Río de la Plata (a argentinos y a algunos uruguayos) en contextos informales
↗ - DAMER:
c. ǁ ~ chica. f. Ar, Ur. Dinero suelto o billetes de poco valor. pop + cult → espon. d. ǁ ~ dulce. f. Ch, Ar, Ur. Dinero fácilmente adquirido.
↗ - Chile — plata
- DLE:
plata … 7. f. Am. Dinero o riqueza. No tengo plata para comprar.
↗ - DAMER:
plata. I. 1. pl. Ch. Dinero en cantidad considerable, en cuanto se administra o se usa en transacciones comerciales. ■ a. ǁ cualquier ~. f. Ch, Ar, Ur. Gran cantidad de dinero. pop + cult → espon.
↗ - DAMER:
luca. I. 1. Ar, Ur, pop; Ch, pop + cult → espon. Cantidad de dinero equivalente a mil pesos.
↗ - Colombia — plata
- DLE:
plata … 7. f. Am. Dinero o riqueza.
↗ - DAMER:
luca. … 2. f. pl. Co. Dinero. pop.
↗ - DAMER:
□ a. ǁ picho de ~. loc. adj. Co. Referido a persona, adinerada.
↗ - WordReference · oa2169 (Español; Cali, Colombia — on guita):
Desconocida por estos lados.
↗ - Dominican Republic — cuartos
- DAMER:
cuarto. … III. 1. m. RD. Dinero.
↗ - DLE:
cuarto … 19. m. pl. coloq. dinero (‖ moneda corriente). 20. m. pl. coloq. dinero (‖ hacienda, fortuna).
↗ - DAMER:
chavo. … m. pl. Cu, RD, PR. Dinero, moneda corriente. pop + cult → espon.
↗ - Spain — pasta
- DLE:
pasta … 10. f. coloq. dinero (‖ moneda corriente). Sin.: dinero, moneda, efectivo, numerario, cuartos, guita, moni, tela, lana, parné, billete… pasta gansa 1. f. coloq. Gran cantidad de dinero.
↗ - WordReference · Cintia&Martine (Spain-based — on guita):
Por aquí sí se utiliza pero me parece que menos que hace unos 20 años.
↗ - Mexico — lana
- DEM (COLMEX):
lana … II (Popular) 1 Dinero: 'Tiene mucha lana en el banco', 'No tengo nada de lana', 'Préstame una lana'… 2 Una (buena) lana Mucho dinero
↗ - DEM (COLMEX):
varo s m (También baro) (Popular) 1 Peso, unidad monetaria: 'Salieron los ratones con un botín de 20 mil varos', quince varos la comida 2 sing Dinero: '…pus güey, no hay varo'
↗ - DAMER:
baro. I. 1. m. Mx, ES, Cu. Dinero. pop. (varo).
↗ - WordReference · JeSuisSnob (Mexico City):
se parece al que tenemos por acá cuando decimos 'lana'
↗ - Peru — plata
- DiPerú:
plata. f. Dinero. María, esta Semana Santa me la pasé taxeando duro… le di la platita a mi ex…
↗ - DLE:
plata … 7. f. Am. Dinero o riqueza.
↗ - Puerto Rico — chavos
- Tesoro PR:
(general) Centavo, moneda de cobre que vale un céntimo de dólar. En Santo Domingo: chele; en Cuba: kilo. … pl. Dinero, riqueza. … Dinero. 'No tengo chavos', 'no tengo dinero'.
↗ - DAMER:
chavo. … m. pl. Cu, RD, PR. Dinero, moneda corriente. pop + cult → espon.
↗
Where we're less sure
- AR (guita): high — DLE coloq. + Buenos Aires natives (claramolin, aleCcowaN) + a Mexican and a Colombian confirming it as Rioplatense. DAMER has no guita entry because the DLE covers it.
- CL / CO / PE (plata): high on the word, but it is the ordinary Latin-American word, not slang — the card's slang framing is loosest here, so the cells are local-standard, not slang. No CL or CO native forum post exists for plata itself (nobody asks about the unmarked word). CL luca is DAMER Ch; CO lucas is DAMER Co; no Medellín-specific slang was sourced.
- DO (cuartos): medium — DAMER cuarto III «RD. Dinero.» is clean, but no Dominican native testimony was reached (Reddit blocked; Diccionario del español dominicano is an ebook). DAMER also gives chavos for RD; a native should say which is the everyday Santo Domingo word today. Kind chosen as local-standard on DAMER's unmarked RD entry (the research file offered slang / local-standard).
- ES (pasta): high — DLE coloq. + pasta gansa; Spain-native testimony exists only for guita.
- MX (lana / varo): high — DEM Popular for both + DAMER baro + a CDMX native.
- PR (chavos): high — Tesoro (multiple lexicographers, Espontáneo) + DAMER.
- Shipped card is supported in all 8 cells. DLE entries fetched via Wayback (dle.rae.es 403). Not reached: Reddit, DED, Diccionario de colombianismos.