Same thing, eight ways to say it
How to say “a party / going out” in Spanish — country by country
A party is una fiesta. To say “to party” or “to go out partying,” use a phrase such as salir de fiesta. In Spain, salir de marcha is another expression for going out. Regional slang has its own meanings and level of informality.
Sources for the short answer: Source 1 · Source 2
Try it in a sentence
Original practice examples using the vocabulary above.
- A party: noun
Hay una fiesta el sábado.
There is a party on Saturday.
- To party: verb phrase
Vamos a salir de fiesta.
We’re going out partying.
Pronunciation: syllables and stress
Capital letters mark the stressed syllable. These are Spanish syllables, not English phonetic spellings; pronunciation varies by region.
- fiestaFIES-ta
- salir de fiestasa-LIR de FIES-ta
What people actually say
| Where | They say | Also · notes |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina Buenos Aires | joda | Slang Also: fiesta; previa (pre-drinks); farra/juerga (older, demodée) Phrase: salir de joda. Vulgar-origin, but normal among young people. |
| Chile Santiago | carrete | Slang Also: previa (pre-party); fiesta; farra (less) Phrase: salir de carrete / carretear. Juvenile. |
| Colombia Medellín | rumba | Regional usage Also: parranda, farra (older); fiesta Phrase: irse de rumba / rumbear. Colloquial, all ages. |
| Dominican Republic Santo Domingo | teteo | Slang Also: bonche (party/gathering); jangueo (hanging out); fiesta; fiestar (verb) Colloquial; street/mass party. Recent (DED example dated 2021). |
| Spain Madrid | fiesta / salir de marcha | Standard usage Also: marcha, juerga, farra (Catalonia esp.), de fies (clipped) Phrase: salir de fiesta / salir de marcha, or just salir. The noun is the pan-Hispanic word. |
| Mexico Mexico City | peda | Slang Also: fiesta (neutral word); pachanga, reventón/reven (older generation), farra; ir al antro (clubbing) Phrase: irse de peda / armar la peda (drinking party). Vulgar-ish: literally drunkenness. |
| Peru Lima | tono | Slang Also: fiesta; juerga; jarana (traditional criollo party) Phrase: irse a tonear. Colloquial, youth. |
| Puerto Rico San Juan | jangueo / un party | Slang Also: fiesta; bonche (the group/crowd); rumba janguear = going out / hanging out; party (pronounced pari) for an actual party. Anglicism, very common. |
Grey = the pan-Hispanic dictionary word is what people really say there. Blank = we couldn't source it yet.
Watch out
- joda (AR party) elsewhere = «Molestia, contrariedad. vulg.» in Mx, Gu, Ho, ES, Ni, Pa, Co, Ve, Pe, Bo, Ch, Py (DAMER I.1) and «Broma o chiste» (II.2, Bo, Py, Ar, Ur). It derives from joder; a Mexican or Peruvian hears annoyance/joke, not party. Even in the Río de la Plata estar de joda can just mean not taking things seriously (iribela, Uruguay). [1][2]
- carrete (CL party) = a spool / roll of film everywhere else (WR dictionary threads are all carrete de fotos, hilo en el carrete); in PR a maritime winch (DAMER II.1). Only Chile has the party sense. [1]
- rumba (CO party) is a music genre in Cuba (DAMER III) and in Spain («rumba y rumbear por aquí es un tipo de música», chics, Catalonia); in Venezuela rumba can also be «Serie de golpes dados a una persona» (DAMER II). DAMER tags the party sense for RD and PR too, so it is a safe Caribbean fallback. [1]
- peda (MX) literally = drunkenness/binge (DEM; DAMER «Mx. Borrachera. pop.»); estar pedo = to be drunk; and outside Mexico pedo = fart (DAMER/DLE). Use only in Mexico and only with people you'd drink with; the neutral noun is fiesta. Reventón sounds «horrendamente anticuado, como de los 80» to mirx (Mexico) though DEM still lists it: «reventón 2 s m (Popular) Fiesta juvenil con música, baile y bebidas». Rest of Mexico: Sonora native lists «irse de pachanga, irse de parranda, irse de fiesta… los jóvencitos dicen irse de antro» (Alma Shofner). [1][2][3]
- tono (PE party) = tone / pitch / dial tone everywhere else; DAMER gives the party sense for Peru only. [1]
- teteo appears only in Dominican lexicography (DED); DAMER has no entry for it, and no WordReference thread mentions it — it is recent (DED example dated 2021). jangueo is in both DED («juv. pop. col. Disfrute relajado del tiempo de ocio») and PR sources — shared Caribbean Anglicism. [1]
- jangueo/janguear (PR) is NOT understood in Mexico or Chile: chileno: «No existe la palabra 'janguear'»; JeSuisSnob (Mexican): «por acá no se usa ese vocablo… su uso es exclusivo de Puerto Rico». Also it means hanging out (DAMER: «Distracción al compartir con compañeros y amigos charla, bromas… en un café o en la calle») more than a party proper; for a real party PR uses the raw Anglicism party/pari (Tesoro: «Anglicismo crudo, usual»). DAMER lists pari only for Ho, ES. [1][2]
- bonche = party/gathering in Mx, Pa, Cu, RD, PR, Ve (DAMER I.1, I.3) but «Disputa, pelea» in Ho, ES, Ni, Co (DAMER II.1) and in PR also «Grupo de personas que se dedica al robo» (DAMER I.10; Tesoro Altieri 1973). Don't headline it. [1]
- marcha (ES salir de marcha) is unknown as a party word in Mexico: «Irse de marcha no lo he escuchado» (Alma Shofner, Sonora). Kraken (Spain): «Irse de marcha: se dice mucho en España. No hay una expresión que la iguale en aceptación». [1]
- juerga is the DLE-style word but reads old/bookish to young Argentines («para los jóvenes 'juerga' es una palabra demasiado difícil», Calambur) — WR/Espasa dictionary: «juerga f. Jolgorio, diversión animada, parranda». [1]
- farra: DAMER gives Py/Ar «Burla», Bo/Pe «Borrachera», Ch «Derroche», Ur «Hecho desagradable» — yet natives in AR, CL, MX, CO, VE, ES all report irse de farra = go partying. Rayines (AR): «de uso algo demodée… mayores de 40». Safe also, not a headline anywhere in these eight. [1][2]
- previa (pre-drinks before going out) is CL juv per DAMER III.1 («Reunión informal… antes de un evento de mayor magnitud… beber o comer algo»); also common in AR but DAMER only records the school sense there — unverified for AR. [1]
- pachanga is pan-Latin (DAMER I.1: Mx, Gu, Ho, ES, Ni, CR, Pa, Cu, RD, PR, Ar, Ve, Ec, Pe: «Fiesta bulliciosa con baile y bebida»), but in Ho/RD also «Borrachera» and in Mx «Cosa complicada»; DEM: «Fiesta de mucho alboroto». JeSuisSnob says in Mexico «pachanga… reventón quizás sean usados por gente no tan joven». [1][2]
- boliche (AR nightclub) = bowling in Mexico (Servando). [1]
Practise a social outing in Buenos Aires
Explore the milonga scene and practise meeting people and making plans.
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Start speaking — freeSources
Every filled 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.
Read the sources and research notes
- Argentina — joda
- DAMER:
joda. II. 1. f. Ho, ES, Ni, Py, Ar, Ur, vulg; pop… Juerga, diversión informal.
↗ - WordReference · Calambur (rioplatense):
lo más común… es 'salir de joda'. Tal vez los más viejos digan 'salir de juerga'
↗ - Chile — carrete
- DAMER:
carrete. I. 1. m. Ch. juv. Actividad social, generalmente nocturna.
↗ - WordReference · Señor K (Chile):
'Salir de carrete', 'salir a carretear' o simplemente 'carretear' por acá por Chile.
↗ - WordReference · poki (Chile):
Los chicos salieron de 'carrete'… 'partying'
↗ - Colombia — rumba
- DAMER:
rumba. I. f. Ho, ES, Ni, Pa, Cu, RD, PR, Ve, Ec, Pe, Bo; Co, juv… Fiesta, parranda.
↗ - WordReference · beatrizg (Colombia):
en Colombia farra es sinónimo de parranda. Pero es más comun decir 'rumba'
↗ - WordReference · Joaqin (Colombia):
Y mas comúnmente es irse de rumba; me voy de rumba.
↗ - Dominican Republic — teteo
- DED:
teteo 1 m. col. Fiesta, generalmente callejera, en la que participan numerosas personas.
↗ - DED:
bonche 1 m. col. Fiesta o reunión festiva.
↗ - Spain — fiesta / salir de marcha
- WordReference · Baldomera (Madrid):
En España se suele decir 'ir de marcha' o simplemente 'salir' (¿sales hoy?…)
↗ - WordReference · falbala84 (Spain):
se utiliza 'salir' a secas y se entiende como salir de marcha
↗ - WordReference/Espasa dictionary:
marcha… P. ext., juerga, diversión: salir de marcha
↗ - Mexico — peda
- DEM (COLMEX):
peda s f (Popular) Borrachera, en particular la que dura mucho o se hace en compañía
↗ - WordReference · Monnik (Mexico):
Los invito a una peda - Come to my party (implying alcohol…)
↗ - WordReference · JeSuisSnob (Mexico):
Irse de pachanga/fiesta/reventón/reven. Armar la peda.
↗ - Peru — tono
- DiPerú:
tono. m. «coloq.». Fiesta, reunión de gente para celebrar algo o divertirse. Llegamos al tono…
↗ - DiPerú (tonear):
tonear. intr. «coloq.». Gozar de una fiesta con música y baile.
↗ - DAMER:
tono. I.1 m. Pe. juv. Fiesta.
↗ - Puerto Rico — jangueo / un party
- Tesoro PR:
jangueo: Entretenimiento, diversión, alterne. Pasatiempo y disfrute en fiestas y actividades alegres. Neologismo anglicado, frecuente. (Morales de Walters 2009)
↗ - Tesoro PR:
party: Fiesta… Anglicismo crudo, usual. (Morales de Walters 2009)
↗ - DAMER: ↗
- WordReference · lauranazario (Puerto Rico):
Como compatriota de Daddy Yankee corroboro que to hang out es 'janguear'.
↗
Where we're less sure
- AR (joda): high — DAMER Ar + two rioplatense posters in 2021. A porteño should confirm joda vs plain fiesta as the card headline (joda = the night out; fiesta = the event).
- CL (carrete): high — DAMER Ch juv + two Chileans.
- CO (rumba): high — DAMER Co + two Colombians; neither states Medellín specifically (beatrizg/Joaqin are just Colombia). Paisa-specific check wanted (parche? farra?).
- DO (teteo): medium — only lexicography (DED, Academia Dominicana); no Dominican native testimony found (Reddit unreachable, no WR thread). A Dominican should confirm teteo is the everyday word for going out partying and not only the big street-party sense.
- ES (fiesta/marcha): high — Madrid native + several Spain posters; DLE not fetchable, so the noun definition comes from WR/Espasa. Testimony is 2007-2008 — de marcha may read dated to Gen-Z Madrileños; the clipped de fies was already reported in 2007.
- MX (peda/fiesta): high for the words; register split needs a native — peda is drinking-party slang, fiesta is neutral. CDMX vs north difference is minor (antro/pachanga everywhere).
- PE (tono): high — Academia Peruana DiPerú (tono + tonear) + DAMER; no WR native poster, though.
- PR (jangueo/party): medium-high — Tesoro + DAMER + PR native for janguear; the party = pari pronunciation is an inference from the Tesoro spelling party (Tesoro has no pari lemma) — a boricua should confirm spelling/pronunciation and whether jangueo or pari belongs on the card.
- No cell is UNVERIFIED, but DO and PR rest on dictionaries plus one native each at most.
Dictionary context and regional notes
The dictionary word is fiesta — DEM: «Reunión de personas en la que se divierten, bailan, comen, etc, generalmente para celebrar algo»; understood everywhere, and in Spain/Mexico it is what people actually say («salir de fiesta»). The verb-phrase «salir de ___» is often more idiomatic than the noun, so the Say column gives the noun plus the local go-out phrase. Here is what you'll actually hear in eight cities, with a cited source for every filled cell.