Funny/interesting Chilean terms

So I had a wonderfully thoughtful and personal post that I had typed up on the plane just before actually stepping foot on the soil (or airport) of the United States again but…. I accidentally deleted it.

So in lieu of that, I present you with a small list of funny words that myself and funny girl Antonella Terraccina came up with on one of our study breaks from finals.

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These area a few colloquialisms that Chileans use that unique to Chile and are sometimes hilarious.

 

_______ es/sería/era la raja! (RA ha)

‘La raja’ literally means ‘buttcrack’ but people use it to mean ‘the best’ or ‘awesome’.

Fome – boring (FO may)

If you don’t want to go out to a party, you’re being ‘fome’

Party – ‘Carrete’ (car AY tay)

Also can also be used as a verb : carretear

Palta = Avocado

In all other spanish speaking countries, avacado is ‘aguacate’

Lata = boring

Pa/para

People rarely say ‘para’ in its entirety. Rather, it’s shortened to ‘pa’ and used that way even on menus sometimes (‘pa comer’ = to eat)

Weon(wn)/Huevon/Gueón (way OWN)

A very interesting word, and one which I’m unsure how to spell. It’s meaning can vary from ‘dude’ (you will hear it every two seconds when listening to any conversation between pubescent to adult males) all the way to the much less polite ‘F**ker’ if someone uses it with the intent of insulting. Shortened to ‘wn’ by locals.

Bacán (buh CAN)

The Chilean word for ‘cool’. Some say it comes from the American slang ‘Rock On’, and my host mother insists that it comes from Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and party. Either way, hilarious. Shortened to ‘bkn’ when written.

Flaite (fly-tee)

‘Lower class’ for lack of a better term. Chileans use this word to describe people exhibiting behavior that they consider as completely lacking class, with the same mental cringe that we get when thinking of the antics of the characters from the Jersey Shore

There you are! You are now equipped with words to help you understand Chilean culture, or at least help you understand Chilean speech, a lot better.

Abrazos,

Dela