Spanish, a language originally from Europe, was spread into the Americas as the conquest led by the Spanish crown took place in the 18th century. Because of the success in such conquest, the language became a native language to almost every country in the American continent.
But all of those countries had a few (or a lot) of languages before that, so it was natural that every one of them started mixing up their languages with the Spanish language, resulting in quite big variations of the language in every different republic.
Guatemala is not the exception, and theyhave theirown mixed-up words that characterizes themand makes theirslang unique.
Here, we will cover 10 of some of the most popular slang words straight outta Guatemala.
You can read them first and at the very end of this post, you can check out a video of the ten words being used by a Guatemalan who appeared in our addicting Gritty Spanish learning audios!
1. Patojo
Patojo means “kid”. It’s used when talking about a boy. It doesn’t have to be a 5 year old. If the person is old, for an example a person in his twenties, they can also be bea patojo. Like in Episode # 7, “Night of the Knicks Game” from Gritty Spanish: Parte II, where the Guatemalan voice actor refers to one of young Knicks players as a “Patojo“. It doesn’t have either positive or negative connotation to it.
Example:
“¡El hijo de Pedro es un buen patojo!”
“Pedro’s son is a good boy!”
“Realmente me gusta este patojo ruso.”
“I really like this young Russian kid.”
2. Chispudo
If a person is described as chispuda in Guatemala, itmeans that person will respond to a request very fast, or will understand what you are saying quickly, someone witty and smart. It comes from the word “chispa” which literary means spark. So basically, you will be saying that the person who is chispudo is a person that has spark.
Example:
“Seguramente él te va a entender muy rápido porque es bien chispudo.”
“Surely he is going to understand you very fast, because he is very Smart”
3. Clavo
It’s literal meaning is NAIL, but in Guatemalan slang it means two different things. If someone says that he has a “clavo”, it means that person has a problem or a difficult situation.
Example:
“Fijate vos que tengo un clavo con mi carro…”
“Luis se metió en un gran clavo con la policía!”
The second meaning, is that if someone is having “clavo” means that the person is ashamed or embarrassed of a situation or person.
Example:
“A Miguel le da clavo bailar en frente de los papás de su novia.”
“Miguel is embarrassed about dancing in front of his girlfriend’s parents”
“Me da clavo invitar a Paula a salir.”
4.¡Aguas!
The word Agua means water, of course. Aguas would be the plural of Agua. But if someone is yellingAGUAAAASSSS! Then you better duck or move or at least turn around because he/she is warning you about a danger coming close to you. Like if someone throws a ball at you and someone wants to warn you, he/she would scream ¡aguas!, or if a bus is going to run over you then someone will scream “aguas with the bus!”. It doesn’t have to be in a stress situation, it can also be a warning of something that will happen in the future, like:
For an example:
“¡Pedro! ¡Aguascon la piedra!”
“Pedro! Be careful with the Stone!
“Aguas con el examen final porque está difícil.”
“Be careful with the final exam, because it’s difficult.”
So you see, when you want to tell someone, “Be Careful”, tell them, “Aguas”, and they will understand you.
5. Cerote
This word, Guatemalanuse a lot and has several different meanings. Although your grandmother or maybe your mother won’t be happy to hear you say so… Because it is kind of a “bad” word, but everyone is using it with their friends. The most common is to use it as “buddy” “dude” and similar. You can call your best friend a cerote while talking to him, or referring to him.
For an example:
“¡No quiero hablar con vos cerote!”
“I don’t wanna talk to you man!”
“Ese cerote es mi mejor amigo!”
“That dude is my best friend!”
You can also insult your worst enemy with the same word, it depends in the tone. In Gritty Spanish Part I, a Guatemalan voice actor used “Cerote”to describe a police officer, he doesn’t like, basically called him a “Pig”.
Here is an example of it being used in a bad manner:
“Marco es un cerote y no confío en él”
“Marco is a snake and I don’t trust him”
See that? Who you are speaking to and the TONE you use is very important, just like in English.
It doesn’t end here, you can use it as an adjective when you are talking about something that is difficult to do or if it’s looking bad.
Examples:
“El examen de manejo está bien cerote.”
“The driving test is very hard.”
“La subida a la montaña estuvo bien cerota.”
“The climb to the mountain was very difficult.”
6. Chilero
This one is pretty easy. It basically means “cool” or “nice” as an adjective.
For an example:
“¡La película estuvo bienchilera!”
“The movie was pretty cool!”
“¡Tus zapatos están chileros!”
“Your shoes are pretty cool!”
7. Shute
When you callsomeone shute, it’sbecause he or she is trying to find about things not of his or her concern. It is not an insult, but it is not too friendly either. You can call a friend shute or an enemy the same way… It depends of the context and the tone you use of course.
Example:
“No hables cerca de Marta porque es bienshute”
“Don’t talk close to Marta because she is very nosey”
“Deja de entrometerte, no seas shute Mariano!”
“Stop meddling, don’t be nosey Mariano!”
8. Chucho
This one is also quite simple, A Guatemalan slangword to say dog is chucho. Although there is another thing theyalso call chucho,which are the nut wheel of a tire. So the only time chucho doesn’t mean dog, is when you are talking about changing a tire or mechanics.
For an example:
“El chucho de Juan me mordió ayer.”
“John’s dog bit me yesterday.”
“Le quiero regalar un chucho a mi hijo para navidad”
“I want to give my son a dog for Christmas”
And when it is a nut wheel…
Example:
“Ayúdame, los chuchos están muy apretados”
“Help me, the nut wheels are very tight.”
9. Brincón
Someone who is brincón is constantly trying to pick fights. It is not an insult or in a bad manner, there are just some people that are easy to antagonize and end up in fights every time they go out or very often. This type of people, Guatemalans call brincones.
For an example:
“No molestes mucho a Raúl porque es brincón”
“Don’t provoke Raul, he is a trouble-maker”
10. Burra
The literal meaning of burro is Donkey. So burra would be the female form of donkey. But it just happens that in Guatemala, theyalso say burra when talking about a bus. Any kind of bus, it can be a chicken bus, a metro bus or even a Pullman bus.
Example:
“Ayer, me asaltaron en laburracuando iba de regreso a mi casa.”
“Yesterday, I was assaulted on the bus when I was on my way back home.”
“Para ir a trabajar, tengo que agarrar dos burras.”
“To get to work, I have to catch two buses.”
Thanks, you’ll hear/read many of these & more in our Gritty Spanish Courses!
Here are the phrases being repeated by a native from Guatemala. You’ll hear his voice in many of the stories in Gritty Spanish! When you’re done listening, make sure you check out our article on 12 Spanish speaking countries and some of their Popular slangs!
