To cause a huge ruckus, fight, or chaotic scene. In Argentina and the Caribbean, when a quilombo gets armado, everything gets loud, tense, and messy at once. Something that was fine suddenly is very much not fine.

A devoted fan of cuarteto, the upbeat dance music style born in Córdoba, Argentina, in the 1940s. Cuarteteros have their own culture, dance style, and strong regional identity. Carlos "La Mona" Jiménez is the undisputed king of the genre.

To watch, observe, or keep an eye on something or someone. It comes from the English word 'watch' adapted into a Spanish verb, pure Spanglish in action.

Someone obsessed or way too intense about something or someone, to the point where they simply cannot let it go. Very popular on Argentine and Uruguayan social media for calling out people who are fixated on a topic, a crush, or an ex. Basically the Spanish equivalent of being "down bad" or terminally obsessed.

In Argentina, food or snacks, especially when you are craving something to munch on while hanging out with friends. Closest English equivalent is "munchies" or "grub." Comes up most when friends get together to watch a movie or chill, covering everything from chips to a full spread.

To take something too personally or overreact to a minor comment or joke in Argentina. Whoever "agarra viaje" is the one creating the drama, not the person who said the thing. Nobody else is on that trip but them.

A fine, persistent drizzle typical of Lima that isn't quite rain but still gets you wet. It defines Lima's gloomy winter weather, not dramatic enough for an umbrella but annoying enough to ruin your hair.

The short, casual way to say computer in Argentina and other Latin American countries. It's the natural abbreviation everyone uses because saying "computadora" in full sounds way too formal.

A unit of currency equivalent to 1,000 pesos in countries of the Southern Cone, especially Argentina and Chile.

To have sex. A blunt, colloquial term widely used in Chile, Argentina, and Colombia. In the Southern Cone it appears frequently in popular music lyrics and everyday casual conversation among adults, carrying less taboo weight than its directness might suggest elsewhere.

To be scared out of your wits, to experience a sudden and intense fright. Widely used across Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, this very colloquial phrase captures the kind of panic that makes your heart drop in an instant.

To get drunk in Argentina and Uruguay. "Pedo" on its own means drunkenness (and also fart, but context is everything), and "ponerse en pedo" is the act of reaching that state. It is casual, cheerful, and very Rioplatense: Argentines and Uruguayans use it without any judgment, just describing a fact of social life.

To escape or wriggle out of a tricky situation, responsibility, or problem. In Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile, when you zafas you come out the other side unscathed from something that looked bad going in. It can be luck, quick thinking, or a stroke of timing that gets you through.

Working remotely from home or anywhere that isn't the office. It blew up during the pandemic, and many discovered they're more productive in pajamas.

Fake, bootleg, knockoff, or not original or genuine. In Argentina and Uruguay, 'trucho' is used to describe counterfeit products or situations that are unbelievable and lack authenticity, often with a hint of distrust or disregard for the inauthentic nature of the thing or person in question.

An insufferable, intensely annoying person who gets on everyone's nerves from the moment they arrive. A repelente doesn't need to try, irritating people is their natural state of being.

A funny person or situation that gets people laughing. Across Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, and Spain, a chistoso has natural comic timing and never has to try too hard. They always know when to land the joke.

A collective mocking, group teasing, or situation that devolves into uncontrollable laughter and total disorder. When chacota breaks out, nothing serious gets done: everyone is too busy laughing and goofing around to focus on anything.

Having to retake a class because you failed it in Argentina, the dreaded consequence of not studying enough. It means another semester of the same material, the same professor, and the same pain.

A coin or a small, insignificant amount of money in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. If something pays only chirolas, it barely covers your bus fare. The word captures the frustration of being underpaid or the absurdity of effort that earns almost nothing.

In Argentina, to get emotionally hooked on someone or something and find it impossible to let go. Getting "enganchado" with a person lands you somewhere between infatuation and obsession; getting "enganchado" in an argument means you cannot walk away even when continuing makes no sense at all.

To be a complete nobody, a person of zero importance or usefulness in a given situation. Like a zero to the left of a number: technically present, utterly irrelevant. Shared across Spain, Mexico, and Argentina.

To pay or fork over the cash for something in Argentina, the most street-level, lunfardo way of saying someone's gotta put up the money. It comes from Buenos Aires slang born in the barrios that spread across all of Argentina.

To spark interest, desire, or motivation for something. When something opens your appetite, it makes you want more: a travel video that makes you want to book a flight, a talk that makes you want to learn more, or literally, a smell that makes you hungry.

The sidewalk where pedestrians walk next to the street. In Argentina, Uruguay, and the Southern Cone, nobody says "acera", vereda has always been the go-to word for the path from your house to anywhere.

To deceive someone by delivering something completely different from what was promised or paid for. The classic bait and switch. The phrase comes from medieval market fraud where sellers swapped a cheap cat for a prized hare, and it still fits every shady deal today.

An intensifier meaning very or really, the most versatile and ever-present word in River Plate Spanish. You slap it before any adjective to max it out: re beautiful, re crazy, re everything.

Having hidden influence or protection that allows someone to act with impunity, usually because they know the right people in power. In Argentina, tener manga larga means you are shielded from consequences because someone above you has your back, whether in government, business, or institutions.

To drink alcohol, to booze. It's the most direct and popular way to say 'drinking' in Mexico, Argentina, and Peru, 'chupar' sounds more intense than just 'having drinks.'.

An emphatic full stop that doesn't allow for any reply or discussion, the last word in any debate. From the exaggerated English 'period,' and when someone says 'periodt' they're declaring their opinion is law.