Friend, buddy, or close person in Guatemala and El Salvador. Here "cerote" is affectionate among friends, completely opposite to its use as an insult in Mexico where it refers to a piece of excrement. Context and country are everything with this word.

Cash or money in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras — the most common way to refer to dough in Central America. Without pisto, you're not doing much of anything.

The Central American exclamation of surprise that replaces stronger swear words. It's the perfect euphemism used in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras for literally everything.

Vehicle congestion that paralyzes streets and steals hours of your life. Traffic in Latin American megacities is legendary — what should take 20 minutes can easily become two hours.