Boiled corn or wheat eaten as a side dish or snack — an Andean staple with deep roots in Bolivian, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian food culture. Mote is comfort food at its most fundamental: filling, humble, and present at almost every traditional meal in the highlands.

Cool, awesome, great — one of the most recognizable Spanish slang words across Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia. Chévere is pure Caribbean positivity: when something or someone is chévere, they've got the good vibes, no further explanation needed.

To be in serious trouble, in a tough spot, or under heavy pressure — when everything is going wrong at once. In Colombia and Peru, saying you're en llamas (on fire) is not the good kind: it means the situation is burning out of control and you're in the middle of it.

One Peruvian sol — the basic unit of money in Lima slang. In Peru, a luca is a single sol, so ten lucas is ten soles. Prices, debts, and budgets all get calculated in lucas in everyday street conversation in Lima.