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The TikTok Slang Collision: How Hispanic Gen Z Mixes 22 Countries Into One Language
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Add a word/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
Awesome, excellent, incredible, top-tier in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. It's THE positive adjective for everything you love, everything that impresses you, and everything that deserves maximum verbal praise.
Examples
“How bacán is your new apartment!”
“The trip was bacán, we visited incredible places.”
“It'd be bacán if you came to visit us.”
Word family
Anonymous
/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
Cool, excellent, great quality, or just genuinely likable. Used across Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and Colombia to describe something outstanding or someone who everyone naturally gets along with without even trying. It covers both things and people.
Examples
“Ese concierto estuvo bacán, me lo pasé fenomenal.”
“That concert was great, I had an amazing time.”
“Tu hermano es un bacán, siempre tiene el mejor humor.”
“Your brother is a great guy, he always has the best mood.”
Word family
/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
In Ecuador, a wealthy or upper-class person. Unlike in Peru where bacán means "cool" or "awesome," in Ecuador it can carry more of a tone of pointing out someone's social status.
Examples
“That guy's real bacán, he's got a brand new car.”
“He thinks he's bacán because his dad has money.”
Word family
Regional synonyms
/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
Cool, quality, excellent, Peru's go-to positive adjective for people and things. Bacán shares roots with Colombia's bacano but in Peru it's been fully localized: it covers a wide range from 'that's nice' to 'that's genuinely impressive.' Reliable, versatile, and very Peruvian.
Examples
“That guy is really cool, he helped me without asking for anything.”
“Awesome! They got me tickets.”
Showing 4 definitions, sorted by votes
Community
Your word isn't here yet
Join Hablaaa and add the expression no one else has documented.
/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
Awesome, excellent, incredible, top-tier in Chile, Ecuador, and Peru. It's THE positive adjective for everything you love, everything that impresses you, and everything that deserves maximum verbal praise.
Examples
“How bacán is your new apartment!”
“The trip was bacán, we visited incredible places.”
“It'd be bacán if you came to visit us.”
Word family
Anonymous
/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
Cool, excellent, great quality, or just genuinely likable. Used across Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, and Colombia to describe something outstanding or someone who everyone naturally gets along with without even trying. It covers both things and people.
Examples
“Ese concierto estuvo bacán, me lo pasé fenomenal.”
“That concert was great, I had an amazing time.”
“Tu hermano es un bacán, siempre tiene el mejor humor.”
“Your brother is a great guy, he always has the best mood.”
Word family
/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
In Ecuador, a wealthy or upper-class person. Unlike in Peru where bacán means "cool" or "awesome," in Ecuador it can carry more of a tone of pointing out someone's social status.
Examples
“That guy's real bacán, he's got a brand new car.”
“He thinks he's bacán because his dad has money.”
Word family
Regional synonyms
/Sounds like "bah" (as in "bar") + "KAHN" (as in "car")/
Meaning
Cool, quality, excellent, Peru's go-to positive adjective for people and things. Bacán shares roots with Colombia's bacano but in Peru it's been fully localized: it covers a wide range from 'that's nice' to 'that's genuinely impressive.' Reliable, versatile, and very Peruvian.
Examples
“That guy is really cool, he helped me without asking for anything.”
“Awesome! They got me tickets.”
Showing 4 definitions, sorted by votes
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Tomarse el palo
To take a comment or joke personally when it was not aimed at you. In Mexico, someone who "se toma el palo" gets defensive over something that had nothing to do with them, which usually just confirms everyone else's suspicion that it actually did.