Intercambio hispano
5,700 Spanish Slang Words: The Secret Map of How Each Country Speaks
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Add a word/Sounds like "CHOHM" (as in "chose") + "boh" (as in "boat")/
Meaning
A Panamanian term for a person of African descent, especially descendants of the West Indian workers who came to build the Panama Canal in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The word carries complex historical weight: some use it as a source of cultural pride and identity, while others consider it derogatory. In Panama, context, tone, and who is saying it to whom defines everything.
Examples
“The chombo community in Colón keeps their West Indian ancestors' traditions alive.”
“How you use that word depends entirely on who you're saying it to and how.”
Word family
Regional synonyms
Community
Your word isn't here yet
Join Hablaaa and add the expression no one else has documented.
/Sounds like "CHOHM" (as in "chose") + "boh" (as in "boat")/
Meaning
A Panamanian term for a person of African descent, especially descendants of the West Indian workers who came to build the Panama Canal in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The word carries complex historical weight: some use it as a source of cultural pride and identity, while others consider it derogatory. In Panama, context, tone, and who is saying it to whom defines everything.
Examples
“The chombo community in Colón keeps their West Indian ancestors' traditions alive.”
“How you use that word depends entirely on who you're saying it to and how.”
Word family
Regional synonyms
Articles featuring this word
Enrosque
An emotional entanglement where you are hooked on someone and cannot let go, even knowing it is not going anywhere good. In Argentina and Uruguay, an enrosque is that mental loop where you keep overthinking the same person, going round and round without resolution. Think of it as the situationship spiral.