Slang
How to Learn Spanish Slang: A Practical Guide Beyond the Textbook
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Add a word/Sounds like "PEE" (as in "pea") + "lahs" (as in "lava")/
Meaning
Stay alert, pay attention, or be ready to act. In Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Peru, "pilas" is a direct warning or instruction to sharpen up before something important happens. Literally "batteries": having your batteries charged means being switched on and aware.
Examples
“¡Pilas, que ya llega el cliente! (Heads up, the client is almost here!)”
“Ponte pilas con los plazos o el proyecto se cae. (Get your act together on those deadlines or the project falls apart.)”
Regional synonyms
/Sounds like "PEE" (as in "pea") + "lahs" (as in "lava")/
Meaning
An expression meaning stay alert, pay attention, wake up and stop being distracted. In Colombia and Ecuador it's the standard way to tell someone to get sharp before something happens.
Examples
“Pilas with that car coming fast!”
“Gotta be pilas about the exam date.”
“Get pilas or they'll take your spot.”
Word family
Regional synonyms
/Sounds like "PEE" (as in "pea") + "lahs" (as in "lava")/
Meaning
An Ecuadorian and Colombian expression for "ready," "alert," "awake," or "go on high-alert mode." "Pilas vos" means stay sharp, don't get distracted. Comes from the idea of charged batteries giving energy, applied metaphorically to mental state. Used as a warning, motivation, or just synonym for "be prepared." A daily word in Quito, Guayaquil, and throughout the Colombian highlands too.
Examples
“Watch out for that guy.”
“We need to be sharp at the meeting.”
Regional synonyms
Showing 3 definitions, sorted by votes
Community
Your word isn't here yet
Join Hablaaa and add the expression no one else has documented.
/Sounds like "PEE" (as in "pea") + "lahs" (as in "lava")/
Meaning
Stay alert, pay attention, or be ready to act. In Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Peru, "pilas" is a direct warning or instruction to sharpen up before something important happens. Literally "batteries": having your batteries charged means being switched on and aware.
Examples
“¡Pilas, que ya llega el cliente! (Heads up, the client is almost here!)”
“Ponte pilas con los plazos o el proyecto se cae. (Get your act together on those deadlines or the project falls apart.)”
Regional synonyms
/Sounds like "PEE" (as in "pea") + "lahs" (as in "lava")/
Meaning
An expression meaning stay alert, pay attention, wake up and stop being distracted. In Colombia and Ecuador it's the standard way to tell someone to get sharp before something happens.
Examples
“Pilas with that car coming fast!”
“Gotta be pilas about the exam date.”
“Get pilas or they'll take your spot.”
Word family
Regional synonyms
/Sounds like "PEE" (as in "pea") + "lahs" (as in "lava")/
Meaning
An Ecuadorian and Colombian expression for "ready," "alert," "awake," or "go on high-alert mode." "Pilas vos" means stay sharp, don't get distracted. Comes from the idea of charged batteries giving energy, applied metaphorically to mental state. Used as a warning, motivation, or just synonym for "be prepared." A daily word in Quito, Guayaquil, and throughout the Colombian highlands too.
Examples
“Watch out for that guy.”
“We need to be sharp at the meeting.”
Regional synonyms
Showing 3 definitions, sorted by votes
Articles featuring this word
Tener el santo de espaldas
When nothing goes your way and it feels like the universe has a personal grudge against you. In Mexico and Spain, the image is religious: your patron saint has literally turned their back on you, leaving you to fend for yourself against an endless streak of bad luck.