10 Super Spanish Street Slangs you must learn before roaming over Spanish streets!
What should you prepare before hitting Spain? Apart from your travel guide, sunglasses and google map, learning some Spanish street slangs will make you fit in quicker and appear less like a guiri (the Spanish slang referring to foreign tourists)!
Learn the following 10 cool Spanish street slangs and be savvy over street talk!
1. Mola
“Molar” means “back tooth”, but at the same time its verb form is frequently used in Spanish to say you like something/someone; or to be cool/in fashion.
Me mola esa chica.
(I like this girl).
El coche mola.
(This car is cool).
Esta camiseta ya no mola.
(The T-shirt is no longer in).
2. Molón/molona
You can use molón/molona in Spain to refer to something “cool”, “pretty” or “neat”.
Esta fiesta es molona.
(This party is cool).
3. Es una pasada
In Spain you can use “es una pasada” to refer to something that is “cool” or “neat”.
Note: We use “pasada” for both masculine and feminine nouns.
Este coche es una pasada.
(This car is cool).
Esta película es una pasada.
(This movie is cool).
4. Genial
This might be the most well-known expression for saying something is “cool” or “great”, and it is shared throughout Spanish-speaking countries.
El libro es genial.
(The book is cool.)
5. Guay
Guay is a common expression used by teens in Spain to say something is cool.
¡Qué guay!
(How cool!)
6. Ser majo/maja
Majo/maja is a colloquial expression for saying someone or something is nice or good looking.
Tiene una casa muy maja.
(He/she has a very beautiful house)
Tu jefe es majo.
(You boss is nice)
7. Coña
“Coña” in Spanish means “joke”. 2 colloquial expressions formed by the word are:
“Ni de coña”
(No way!)
¿Estás de coña?
(Are you kidding?)
But be careful about these expressions and use them in familiar conversation only, as they can sound rather vulgar. Don’t say it in front of your Spanish boss or the mom of your friend!
8. Tío / Tía
Apart from its formal meaning as uncle/aunt, tío/tía can also be used as “dude” for calling your friend.
¡Tío, qué guapo hoy!
(Dude, you look so handsome today!
9. Mala leche
“Mala leche” literally means “bad milk”, but if your Spanish friend says to you “Me pone de mala leche”, is he meaning that he is given some spoiled milk for his breakfast cereal?
Not necessarily. “Mala leche” in Spanish slang means bad luck, or you can say that something puts you in a bad mood. So what your friend was saying to you might be “I am in a bad mood”.
Me pone de mala leche ir de compras.
(I get annoyed when going shopping).
“Tener mala leche” is also a way for saying someone is not a good person.
Marta tiene mala leche.
(Marta is not a good person).
10. Ser mono
When we say something “es mono” in Spain it means “it’s cute” or “it’s adorable”, and it is common to refer to a child as “mono” or “mona”.
But be careful that outside Spain, e.g. in Argentina, “mono” doesn’t carry the same meaning of “cute”, but…“monkey”!
“¡Qué mono!”
(How cute!)
“Tu hijo es muy mono.”
(You son is so cute)
Check out our related blog post 6 Crazy Witty Spanish Animal Slangs!
Interested in learning more Spanish slangs? Book a Skype class with María and José, our teachers from Spain!