Mexican Slang: 4 Basic and Curious Mexican Slang Phrases in Spanish

México es un país enoooorme (Mexico is a huuuuge country). It has 32 different states, which are subdivided into municipios (municipalities). Every region has its own slang. For example, most of the slang in Tijuana is based on English words precisely of how close Tijuana is to the U.S. border. 

In spite of these peculiarities, if you use the mexicanismos I’ll teach you in this video, people will definitely understand you regardless of the city or state you are in. They will even think que eres muy buena onda (that you are “a good wave” —that’s how Mexicans refer to a cool person!)

1. Mexican Slang Words

Some of the mexicanismos used to talk about people depending on their job, how they behave, or the social class they belong to include:

Fresa (literally, strawberry)

This slang word could be translated as posh and it is used to refer to people who have a very peculiar way of speaking, which is called acento fresa (literally, strawberry accent).

This accent consists in elongating vowels. So, if you call someone and they say “buenooooo” (helloooooo), they’re probably fresa.

In the English-speaking world, Rachel from Friends is the archetype of what Mexicans consider fresa.

Example: Wey, me cae gorda porque habla muy fresa. (Dude, I don’t like her because she speaks very strawberry-like.) 

Slang words can hardly be translated. It obviously makes no sense if I say “strawberry accent” (in any case, you might think of a flavor rather than a way of speaking or behaving). I don’t really know where that slang word came from, to be honest!

There’s a peculiar expression in this example: me cae gorda. This phrase is very popular in Mexico, and we use it to say that we don’t like someone. If translated literally, it would be something like “she falls fat on me”. I know it makes no sense.

So, this is a chunk you might find useful because, sadly, there are fresas buena onda (cool posh people) and fresas mala onda (uncool posh people) in Mexico. Therefore, being able to say that you don’t like the uncool ones in a very Mexican way might be helpful at some point. 

If you accompany the expression me cae gordo by the word wey, you’ll sound even more Mexican because that’s our equivalent of “dude” or “mate” and we use it all the time with people we are very close to.

Mirrey (literally, my king)

This slang word is used to refer to very rich guys who are usually arrogant and somewhat stupid

Example: No puedes esperar nada de él; es un mirrey. (You can’t expect anything from him, he’s a little lord).

Godínez (Desk workers)

This slang word has no translation because it is actually a last name and it is used to refer to anyone who works at an office (sometimes people use the short version, Godín)

Example: El mundo Godín se alimenta de garnachas. (The Godínez world eats street food.)

Let’s break this down:

Like I said, Godín is the short version of Godínez, which is a last name used to refer to anyone working at an office. Garnachas is another Mexican slang word used to refer to street food, which is usually very greasy or has corn as its main ingredient. Tacos are very popular garnachas, actually. So, in this example (El mundo Godín se alimenta de garnachas) we’re basically saying that people working at an office mainly eat street food, and that is true.

¿Neta? (Really?)

Speaking of what comes across as true… To express incredulity in Mexico, people say either “¿en serio?” or “¿neta?”. Both may be translated as “really?” in sentences like these: 

• ¿En serio te cortaron anoche? (Did they really break up with you last night?)
• ¿Neta te dijo eso? (Did they really say that to you?)

2. Mexican Slang Phrases

The word neta may also be used as a verb (netear) that means telling each other the ugly truth.

• Estábamos en la peda y empezamos a netear muy cañón.

This is a phrase you’ll hear very often and it is basically slang all the way, so let’s break it down:

1. Estar en la peda means being at a drinking party, but “peda” on its own could also be used to talk about a woman who has drunk a lot, to the point of getting wasted.
   • Se tomó tres tequilas y se puso bien peda. (She was completely wasted after drinking three tequilas.)
     • Ponerse peda (or pedo —if you are a man) means getting wasted

2. Empezar a netear could be translated as start telling each other the truth, and this phrase is usually used when there’s something you wouldn’t normally tell someone maybe because you are in love with them or because you are too shy.

3. Muy cañón, which translates literally into “very canyon”, is an expression used to emphasize something, so we could say it’s an equivalent of truly or deeply.

En México, la gente es muy alegre (Mexicans are very joyful people) and you are able to tell because our language allows us to ask what’s up in many different ways to show the other person that we genuinely care about them: 

• Mexicanismos used to say “what’s up” when you are greeting someone informally
  • ¡Qué onda! (Literally, What wave?)
  • ¡Qué rollo! (Literally, What roll?)
  • ¡Qué pedo! (Literally, What fart?)

Either of these expressions will allow you to tejer el chal con tus cuates (to knit a shawl with your friends). This is a very common saying that basically means there’s so much to tell, that you could be able to knit an entire shawl while chatting with your friends to whom you may refer as cuates, which is a slang word for friends or pals that is mostly used by men.

Learn more Mexican Slang with FREE Spanish Training

Wow! We managed to cover a lot of Mexican slang today! Obviamente hay muchos más mexicanismos (there are many more Mexican slang words and phrases obviously). Which one did you like most? Let me know in the comments below!

Now, si no quieres hacer el oso (yet another slang expression that literally translates into “if you don’t want to do the bear”, but actually means if you don’t want to embarrass yourself) and want to strengthen your Spanish skills, you should sign up to the free Spanish training on our website. By doing so, not only will you discover the method we use at our Spring Spanish Academy to teach students to speak fluent Spanish, but you’ll also get some free sample Spanish lessons!