When you’re traveling to Mexico, it helps to know some Spanish. But Mexico has a rich array of slang, and some Spanish words mean totally different things in Mexico.

To make sure you don’t say the wrong way, here’s our guide to the top 10 Mexican slang phrases that you need to know. 

1. ¿Qué onda?

Let’s start with a simple greeting, and qué onda means “what’s up?”. Qué means what and onda means wave, so it literally translates to “what wave”. 

If you only learn one piece of Mexican slang, it should be qué onda as a good casual greeting to make people feel at ease. 

Using the same idea, you can also say “buena onda” to mean good vibes (literally “good waves”). 

Pronunciation: qué onda (keh ohn-dah)

2. Carnal

Carnal is the Mexican slang word for a good friend. It comes from the Latin “carne” meaning meat or flesh.

This might seem strange, but it connects to the idea of being of the same flesh or of the same blood, implying that you and your close friend are like family. 

For a more casual friend, you could also use compa, which means friend and comes from the Spanish word “compadre”

Pronunciation: carnal (car-nal)

3. ¡No manches!

No manches is an expression used to express surprise, but it can also convey disgust. It has serval meanings, but is often used like “really?”, “no way!”. You can also use it the same way you would “damn!”. 

For example, you could use it to express your amazement at seeing some of the amazing archaeological marvels in Mexico. 

You might also have heard people say “no mames”, which is a less PG version of the same phrase. It literally means “don’t suck”, but is used as a light-hearted way of saying don’t F with me, or don’t mess with me. 

You can also use no mames to express disbelief, using it to mean “there’s no way”. 

Pronunciation: No manches (noh mahn-chehs)

4. La neta

La neta means truth and the real deal. You can use it to convince someone that what you are saying is really true even if it is hard to believe or use it as a question. 

As a question, it can also be used like “really?” to check if what you are hearing is actually true.  In a sentence, la neta can also mean the reality of a thing, or what is actually happening. 

Pronunciation: la neta (la neh-tah)

5. Chido

Chido means cool, awesome, and great and is used as a compliment. You can apply it to a person or to some of the amazing art in Mexico. 

Pro tip: While “padre” means “father” in Spanish, in Mexican slang it is used in the same way as chido. Now you will know what’s happening if people suddenly start talking about fathers out of nowhere. 

Pronunciation: chido (chee-doh)

6. Hueva

You can use hueva when you are feeling too lazy to do something. It literally means spawn or releasing fish eggs, but that’s not what it means if you hear it used casually.

It does mean laziness, but it can also be used to say that something is too much, similar to the English phrase “I can’t even”. It also means a lack of energy, as in “I don’t have the energy to deal with this”. 

Pronunciation: hueva (weh-vah)

7. Güey

This is a vital Mexican slang word meaning dude, mate, or bro. You can easily combine it with other phrases to make yourself sound more natural. Instead of just saying ¿que onda? you can say ¿que onda güey? for a casual greeting. 

It used to have a negative connotation but is used frequently now. However, it’s still not appropriate when speaking formally, to older people, or in business citations. But as a traveler, you’ll sound just like a native.

As a pro tip, güey is also used as a filler word, much like how English speakers use “like”. You can use it when you’re thinking to avoid too many awkward silences.

Pro tip: Güey is sometimes spelled as “wey” which is how it is pronounced. But the two words are actually the same word.

Pronunciation: güey (way)

8. ¡Aguas!

Agua usually means water, but in Mexican slang, it means a general warning to watch out. This occurred because ¡Aguas! was shouted as a warning to people on the street before you threw your sewage water out of your window. 

It’s not a warning in the sense of a threat, but just telling someone to look out. 

Pronunciation: aguas (ah-waas)

9. Sale 

Sale is an important phrase that means agreement, often suggesting that you are down with a plan. You can use it when you want to say yeah, okay or let’s go. 

It is the Mexican variant of dale and vale, which mean the same thing and are used in other Spanish-speaking countries. 

Pronunciation: sale (sah-leh)

10. Chafa 

Chafa is used to call something low quality and is similar to crappy. It conveys that something is bad, and can be used when talking about an object, a place, an event, or even a government. 

A similar word is “gacho”, which more specifically means boring or uncool and is normally used to describe people rather than objects. 

Pronunciation: chafa (chah-fah)