10 SLANG WORDS I LEARNED ONLY AFTER LIVING IN MADRID! PART 1

You know when you learn things in a language and then try to say it and it sounds different or when you think you have a decent level and then you hear the natives speak and you don’t understand one word? Yeah that was me during my first few months in Madrid. As time went by, my Spanish improved and I became more confident and started to hang out with more natives. That´s when I realize, Spaniards and Madrileños (like most cities) have their own slang, slang that won't appear in a textbook, the slang that you can only learn by hanging out with them or living here or you know, reading this blog post. Below,I have listed some typical Spanish/Madrileño slang and what it means.



1. EN PLAN
'En plan' is an essential and typical phrase you will hear almost daily. So what does it mean? Well you know those typical valley girls who say like like like like…it’s the same thing. Maybe 8 out of 10 times you can replace 'en plan' with the Spanish word for like 'como' but for me personally, I use en plan way more!

2. CHAVAL
It literally means a young person but people you tend to hear adult friends calling each other 'chaval'. The other day I went to watch Detective Pikachu in Castellano(Spanish from Spain) and even he was calling everyone else in the movie 'chaval' haha so that was definitely interesting. I guess in a way it's how people in English say dude.


3. TIO/TIA
So the word 'tio' means uncle and the word 'tia' means aunt but 9 out of 10 times if you overhear people on the streets saying tia/tio they´re using it in the colloquial way. I like to think that they use 'tia' the way that we use 'GIRLLLLL' and 'tio' the way that we use 'BROOO'. Either way it's important to know that if a friend calls you 'tia' it's not because they think that you´re like their aunt ok?? There is also another word, "tronco" which means the same and Madrileños are famous for using it but I'll explain it a little more in a next post that I'm working on!


4. HOMBRE
Well this is one of my favorite slang words because my story behind it is hilarious. I went out one night with a couple Spanish friends and their friends and we were discussing I can't remember what exactly and all of a sudden he says "hombre, claro!"…and me there thinking…claro means of course…hombre means man..does my friend's friend think that I'm a ….man??!?? bruh.

I remember telling him "perdón pero soy una chica..una mujer..sabes?" (sorry but I'm a girl..a woman you know?) and then everyone started laughing because you know "hombre" is like a next way to say dude. So if someone calls you hombre..and you're a girl.. don’t worry about it ok? hahaha


5. PAVO
Imagine going out with your friends and overhearing them talking about the price of things and saying that yeah the concert costs 50 pavos. Ahem…what?!? 'Pavo' literally means turkey but many times its used as euros or bucks you know. So please don’t think that in Madrid you can use turkeys to pay for things..although that would be interesting ahahah.


6. MOLA
Mola is a next word that you would often hear. Used on its own it can mean cool or used like a verb it can mean 'I like it'. A common phrase you would hear is "mola mazo" or "mola mogollón", mazo and mogollón mean a lot and they are also other words that you will frequently hear.

7. MADRID OR MADRIZ?
Ok so this one doesn’t count as slang but I still think it's an important one to know. Here, words that end in the letter d aren't typically pronounced with the d sound but the z sound which is like a soft th sound in English ahaha...yeah I know, confusing. Imagine me, making an effort to say MadriD and hearing everyone else say MadriZ or me calling my friend DaviD and hearing his other friends say DaviZ . It's not a big deal because I think either way people will understand you and no one form is really weirder than another.

8. FLIPAR
Flipar is one of those words that can mean so many things depending on the context. In one situation it can be good and in a next it can mean the complete opposite. Imagine you see your best friend's boyfriend cheating, well you can say, "estoy flipando" or "flipo con lo que estoy viendo ahora." Literally you can´t believe whats going on, you are shocked.Now imagine that a friend invited you to a super cool concert and a band that you like is playing, you can say 'me flipa este grupo', meaning I really like this band.
So you see, "flipar" is a Spanish essential and a personal favorite especially because a student of mine always tells me 'I'm flipping Darcy, flipping!´ and I always laugh because I always think of him doing cartwheels or something gymnastic wise when he says it ahaha.

9. PIRARSE

Although it looks likes a word that could mean pirate, it’s a colloquial way to talk about leaving. You can sometimes hear "me voy" or "me piro" meaning I'm leaving. It was interesting to hear it because I guess in a way because of context I understood the meaning but it left me thinking, why the hell don’t people just say me voy??!??!? but you know, if they did, it just wouldn’t be Madrid.

And oh, just like people sometimes say see ya later alligator, here they say, me piro vampiro (I'm leaving vampire haha)

10. ROLLO
Rollo rollo rollo. The word of a million meanings and expressions and I love it. The word rollo means roll or reel but colloquially it is used in a whole difference sense.

• 'Tener buen/mal rollo' means to have a good or bad vibe or atmosphere.

• 'Estar de rollo' means to be with someone in a romantic or intimate sense but not exclusive.

• 'Cortar el rollo' means to kill the vibe or mood.

• 'Ir a mi rollo' means to do things at my pace or rhythm.

And these are just a few…I can't imagine how many more there are!




So I hope you enjoyed my little post and if you are coming to Madrid make sure to brush up on your slang and if you already live here start using it and leave those "gatos" impressed.

Look out for part 2 and possibly part 3 coming pretty soon!