Rants and Articles.
Mochilas pa' los cuadernos
¡Mochilas pa’ los cuadernos! — As I uttered the words to a friend this morning (after seeing the picture of a girl that works with his girlfriend), I started pondering their meaning. This is a widely known, rather interesting piece of slang.
For starters, the sentence is literally translated to “Backpacks fo’ the notebooks!” (like so, with the contraction). The phrase — in Cockney slang fashion — is a conversion from words that mean something altogether different but sound pretty much the same: “¡Móchate para los cuates!” would be the original. This actually needs another level of translation: “Móchate” — literally “cut yourself” — is slang for “share”. Specifically, share something which you already have, or which you have privileged access to (in this case, my friend’s girlfriend’s coworker). Then there’s the word “cuates”. This word is used to refer to non-identical twins (identical twins are “gemelos”). In this context, it means “buddies”, but nobody uses that word by itself anymore, except for this guy (incidentally, “cuaderno de doble raya” — double-lined notebook — means “really good buddy”).
So “¡Mochilas pa’ los cuadernos!” means “Share with the buddies!” (referring to oneself as “the buddies” in question).
The expression can be a stand-alone, but is usually accompanied by a slashing motion with the right hand that goes from the upper left shoulder to the right hip. This can also be used by itself (along with a whistling sound), but the more common utterance is what I just described. The phrase can be further convoluted by doing the hand motion and saying “ponte la del Puebla” (wear the Puebla’s [shirt]). Puebla, in this case, refers to the Soccer team of that town. The shirt in question sports a colored stripe that goes from the shoulder to the hip. Soccer being an important part of Mexican culture, this one’s likely to be understood by most people, although it’s not that common.
Isn’t language FUN? I love these kinds of things myself. Old cockney slang makes use of similar resources, and it also rhymes (“Fisherman’s daughter” — “water”). Aussies have their equivalents (“BBQ” — “Barbie”).
Slang makes a language feel alive and provides a sense of belonging. Foreigners always have the most problems learning it due to its temporariness (slang terms evolve really fast) and its cultural specific content. Slang comprises the funner parts of the language.
What are interesting, very cultural-specific pieces of slang in your country?
— sergio on January 27, 2004 
Comments
G’day,
There are far too many Aussie-isms to list for you, but my favourite is ‘fair dinkum’. Not really sure where the hell it came from but it can mean ‘really?’ or ‘a good sort’.
Excuse me, but I really must attend to my barbie, the shrimp are beginning to burn.
Alison
Si quieres te presento a hilda ;), tu solo di cuando ;) sorry no escribir en ingles pero mi ingles es todavia mucho peor que el español.
Dios, te lo dije…. Español :s
Being of British descent and from living near London I am pretty familiar with all the Cockney slang :P
Australian language is richly coloured with slang. Here’s a few examples, with US translation:
Bludger = Slacker
Strewth! = Exclamation of surprise (contraction of God’s Truth)
Dob = Tattle on someone
Ocker/Bogan = Trailer park trash
chucking a wobbly = becoming hysterical
off like a bride’s nightie = leaving
arse over tits = falling down
back of Bourke = far away place
barney = fight
cossie = swimming costume
I could go on all arvo (afternoon).
But wait, there’s more
“The full bottle” - to be an knowledgeable or an expert;
“Like a stunned mullet” - to be dazed, confused or bewildered;
“Carry on like a pork chop” - to make a fuss, to behave in a silly or excited fashion;
“Do a Melba” - to return from retirement to make a number of farewell appearances as done by opera singer Dame Nellie Melba;
“Done like a dinner” - to be comprehensively outwitted or defeated;
“Dry as a Pommy’s towel” - extremely dry
“Fair suck of the sauce bottle” - a way of urging someone to be reasonable;
“Flat out like a lizard drinking” - to be extremely busy, at top speed;
“Give it a burl” - to have a go or make an attempt;
“Have tickets on yourself” - to be conceited or have a high opinion of yourself;
“Like a shag on a rock” - to be isolated, lonely or exposed;
“Verandah over the toy shop” - a man’s beer belly;
“On the turps” - to have a bout of heavy drinking;
“Not know whether you are Arthur or Martha” - to be in a state of confusion;
“Put the hard word on” - to ask forcefully for something.
Wow. That was… wow! I’m chucking a wobbly.
It’s interesting. Aussies seem really fond of slang, and people from the UK have Cockney of course. Americans don’t seem so keen on it, though. Or maybe it is that most of the words in common usage today started out as slang and pretty much became part of the language (“cool”?)
Matt, you rock! As far as slang listings, I’m done like a dinner, but I shall give it a burl… tomorrow. Tonight, it’s time to be on the turps.
And I’m pretty sure I managed to misuse all of the above, right?
“off like a bride’s nightie” hehe, right Aussies certainly have funny slang…..but what about this:
chale = been surprised about something, or strangeness.
Ya chole ! = having enough of something
chafa = something is chafa if its quality is poor.
tacuche = suit
fusca = gun
guarura= Bodyguard
enchufarse una chava = getting laid with a girl.
hechar pata = same as above.
congal = tabledance, whore house.
teporochos = drunk, bibolous person.
“tamarindo / támaro” - Tamarind - Traffic cop. Their uniform used to be brown, like the tamarind pod. They’re blue now, but the nickname stuck.
“tira / chota” - Cop. Police.
“Caite cadaver” - Fall, corpse - See “Móchate”.
“Tanto pedo pa’ cagar aguado” - So much farting, to get soft shit - Such a scandal for a small thing (this one’s somewhat vulgar)
Vulgar among the vulgar you mean ….
“Que Pachuca por Toluca?” —> what’s happening?
“Qué milanesas que no bisteces” —> I didn’t see you in a while, glad to see you again.
“Yo pensaba que tu morongas” (I thought you were pig blood) —> I thought you were dead.
“Pero tu viboritas” (But you, little snakes) —> But you’re alive.
Simon —> Yes.
Iguanas —> Same there. (I think this is one of Sergio’s favs).
“Nomás alborotas el gallinero”
(You only excite the hen house. ) —>
You just make people be excited about something but you don’t make a decision.
It’s time for anime slang! (feels everyone shiver at once)
1) add -chan to the end of anything. also, abbvreviate anything and add -chan to the end of it. no one knows what it means but they sure like it!.
2) atashii wa!… if you are a girl it’s like saying the word giggles. if you are a guy it’s the same as saying ‘hi. i’m flaming’ (no offense meant to anyone^.^).
3) sou ka… hm.. i see… i see…
4) yaoi… the art of making guy love pretty:-p
s’all for now. too much anime slang can make one cumbust into a sugary pink hello kitty flame, so use with caution!
janx the janx—let’s get going
wipe the sand out—quit whining
slash actually darr—that’s awful!
In Brazil, theres more slang than I could count. A few that I like:
queimar meu filme filme - literally means “to burn my film”, but translates to something equivolent to ruining someones image of you. like if youre trying to pick up a girl and your friend comes up warning you not to get this one pregnant too, that would be queimando meu filme
nem fodendo - literally means “not even fucking”, an expression used to indicate that you would not do something, even if pleasurable sex was a consequence of doing said thing
encher a lata - literally means “to fill the can”, means to go out and get incredibly drunk, to be filled with as much drink as can be contained without spilling
What a great article!
I’d like to see somebody trying to translate or explain the meaning of “chido”
Chido su cotorreo everybody!
It’s been some time since I lived in Mexico, but these were a few that were current when I lived there (bearing in mind that this was the slang of 10-year olds):
“Que pasote a los elotes?” - “What’s up?”
“Que te pasa calavasa?” - “What’s up?”…
…to which you were supposed to respond: “Nada, nada, limonada.” - “Not much.”
“Mocos!” - Literally, “Boogers!”, but in practice, more like “Holy Crap!”
“A’onde vas, conejo blas?” - “Where you headed?” or “What are you up to?”
“Santa Vaca!” (“Holy Cow!”) became popular with my friends after I told them that it was common in America. It sounds so much funnier in Spanish…
Also, My friend in Japan tells me that “Saiko!” (pronounced “Psycho!” - means “Awesome!”) has become a popular there.
At some point in my freshman year at college, my friends and I began to use the word “titties” to express agreement or enthusiasm. The origins are a little hazy, but could probably be easily deduced.
for example:
“Hey, want to go to the mall?”
“Titties.”
or in the alternative:
“What do you think of my new PC?”
“Titties.”
We still all use it among one another frequently, but it has not gained any popularlity outside of our little subset of the population.
Chido means lots of things depending of the context, but the most common use is instead of saying “good” or “nice”.
“está chido” - something is good.
“ese wey es bien chido” - That guy is very nice.
“se armó chido” - Something happened better than the expectatives.
“chida la vida” - “life is nice” , refering to the overall aspects of common life.
I think that the most difficult word to explain is the word “pedo”, it has lots and lots of meanings, or “chigar” verb, as the word “fuck” has its own thousands of meanings.
More soon. Se ya
Una pregunta al margen: ¿por qué escribís en Inglés? Te juro que no es retórica, me interesa saber tu motivo. Saludos. Ignacio.//
Ignacio: Cuando empecé el sitio uno de mis propósitos era alcanzar la mayor audiencia posible, de todas partes del mundo. Como el inglés es el segundo lenguaje que la mayoría de las personas aprenden, cumple esa función.
En general mi audiencia se compone de raza que tiene inclinaciones técnicas, y casi todos hablan inglés, por lo mismo, así que me pareció una opción natural.
Some American Slang:
“Let’s blow this popstand” = we should leave
“chick” = girl
“hammered” = drunk
“Rocked out of my gourd” = drunk and/or stoned
“kick the bucket” = die
“mula” (sometimes spelled “moolah”) = money
“wacko” = crazy
“whacked out” = crazy
“whack-job” = crazy person
“ganked” = steal or stolen (as in “I ganked a hard drive from work.”)
“jimmy-junk” = crotch or groin
“Nifty” and “Spiffy” are big on my campus, and they seem to have multiplied into their own distinct forms… I actually overheard someone describea class as “Damned Spiffin’.” I have no clue where they came from as words, but I know that they’re localized. People back in Florida always quirk an eyebrow when one slips into conversation.
Spanish slang is *so* much cooler than ours.