Colombia¿cómo así?
phrase · Colloquial · KOH-moh ah-SEE
What do you mean? — asked when something does not add up. The commonest request for clarification in Colombian Spanish and an unmistakable national marker.
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Colombia
Colombian Slang for Filler Words
9 Colombian slang terms for filler words, each with its meaning, how it is pronounced and an example of it in use.
The small words that hold speech together: hedges, tags, intensifiers and pause-fillers. Almost invisible to native speakers and almost impossible for learners.
de una
phrase, adverb · Informal · deh OO-nah
Absolutely; I'm in; let's do it. The standard enthusiastic yes to an invitation, and one of the most frequent two-word exchanges in Colombian Spanish.
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güevón
noun, adjective · Vulgar · gweh-BOHN
Idiot, fool. 'No sea güevón' — don't be an idiot — is the everyday form, addressed to friends more often than enemies.
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Use with care
listo
interjection, adjective · Colloquial · LEES-toh
OK; agreed; got it. The Colombian conversational workhorse — it accepts a proposal, acknowledges instructions, closes a phone call and fills a pause, often several times in one exchange.
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mera
adjective, adverb · Regional · MEH-rah
Intensifier placed before a noun, meaning 'absolute' or 'total': mera nota, mera chimba, mera vaina. Strongly marked as vallecaucano and Pacific-coast speech.
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ome
interjection, noun · Regional · OH-meh
Man, mate — a vocative on the Caribbean coast, tacked on to the end of clauses more often than the beginning.
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pues
interjection, adverb · Regional · PWESS
The paisa sentence-particle, attached to the end of clauses with no lexical content whatsoever: 'quiubo pues', 'venga pues', 'sí pues', 'entonces qué pues'. Removing it changes nothing but the accent.
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qué pena
phrase, interjection · Colloquial · keh PEH-nah
Sorry; excuse me. The standard Colombian apology for small offences, from bumping into someone to arriving late. 'Qué pena con usted' is the full polite form.
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sumercé
noun · Regional · soo-mehr-SEH
A second-person pronoun and form of address used in Boyacá, Cundinamarca and parts of Bogotá. It is simultaneously deferential and affectionate, which has no English equivalent.
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