¿cómo así?

What it means

1. 1.

   What do you mean? — asked when something does not add up. The commonest request for clarification in Colombian Spanish and an unmistakable national marker.

2. 2.

   With a flatter intonation it is not a question at all but an objection: 'hang on, that's not right'. Hearing it from an official means you have a problem.

Literally: How so?

Examples with translations

• ¿Cómo así que no hay cupo?

  What do you mean there's no room?

• ¿Cómo así, entonces no vienes?

  Hold on — so you're not coming?

  Note: Objection rather than enquiry. The speaker heard perfectly well.

Where it comes from

Built from ordinary components, but the fixed phrase in this function is distinctively Colombian; other varieties reach for ¿en qué sentido? or ¿cómo que...?. It is the single phrase Colombians abroad are told they say too much.

Other forms

Similar terms:

cómo que, o sea qué