pues

What it means

1. 1.

   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.

2. 2.

   Distinct from the standard Spanish pues meaning 'well' or 'since', which Colombians also use in the ordinary way. The paisa particle is positional: it comes last, and it comes constantly.

3. 3.

   Outsiders over-use it. Two or three pues in a sentence reads as mockery to a paisa, which is often exactly how it is meant when non-paisas do it.

Examples with translations

• Venga pues, entre.

  Come on then, come in.

• ¿Entonces qué pues, nos vamos?

  So what's the story, are we going?

• Sí pues, yo le aviso.

  Yeah, alright, I'll let you know.

  Note: Non-committal. The pues does the softening that the words do not.

Where it comes from

The same pues as everywhere in Spanish, but reanalysed in Antioquia as a clause-final particle rather than a connective. The pattern is old enough to be a defining feature of the dialect and is the first thing imitated in any Colombian comedy sketch about Medellín.

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

pue, pues sí