mecato
meh-KAH-tohnounColloquial
A Colombian Spanish slang term. Browse all Colombian slang.
What it means
Snacks — crisps, sweets, biscuits, anything eaten between meals. A mass noun: you buy mecato, not a mecato.
The corner-shop category itself. 'Una tienda de mecato' is a sweet shop.
Examples with translations
Compré mecato para el viaje.
I bought snacks for the journey.
Deje de comer mecato antes de la comida.
Stop eating junk before dinner.
Where it comes from
Colombian and Venezuelan, of uncertain origin; a link to Nahuatl mecatl, 'cord', has been proposed and never demonstrated. Strongest in Antioquia and the interior, where the everyday form is mecatico.
Other forms
- Spellings and variants:
- mecatico, mecatear
- Similar terms:
- pasabocas, golosinas