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¿bien o qué?

BYEN oh KEHphraseInformalMedellín & Antioquia

A Colombian Spanish slang term. Browse all Colombian slang.

What it means

  1. Hello; how's it going. A paisa greeting that has spread nationally among under-forties, delivered as a statement rather than a genuine enquiry.

  2. Used to prod someone who is stalling: 'well, are we doing this or not?'

Literally: Well, or what?

Examples with translations

  • ¡Bien o qué, parce!

    Hey, how's it going, man!

  • Bien o qué, ¿nos vamos ya?

    Right then — are we heading off?

Where it comes from

A contraction of the greeting-and-answer pair ¿bien? / ¿o qué?. The o qué tag is productive in Colombian speech generally — ¿estudia o qué?, ¿comemos o qué? — and works as a nudge towards a decision.

Other forms

Similar terms:
quiubo, qué más