The Words — Expressions, Page 3

echar un rol - two friends cycling down a street with bags of pan dulce on the handlebars

echar un rol: Driving nowhere in particular, on purpose Jun 28, 2026

al rato - a young man sprawled on a kitchen chair waving off the woman standing over the sink

al rato: It sounds like a time. It is not a time Jun 25, 2026

¿qué transa? - a delivery rider on his bike greeting a man outside a shop

¿qué transa?: Greeted this way by men who were young in the eighties Jun 23, 2026

buena onda - a market vendor pressing extra tomatoes into a young woman's hands

buena onda: Praise with no achievement attached, and it still counts Jun 19, 2026

¿mande? - a young man stopping on the sidewalk to take a call, hand in pocket

¿mande?: Mexicans answer with it, learners answer with '¿qué?' Jun 15, 2026

al chile - two women walking down the street, one talking straight at the other

al chile: Learners say it at work because it sounds like 'honestly' Jun 9, 2026

¿qué pedo? - two young men greeting each other with a fist bump on a rooftop at sunset

¿qué pedo?: Shouted across a parking lot, both greeting and challenge Jun 1, 2026

te sales - two friends at a taco counter, one laughing and pointing at the other

te sales: Fired back at a friend who has gone too far May 15, 2026

¡no manches! - a young man at a cafe table grabbing his head at something on his phone

¡no manches!: Its rude twin is one syllable away, and everyone knows it May 8, 2026

ahorita - a man on the sofa with the remote waving off the chore list his wife is pointing at

ahorita: How long is that, exactly? Nobody will tell you Apr 24, 2026

ni modo - a man shrugging outside a shuttered metro entrance

ni modo: The verbal shrug you will start using without deciding to Apr 19, 2026