Peruvian slang accommodates a whole bunch of different words and phrases; very original to the country that nobody else uses. Here, I will introduce you to 10 of the most used slang words in Peru.

1. Pata

Literally this word means, the leg or paw of an animal. This word is very commonly used in Peru and it’s used informally to refer to almost anyone. It can be used to refer to a friend similar to, “my man” or “my bro“, “guy“, “dude“, etc.

Example:

“¡Mañana me va a hacer orgulloso mi pata!”

“Tomorrow my friend is going to make me proud!”

“Ese pata no entiende”

“That guy doesn’t understand”

You’ll hear “Pata” used a few times in the Gritty Spanish Audio Stories. Here is a very short clip from the beginning of episode #15 (Bodega Chat) of Gritty Spanish Original, you’ll hear a Dominican character joyfully greet a friend/customer as he enters his store, saying “Qué lo qué“, which means, “What’s up” in Dominican Spanish…

The customer in this scene is from Peru, so he respond with his Peruvian accent: “Hola, mi PATA Sebastián, estuvo bien…“(Hello, my bro Sebastián, it was okay…)

Do you hear the Dominican music playing in the scene? Little details like that is one of the MANY great things that makes Gritty Spanish so unique and engaging! After reading this post, be sure to sign up for some Free Gritty Spanish audios!

2. Jato

This word means “house”. This one is exclusively from Peru and it’s very commonly used by everyone in that country. This is an example of the cultural diversity in Peru.

Example:

“¡Estamos en tu jato!”

“We are at your house!”

“Cuando terminemos vamos a mi jato”

“When we finish lets go to my place”

3. Grifo

This one means really means “tap“, like where you can get a drink of water. But Peruvians also use it to name a gas station. I think you can see the relationship between the words a little. When someone says I need to go to a tap, then you know it’s a gas station he or she is talking about.

Example:

“¿Ya no tengo gasolina, sabes donde hay un grifo?”

“I’m out of gas, do you know where there’s a gas station? ”

“Después del grifo, vas a encontrar una tienda.”

“After the gas station, you gonna find a store”

4. Choro

This one can be used as a noun and modified as a verb. By itself it means “thief”, so you can call a thief a choro. If you modify it to chorear, it becomes a verb that means, “to steal” and it can be conjugated to the different forms, such as choro, chora, choramos, choreó, etc.

For an example:

“¿Como lo consegui? ¡Me lo chorie!”

“How did I get it? I stole it!”



“¡Ese pata es un gran choro!”

“That guy is a big thief!”

5. Huasca

Huasca means drunk. It is a funny word and I think nobody else in the world says it. Peruvians use it all the time when talking about parties or drunk people.

For an example:

“¡En esa fiesta me puse recontra huasca!”

“I got really drunk in that party!”



“Cada vez que salgo contigo, ¡Termino huasca!”

“Every time I go out with you, I end up drunk!”

6. Jale

Jale means pull, and people from Peru use it also to say “sex appeal”. So, if somebody has “jale” it means he or she is very attractive or has something that catches the attention of the people. It is a very common word and it may or may not have sexual connotation, it depends on the context.

For an example:

“Yo siento que Jimena tiene jale”

“I feel Jimena has sex appeal”



“¡Yo tengo mucho jale!”

“I am very sexy!” (I have a lot of sex appeal!)



7. Monse

This is kind of like a small insult. If you call someone a Monse, it’s like calling him/her an idiot or dumb. It is not too offensive and depending on the context not offensive at all. If you add a little tone, it can get a little offensive but in the end it’s just kind of like a joke.

Example:

“Que monse eres, ¿como no sabías eso?”

“You are so dumb, how you didn’t knew that?”

“No seas monse, ¡así no se hace!”

“Don’t be silly, that’s not how it is done!”

8. Causa

This one is another way of saying friend, and its also a food, kind of like a potato dish. It is very common to use causa when talking about a really close friend, its more personal than pata.

For an example:

“¿Como estas causa?”

“How are you pal?”

9. China

The literal meaning is of course, “China”, that huge Asian country, but in Peru, they use it when talking about their fifty-cent coin. Peruvians can use it either way, so be aware of the context.

For an example:



“-¿Cuanto por la vuelta?

“-How much for the ride?

“China…”

“50 cents…”

10. Al toque

This means “Right now”. Peruvian people are known to always be in a hurry, so this word should be extremely useful when visiting.

Examples:

“¡Vámonos al toque!”

“Let’s go right away!”

“Tenemos que terminar esto al toque…”

“We have to finish this right away…”

Hope you enjoyed! Please check out our Spanish slang madness article here where you’ll learn a few others from 12 different Spanish speaking countries!