Teasing and jokes in Spanish: how to tell when you are being wound up in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina
Somebody says something to you with a straight face, everyone at the table laughs, and you have no idea whether you were included in the joke or were the joke. This happens to learners early, because people tease with speed, tone and local references, and those are the last three things you learn on a course. Below: how the wind-up works in Mexico, Spain, Colombia and Argentina, the words people use to show it was a joke, how to hand it back, what is off limits, and what the nicknames mean.
The one thing to know first
Affectionate insults are normal in all four countries, and people use them in the opposite direction to English. The closer the friend, the ruder the word. Being called something mildly offensive by someone who likes you is a sign of inclusion, and if you answer it stiffly, people take it as coldness rather than dignity. You do not have to join in. You do need to hear it as friendly.
Mexico
Mexicans joke in double meanings. The albur is the national form: a sentence that sounds innocent and has a second, usually sexual, reading, built on ordinary words and delivered without a flicker. A whole exchange can be two people alburando each other while apparently discussing lunch. Learners cannot win at it and are not expected to, and the correct response to being albureado is to laugh and say ya me albureaste, you got me.
The everyday words for messing about are cotorrear and vacilar, and the mildest way to ask is ¿me estás cotorreando?, are you winding me up. Echar carrilla is to rib someone steadily about the same thing. No manches is the clean expression of disbelief; the same sentence with a stronger verb is everywhere among friends and is not for a first week. Mexicans tease warmly and indirectly, and almost always wrap an insult in a diminutive.
Spain
Spaniards tease directly, loudly and flatly. Friends insult each other as a greeting, and people hear cabrón between two men who have known each other since school as affection. Much stronger words are used the same way between old friends, and they are not for a newcomer to copy. The nouns are la coña and el cachondeo, both meaning a joking, mocking atmosphere, and tomar el pelo, literally to take someone’s hair, which is the English “pull your leg”.
The phrase you need is es coña, it’s a joke, and its question form ¿lo dices de coña?, are you joking. People say vacilar here too: me estás vacilando. Spaniards also tease by exaggerated agreement, saying the opposite of what they mean in a bored voice, so a compliment delivered without warmth is very often not a compliment.
Colombia
La recocha is the Colombian word for the general state of joking around, and estar en la recocha is what a group is doing when nothing serious is being said. The verb is mamar gallo, literally to suckle a rooster, meaning to tease, to joke, and sometimes to stall: deje de mamar gallo, stop winding me up; le están mamando gallo, they are pulling your leg.
Colombians retract a joke with a single word: mentiras, lies. You say something outrageous, watch the face, then say mentiras, mentiras. On the Caribbean coast people add no joda as an all-purpose exclamation, and parce or parcero is the friend word people use to soften whatever came before it. In Bogotá people tease more gently and formally than on the coast, and they often keep usted while doing it, which sounds strange until you have heard it once.
Argentina
The verb is cargar: te estoy cargando, I’m winding you up; me cargaron todo el día, they took the mickey all day. Joder in Argentina means to bother or to kid, without the force it has in Spain: no jodas, get out of here; te estoy jodiendo, I’m joking.
Boludo is the centre of Argentine speech. From a friend it means mate, and it appears three times a sentence. From a stranger in traffic it means idiot. The difference is tone and relationship only. Che in front of anything is a summons between equals, and people use loco the same way. Argentines joke with irony and speed, and they prize the person who can answer fastest, so if you reply slowly and politely, the exchange usually ends.
The words that mark a joke
| You want to say | Mexico | Spain | Colombia | Argentina |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I’m joking | Es broma. / Es chiste. | Es broma. / Es coña. | Es broma. / Mentiras. | Es broma. / Es un chiste. |
| I’m winding you up | Te estoy cotorreando. / Te estoy vacilando. | Te estoy vacilando. / Te estoy tomando el pelo. | Le estoy mamando gallo. | Te estoy cargando. / Te estoy jodiendo. |
| Don’t believe it | No te creas. | No te lo creas. | No te creas. | Mentira. |
| Seriously? | ¿Neta? / ¿En serio? | ¿En serio? / ¿De verdad? | ¿En serio? / ¿De verdad? | ¿En serio? / ¿Posta? |
| Come off it | No manches. | ¡Anda ya! / ¡Venga ya! | ¡Qué va! / No joda. (coast) | ¡Andá! / ¡Nooo! |
| You’re pulling my leg | Me estás cotorreando. | Me estás vacilando. | Me está mamando gallo. | Me estás cargando. |
In Mexico and Colombia people say no te creas after a tease to soften it, and they use it much as English speakers use “only joking”. ¿Neta? in Mexico and ¿posta? in Argentina both mean “for real?” and both are informal.
Saying you did not get it
Asking is normal, and people explain the joke, usually with more jokes.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| I don’t get it | No entendí. / No la entendí. | La stands in for the joke |
| I don’t understand the joke | No entiendo el chiste. | |
| Explain it to me | Explícamelo. / Explicámelo. (Argentina, vos) | |
| Was that a joke? | ¿Era broma? | |
| Are you serious? | ¿Lo dices en serio? / ¿Lo decís en serio? (Argentina) | |
| Are you having me on? | ¿Me estás vacilando? | |
| I get it now | Ah, ya caí. | Caer is the verb for the penny dropping |
| My Spanish isn’t there yet | Todavía se me escapan los chistes. | Jokes still get past me |
Ya caí is what you say when you finally see it, everywhere. In Mexico you will also hear ¿ya caíste?, did you get it, and answering honestly is fine.
Giving it back
You do not need to be funny in Spanish. You need three or four lines to show you took it well, and with those you get by for months.
| You want to say | Spanish | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Yeah, yeah | Sí, claro. | Flat tone, everywhere |
| Very funny | Muy gracioso. / Qué chistoso. (Mexico, Colombia) | Said dryly |
| Look who’s talking | Mira quién habla. / Mirá quién habla. (Argentina) | The safest comeback in Spanish |
| Leave me alone | Ya déjame. / Déjame en paz. | Playful with a smile, real without one |
| You got me | Me agarraste. / Caí. | Admitting you fell for it |
| I’ll get you back | Me las vas a pagar. | A friendly threat, said with a smile |
| Enough | Ya, en serio. | Marks the end of the game |
You can say mira quién habla in every country, and you need no vocabulary for it. Answering at all matters more than answering well. Repeating the tease back with the other person’s name in it is the other reliable move.
Say ya, en serio and the joking usually stops. It is understood as the end of the game in all four countries.
What not to joke about
Everything below is a generalisation, and people differ. Still, these are the reliable trip hazards for a visitor.
Mothers, in Mexico. Mentar la madre, bringing up someone’s mother, is the serious insult in Mexico and the line that is not crossed in play. Mexicans joke about their own mothers constantly; you should not.
The civil war and regional politics, in Spain. Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Franco years are live arguments inside families. Spaniards will be blunt about them in front of you and will not enjoy a foreigner’s punchline.
Drugs and Escobar, in Colombia. The cocaine joke is the first one most foreigners reach for and the one Colombians are most tired of. It is a cheap reference to a period when people at the table lost family.
Football, in Argentina. Boca and River are not a light subject, and people hear a joke about their club from an outsider differently from the same joke between two Argentines. Also avoid the Falklands, called las Malvinas, which is not a subject for humour there.
Everywhere: a stranger’s appearance, someone’s income, another person’s family, and anything you would not say in English to somebody you met last week. Race and skin tone appear openly in nicknames across Latin America, as below, and they are still not safe material for a foreigner to invent jokes from.
The nicknames people will give you
You get these fast, usually from a shopkeeper or a new colleague, and they are descriptive rather than hostile. Most are diminutives of a physical feature and most are said with warmth.
| Nickname | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| güero / güera | Mexico | Fair skinned or blond. Market sellers call any lighter-skinned customer this |
| gringo / gringa | Mexico, Colombia, Argentina | A foreigner, usually from the United States. Neutral in Mexico and Colombia; in Argentina it also has an older meaning of Italian descent |
| mono / mona | Colombia | Blond or fair haired, and a compliment |
| flaco / flaca | Argentina, Colombia, Mexico | Skinny. In Argentina it is simply “mate” and says nothing about your weight |
| gordo / gorda, gordi | Argentina, Mexico, Colombia | Fat, and used as a pet name for a partner or child. Not read as cruel |
| negro / negra | Argentina, Colombia, Mexico | Dark haired or dark skinned, and very often affectionate between friends and couples. It carries history, and it is not a word for a foreigner to start using |
| chino / china | Mexico | Curly haired, in Mexico. In Bogotá chino means a kid |
| tío / tía | Spain | Mate, for anyone your age |
| güey (wey) | Mexico | Mate, between friends, constantly |
| parce / parcero | Colombia | Mate |
| boludo, che, loco | Argentina | Mate, with the tone deciding everything |
| mi reina, mi rey | Colombia, Mexico, Spain | My queen, my king. Said by shopkeepers and waiters to customers |
| jefe, maestro | Spain, Mexico | Boss, chief. What a barman or a taxi driver calls a man he does not know |
Guapa in Spain is said to women by shopkeepers, neighbours and bakers, and it means something closer to “love” than to a comment on your face. Mijo and mija, from mi hijo, are used in Mexico and Colombia by older people to anyone younger.
Being given a nickname is a good sign. Use someone else’s, especially negro, gordo or güey, only once the friendship is obviously there, and there is no harm in waiting to be invited.
What you will hear
| You will hear | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| ¡No manches! | Mexico | No way, you’re kidding |
| ¿Es neta? | Mexico | Is that for real |
| ¡Anda ya! | Spain | Give over |
| Qué cabrón. | Spain | Said admiringly, about a good move or a good joke |
| Estás de coña. | Spain | You’re kidding |
| ¡Qué recocha! | Colombia | What a laugh, what a mess about |
| Mentiras. | Colombia | Just kidding |
| Te están cargando. | Argentina | They’re winding you up |
| No te hagás el vivo. | Argentina | Don’t be a smart alec |
| Es un chiste, boludo. | Argentina | It’s a joke, mate |
Ten sentences you can say tomorrow
- ¿Es broma o en serio? Is that a joke or serious?
- No te creas, es chiste. Don’t believe it, it’s a joke. (Mexico)
- Me estás vacilando, ¿no? You’re winding me up, right? (Spain)
- Ah, ya caí. Ah, I get it now.
- No entendí el chiste, explícamelo. I didn’t get the joke, explain it to me.
- Mira quién habla. Look who’s talking.
- Ya me albureaste. You got me. (Mexico)
- Dejá de cargarme. Stop winding me up. (Argentina)
- ¿Me está mamando gallo? Are you pulling my leg? (Colombia)
- Ya, en serio: ¿qué dijo? Ok, seriously: what did he say?
Questions people ask
How do I know if I’m being insulted? Look at the group. If everyone is laughing and still looking at you, it is teasing. If the room goes quiet, it was not. You learn more from tone and volume than from the words, and the words themselves are often rude in every case.
Is “boludo” an insult? It is both. Between friends in Argentina it means mate and has no content. Shouted by a stranger it means idiot. Wait a few months before using it, and then use it only with people who use it on you.
What is an albur? A Mexican double meaning, nearly always sexual, hidden in a normal sentence. It is a competitive game and a whole craft. You are not expected to play, and saying ya me albureaste when you are caught is the right move.
Can I call a friend “gordo”? In Argentina and Mexico, once you are actual friends, yes, and it is warm. From a stranger it is a comment on your body, and people take it as one.
How do I say “just kidding” the way people actually say it? Es broma everywhere, mentiras in Colombia, es coña in Spain, te estoy cargando in Argentina, no te creas in Mexico.
Is sarcasm used in Spanish? Yes, heavily in Spain and Argentina, less as a default in Mexico and Colombia, where irony tends to be signalled with a smile or a softener rather than left deadpan. A flat sarcastic line from a foreigner can be taken literally, so keep the face friendly.
What do I say if a joke offends me? No me gustó ese chiste or eso no me hizo gracia, that wasn’t funny to me. Both are clear, neither is aggressive, and both will be respected.
Practise these words
broma, chiste, reír, gracioso, burlarse, cargar, entender, creer, serio, pelo, gordo, flaco. Vozelu is a free website for practising Spanish, and it has each of these. You see a sentence with one word missing, you type the word, and a native voice reads the sentence back. Practise the words on this page.