UPDATE: January 24, 2011 — The link below appears to be broken. Here’s a different compendium that seems to contain many of the same words.
Chuta! Here’s a fabulous list of Ecuadorian slang. It’s full of gems — although I’d add a few choice words I remember from my year at latitude zero. Namely, buenaso (really good) and sigue no mas (go ahead).
I’m actually delighted to have come across this, as I assumed that a few of these were not specific to Ecuador — I thought they were standard Spanish. In the future, I’ll be sure not to ask for, say, canguil (popcorn) at a movie theatre in Mexico. Or say mande (huh?) to a Honduran.
Most telling definition: “Cholo: 1) A person with mixed race (indigenous and spanish) 2) Insult.”
Definition that evokes the most unpleasant memories: chuchaqui (hungover). I always wondered how you spelled that.
(Link via Gridskipper.)
I'm Newley Purnell, an American journalist in Bangkok. I report for Bloomberg BNA, ABC News Radio, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and more.