Everyday Argentine words: laburo, quilombo, pibe, guita

Explanation

Argentine everyday vocabulary carries a strong lunfardo layer — the Buenos Aires slang born of Italian immigration. Core items: laburo / laburar (work, from Italian lavoro), morfar (to eat), guita (money), mango (a peso, a 'buck'), bondi (bus).

People and judgments: pibe/piba (kid, young person), mina (woman, informal), boludo/a and pelotudo/a (idiot — or, among friends, an affectionate 'dude'), copado and groso (great, cool), and quilombo (a mess or chaos — one of the most useful words to know).

Intensifiers and fillers seal the accent: re before an adjective means 'very' (re copado, re caro), bárbaro means 'great', and che opens or closes almost anything. A dozen of these words unlock most casual porteño conversation.

Examples

Related rules

• Che: the quintessential Argentine address word
• Rioplatense voseo: vos as the full standard