We don't speak Spanish, we speak lunfardo. What is lunfardo and where is it spoken?
Birthplace of Maradona, cradle of Tango, famous for the asado, mate and dulce de leche, Pope Francis, the Colón Theater, Corrientes Avenue with its many theaters, the obelisk, Les Luthiers (for lovers of humor of the good) and much more.
I'm not telling you anything new, am I? OK, what if I told you that in Buenos Aires they don't speak Spanish but lunfardo? No, it is not a chamuyo (to speak without solid arguments).
What is lunfardo and where is it spoken?
Where is Lunfardo spoken?
What is lunfardo?
Many cities in the world have their slang (colloquial expressions) and Buenos Aires is no exception. The porteño slang is called lunfardo. The porteño “language” popularized by tango was born at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th in poor neighborhoods (called conventillos where immigrants and natives lived together), precisely in the same years and places as tango.
The word “lunfardo” has its origin in the name “Lombardo”, a term that became synonymous with thief because the Lombards were, in the 18th century, usurers and moneylenders, activities that were frowned upon at the time. This local slang arose as a result of the mixture of languages generated by the immigration of the time that contributed expressions of Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese and Africans that were added to the gauchescas (of the gauchos) and of the local native peoples.
Once the introduction is done, matecito involved, I invite you to know the most common words that are heard in the streets of Buenos Aires and so you can start speaking like one more argento (Argentine).
Wheres is lunfardo spoken?
¡Welcome to Baires!
To visit the Center of Baires (Buenos Aires), there are several options. You can do it on pata (walking), take a bondi (bus), the subte (abbrev. for subway) or stop a tacho (taxi) on any corner and ask the tachero (taxi driver or taxi driver) to take you to see the town. But guarda! (be careful!), the taxi can cost you a lot of guita (money).
If you are one of those who likes to get up early to get to know the city. In the matina (morning), the bondis, the subway and the yecas (streets) are full of people who are going to laburar (to work). At noon, the pibes (young men) and the minas (women) leave laburo (work) and go to morfar (eat: lunch or dinner) somewhere. It is a quilombo (mess, chaos) to find a table in a bar or restaurant at that time. The delay can be long, since lunch is the best time to boludear (to fool around, do nothing) and chusmear (gossip, talk about others) with friends. I'm telling you so you're not standing around waiting al pedo (in vain). Yes, it's a bajón! (bad news).
If you like joda (fun), with your best pilcha (clothes), you can go to a bar to drink some cold Birra (beer) while you smoke a pucho (cigarette) on the vereda (sidewalk). But don't drink too much or you'll end up en pedo (drunk).
Extra fact
In Argentina, it is very common to "tutearse", that is, to speak to a person using the pronoun vos and the second person singular of the verbs to address them.
Comments