The nuances of Spanish [1] exist well beyond any dictionary. As if the language weren't hard enough to learn, our daily speech [2] is full of words that have been completely redefined as slang. And to make matters even worse, those terms vary widely from country to country [3] and even town to town — sometimes family to family.

Here, we rounded up some of the most loved and colloquially used words and phrases from across Latin America. The great part is that this slang is frequently used in more than one country! Consider yourself in the know.

Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know in the comments below.

¿Qué onda?

What it means: What's up?, though it literally transates to "what wave?"
In a sentence: Hola, Adele. ¿Qué onda?

Piola

What it means: Cool.
In a sentence: Michelle estaba piola con su chaqueta de cuero.

Pibe

What it means: Little boy.
In a sentence: Ese pibe es el hijo de Gloria.

Ojo

What it means: Be careful, but it literally translates to "eye."
In a sentence: Ojo con el piso. Esta sucio ahí.

Pilas

What it means: To look out or be energized — pilas means batteries.
In a sentence: Ponte pilas antes de que no pases el examen.

Mono

What it means: Cute, but literally translates to "monkey."
In a sentence: El que estaba sentado en la otra mesa era muy mono.

Chavos

What it means: Money.
In a sentence: No tenía chavos para pagar la cena.

Cerote

What it means: Dude.
In a sentence: Oye, cerote. ¿Cómo estás?

TQM

What it means: Abbreviated way of saying te quiero mucho.
In a sentence: Me mandó un mensaje de texto que decia TQM.

¿Qué huele?

What it means: What's up?, but it literally translates to "what smells?"
In a sentence: Zac, ¿qué huele? No te he visto en años.

Que Padre

What it means: How cool.
In a sentence: ¡Qué padre estuvo Disney World!

Mande

What it means: Pardon me.
In a sentence: Mande, no escuche lo que me dijo.

Tío

What it means: Dude, although it also means "uncle."
In a sentence: Venga, tío, que vamos al parque.

Echar los perros

What it means: To court someone; literally to "throw dogs at someone."
In a sentence: Mi primo Leonardo le está echando los perros a mi vecina.

Avispate

What it means: Straighten up — comes from avispa, which means bee.
In a sentence: Avispate ahora para que luego no te quemes las clases.

Chamba

What it means: Work.
In a sentence: Creo que voy a salir al bar después de la chamba.

La firme

What it means: The truth, "the solid."
In a sentence: ¡Te juro, me dijo la firme!

Candela

What it means: Awesome, but literally "flame."
In a sentence: La fiesta estuvo candela.

A Chorros

What it means: Plenty or "in buckets."
In a sentence: Me gusta leer los libros a chorros.

Don Fulano

What it means: Mr. So and So.
In a sentence: Don Fulano es el que empezó los rumores la semana pasada.

Fresa

What it means: Preppy, boring.
In a sentence: No quiero salir con Blair; es una fresa del Upper East Side.

Juerga

What it means: Party.
In a sentence: Se fueron de juerga anteayer y todavia tiene resaca.

Sabelotodo

What it means: Know-it-all or smartass.
In a sentence: Alex es una sabelotodo. Por eso no me cae bien.

Aguafiestas

What it means: Partypooper.
In a sentence: Mi papá puede ser un aguafiesta de lo más grande.

Achorado

What it means: Defiant.
In a sentence: La castigaron, pero toda achorada dijo que igual iba a salir.

Guaricho

What it means: Immature kid.
In a sentence: Esos adolescentes son guarichos. Ya es hora de que se comporten como adultos.

Pichar

What it means: To ignore someone.
In a sentence: Es de mala educación pichar a alguien, pero el es tan pesado.

Pipiripao

What it means: A knockoff or an item of bad quality.
In a sentence: ¡Era una bolsa pipiripao — se veia horrible!

Chotiando

What it means: To be out and about.
In a sentence: Nunca la vas encontrar en casa. Siempre anda chotiando.

Cambambera

What it means: A very positive person
In a sentence: Cuando tengas un mal día, tienes que llamar a Agnes. Es tan cambambera que te hará sentir mejor.