15 Ways To Tell The Miami-Spanish Dialect From Any Other

There are so many different cultures under the Latin-American ethnic umbrella, and these are the ways to tell Miami-Spanish dialect from any other!

There are so many different cultures under the Latin-American ethnic umbrella, and with these cultures come definite nuances in language. Spanish is Spanish, but Miami Spanish is definitely the most stand-out. These are the 15 ways to tell the Miami-Spanish dialect from any other!

1. They use chonga to describe or name anything.

The chonga is real, y’all. When they see a girl with too thin pencil eyebrows or feel like they’re dressing a little too hootchie with the big hoops and Rainbow Outlet dress combined, instead of “Do I look a little ratchet?” it’ll be–

“Aye, is this too chonga, you think?”

2. Heaven forbid you hear them say pata sucia.

It’s been a long night partying in Ranches and your feet are dead. The roads are uneven because of course they are, it’s Florida, and you take off your heels while doing your best to focus on the task and not fall over from total exhaustion and maybe some alcohol. Your friend exclaims, “Aye, mami, you look like a pata suuucia, conyo…”

3. They can’t go a second without saying ‘super’ to describe anything.

Like, legit. They’re not starving, no, they’re “super-hungry”. They’re not just frustrated, they’re “super-pissed”. It’s not two words, either. One word, together. Superpissed. Supersleepy. Superfired.

4. And supposseblllyy… supposebly is a word.

5. When we’re angry, it’s just swear

A frustrated Miamian’s Spanish oddly doesn’t kick in when they’re angry or frustrated. You’d think that when they get cut off on I-75 heading back up to the ‘ville, it’d be a load of “Hijo PUTA, conyo–” no. It’s just one, long, “I/this dude/she swwwwwwwwweeeaaarrsss.”

Nothing more clearly indicates frustration than that.

6. And you’ll definitely hear swears when it comes to missing a guagua

Especially if they forgot their metro pass.

7. Around UF’s campus, there’ll be two orders for coffee: espresso and cafecito

And whoever gets the latter is almost confirmed to be more wired than the Starbucks snobs with their “flat whites.” The home-came-to-town flavor of a cafecito, and the word in of itself, is tied to Miami Spanish.

8. And the best part are the little interjections. Like explaining things with bueno!

Bueno used as an interjection is definitely a topic for aspiring linguists. I promise you, I don’t make the rules.

9. And the infamous, pero liiiiKe

And if their voice cracks on the ‘k,’ they are truly the most powerful of Miamians.

10. Maybe even more infamous, dale.

#AllHailThe305

11. If ‘bro’ is used for addressing you, your family, your dog, cats, other animals, assortments of non-living things

They’re definitely from Miami. It’s becoming an issue.

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12. The shortenings

Chanx or chanclas for shoes, which become convenient weapons for mass destruction.

13. Broward for anything even remotely north of them

It gets pretty confusing if you’re not even going north anymore, but south-bound from college.

14. Casa yuca for anything even kind of far

And if they want to be more descriptive, case de cargo for what is truly ‘a mission’ to get to.

15. And complaining about that goddamn tiki-tiki music that someone behind Library West keeps playing!

Because reggaeton-techno-fast music is just too long.

And the thing is that, irregardless, it’s ours. There cadence, the inflection, the anger and laughter in all these words and meanings of how they’re said are so intrinsically a part of the culture that honoring it is just as important as laughing at it.