Five Expressions Mexicans and Peruvians Really Use
Learn five everyday expressions you'll hear in Mexico and Peru so you can understand native speakers and sound more natural in real-life conversations.
Spanish textbooks and language apps teach you how to order food, ask for directions, and introduce yourself. But once you start talking with native speakers, you'll quickly notice they use expressions you probably never learned in class.
That's because every Spanish-speaking country has its own everyday slang and conversational phrases.
If you're traveling to Mexico or Peru—or simply talking with people from those countries—learning a few common expressions can help conversations feel much more natural.
If you've ever wondered why you can understand Spanish but still struggle to respond naturally, it's often because real conversations use expressions like these instead of textbook Spanish. Learn more about the conversation-first approach behind the Amidon Method.
Here are five expressions you'll hear all the time in Mexico and Peru.
1. How to Say "What's Up?"
¿Qué onda? (Mexico 🇲🇽) | ¿Qué tal, huevón? (Peru 🇵🇪)
¿Qué onda? literally means, "What vibes?" It's just a fun way of asking what's up to your Mexican friends. Onda is a vibrational wave, so a vibe.
¿Qué tal? is used in a lot of Spanish-speaking countries, including Spain. There's no direct translation. It's a basic expression to memorize. Don't overthink its meaning, just remember the context that it's used in.
In fact, tal is a word that can't be translated into English. It's used in a lot of phrases, including tal vez (perhaps), tal cual (as is), and many others explained here.
You can use ¿qué tal? with or without the huevón. In Peru, huevón is used as a good or a bad thing.
If you're talking with your friend, he's a huevón, meaning buddy.
But if you're talking about a person you don't like, you'd call him a huevón and her a huevóna. You're basically calling them an asshole or bitch.
Don't use huevón in Mexico the same way. There it means a lazy person.
Like many slang words, whether huevón sounds friendly or insulting depends on your tone, your relationship with the other person, and the situation.
2. How to Say "What?"
¿Mandé? (Mexico 🇲🇽) | ¿Cómo? (Peru 🇵🇪)
When talking with Mexicans, if you didn't hear what someone said, you'd ask them, ¿Mandé? It basically means, "What?" or "Excuse me?"
Mandé is the declarative second person (usted) form of mandar, which means to command or to order. Basically, you're asking, "You command?" formally.
If you're visiting Mexico, don't be surprised if you hear this dozens of times a day. It's one of the most recognizable features of conversational Mexican Spanish.
However, it's not used just in formal situations. It's used by anyone at any time, regardless of age or status.
This is again one of those things you can't overthink. You just have to memorize and use it.
But in Peru, you'd say, "¿Cómo?" Sometimes you hear it asked twice, like "¿Cómo, cómo?" but said quickly without a pause.
You're basically asking in Peru, "How's that?" You'll also hear people in Peru say, "que?," meaning "what?" or "de qué hablas?," meaning "what are you talking about?"
The best way to remember expressions like these isn't by memorizing Spanish vocabulary lists—it's by hearing and using them in real conversations.
That's one reason conversation-based practice helps learners progress much faster than memorization alone. Read more about what really builds confidence in Spanish.
3. How to Say "That’s Cool, Bruh"
Qué padre, güey (Mexico 🇲🇽) | Qué paja, broder (Peru 🇵🇪)
Qué padre, güey literally translates to "What father, dude." Make sense, right? I'm kidding.
Padre in this sense is slang for cool, great, or wonderful. Like many slang expressions, this isn't something you can translate literally. The meaning comes from how native Mexican Spanish speakers use it in everyday conversation.
You'll hear güey used a lot among Mexican guys. You can hear it for yourself in Netflix's comedy Club de Cuervos.
One of the main characters, Chava, overuses it trying to sound cooler than he really is with the football players for his family's soccer team.
Güey used to mean an ox or a slow-witted person. But through time it just came to mean dude or guy.
"Qué paja, broder" in Peru is used by what seems like every dude there. Broder is the Spanglish form of brother. Paja means cool.
You can also use paja in the superlative, "pajísimo," which means super cool or epic.
4. How to Say "Seriously?"
No manches (Mexico 🇲🇽) | ¿Joda? (Peru 🇵🇪)
No manches in Mexico is used a lot. It's one of the most common expressions you'll hear in Mexico and can express surprise, disbelief, frustration, or excitement depending on the situation.
The verb manchar means to stain, so no manches literally means "don't stain" in the declarative form.
Again, don't translate it directly. Just think of it like, "No way!", "seriously?", or "you've gotta be kidding me" when something happens that you don't like or didn't expect.
In Peru, ¿joda? is a slang way of asking, "seriously?" or "are you messing with me?" It comes from the verb joder, which means to fuck. So you're literally asking, "You fuck?"
You can turn it into "no me jodas" (don't fuck me) or "no joda" (don't fuck) to tell someone to fuck off, either jokingly or seriously.
5. How to Say "That’s Too Bad"
Qué mala onda (Mexico 🇲🇽) | Uy, pucha (Peru 🇵🇪)
With the expression "Qué mala onda" we're back to the start with that word onda again, meaning vibe. So "Qué mala onda" literally means "what a bad vibe."
Just like in English you say whether a person has a good or bad vibe, as in "Tiene buena onda" or "Tiene mala onda."
In Peru, "Uy, pucha" is used among friends to express their empathy about something bad that happened to one of them. It means something like, "Oh, shoot" or "Oh, jeez."
Uy is an interjection. There's not a real direct interjection we use in English. You could think of it like oh or uh.
Pucha, like everything else you learned here, doesn't have a direct translation. It may be a corrupted form of "puta," or whore.
When it comes to slang, you'll hear Peruvians, especially young guys, boast about how much slang Peruvian Spanish has.
But to tell you the truth, Mexico has just as much, if not even more. Don't tell a Peruvian that, though. 😉
These five expressions are just a small sample of how Spanish changes from one country to another.
Learning regional expressions doesn't just expand your vocabulary—it helps you understand native speakers, connect with local culture, and participate in conversations more naturally.
Don't worry about memorizing everything at once. Start with the country you're most interested in, and you'll gradually build a vocabulary that feels authentic and useful.
Want to learn even more vocabulary differences between these two countries? Check out our guide to 11 Things That Have Different Names in Mexico and Peru.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will people understand me if I use expressions from another country?
Usually, yes. Native speakers can often figure out what you mean from context, even if the expression isn't commonly used in their country. If there's any confusion, they'll usually ask for clarification or respond with the local expression.
Should I learn Mexican Spanish or Peruvian Spanish?
Focus on the country where you plan to travel, live, or regularly speak with native speakers. Once you're comfortable with one regional variety of Spanish, it becomes much easier to understand and learn expressions from other countries.
Why do Mexican and Peruvian Spanish use different expressions?
Spanish has evolved differently in each country over hundreds of years. Indigenous languages, local culture, history, and everyday life have all influenced the expressions people use today, giving each country its own unique way of speaking.
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