Even if you are a native Spanish speaker or you have achieved Spanish fluency, semantic or vocabulary differences among countries will always be a challenge. Whatever your reasons -maybe you will be soon moving to Mexico, or you are getting involved in a romantic relationship with a Mexican you sometimes struggle to understand, or perhaps you just work as a translator/interpreter and need help with the Mexican Spanish – you will always need a Mexican Spanish slang dictionary as a reliable reference source to consult.
Here are four dictionaries that decode and explain in Spanish the Mexican slang vocabulary. The first two include a wide variety of terms from A to Z. The last two options are more specific but equally useful.
4 Mexican Spanish Slang Dictionaries (in Spanish)
1. Diccionario breve de mexicanismos
by Guido Gómez de Silva
This second edition of the Diccionario Breve de Mexicanismos was revised by the prestigious Academia Mexicana de la Lengua and features 5,400 entries. It includes general Spanish words that have different meanings compared to the Spanish from Spain. It also highlights Mexican words that have been incorporated into general Spanish as well as other languages. This dictionary also describes the current use of words and compares them with the Spanish from Spain in reference to the pronunciation and lexical spellings.
2. Así habla el mexicano:
Diccionario básico de mexicanismos
by Jorge Mejía Prieto
Published in the 80’s, this book includes a variety Mexican Spanish words such as: indigenous words that were adopted by the common Spanish language; local words that were important enough to be accepted by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE); grammar (spelling variations) and semantic (meaning variations) differences.
The author claims that this is a “basic” dictionary because it only includes the most common Mexican Spanish words, but the definitions are substantial. For example, indigenous words are identified with their original and many entries include examples. This book is not limited to words, it also features popular Mexican sayings.
3. El chingonario:
Diccionario de uso, reuso y abuso del chingar y sus derivados
by Editorial Otras Inquisiciones
There are a lot of books about Mexican Spanish, but there is one exclusively dedicated to the word CHINGAR. As I state in a previous post, Chingar is the most important word in Mexico and it deserves its own dictionary. The title of this book comes from the combination of the verb chingar plus the word diccionario.
The book El chingonario published by Editorial Otras Inquisiciones includes about 150 sayings with definitions and examples. What you will like about it is that it was designed to be like a coffee table book; one or two entries per page in a light, colorful and fun layout. The collaborators of El Chingonario have done a great job making this excellent collection. You can find it in different formats such as paperback, ebook, iPhone and iPad app.
4. ¡Ah, qué chida es la CH!:
Diccionario de uso, reuso y abuso de la letra CH en México
by Editorial Otras Inquisiciones
From the creators of El chingonario, ¡Ah, qué chida es la CH! includes the definition and examples of 700 Mexican words that start or have the letter CH. For example, the Mexican Spanish slang word chida in the title is the feminine form of chido that is an adjective used to describe something good or nice. You can’t miss the appendix Chespirito se escribe con CH with 21 words from the famous TV programs El Chavo del 8 and El Chapulin Colorado.
Check out these other Mexican Spanish Slang Dictionary articles.
