Colombian Slang, Sayings and Culture:
Don’t Sound Like a Gringo in Colombia

A Complete Guide to Slang, Sayings, Culture & the REAL Way Colombians Speak

A funny, practical, and uncensored guide to Colombian slang, Colombian Spanish, and the expressions you’ll actually hear when travelling in Colombia.

Discover 1,100+ slang words, sayings, and expressions with literal and actual meanings, real-life examples, and the cultural context behind the language. Learn how Colombians greet each other, joke, insult, use gestures, and communicate differently across regions, generations, and social backgrounds.

Perfect if you’re planning to travel Colombia, dating a Colombian, living there as an expat, learning Spanish, or simply trying to understand how Colombians really speak, behave, and connect.

Because learning Spanish is one thing.
Understanding Colombians is another.

Choose how you want to read it!

Paperback? eBook?
Click to see where it’s available.

What’s Inside the Book

Cover of Don’t Sound Like a Gringo in Colombia, a guide to Colombian slang, sayings and cultur

Short, informative and fun chapters about the unique Colombian culture that shapes the language spoken, including politeness, always being late, blaming others,relationship to food and coffee, traffic, personal space and illnesses you’ll somehow only find in Colombia!

Easy to read, entertaining and real chapters about how important context is, how words are changed, and molded into a more subtle or dramatic meaning, how to swear, how to insult, and how to navigate the confusing body language you’ll meet.

A very broad, descriptive, and very stereotypical overview of the different people across regions and classes.

Quick overview of the most used slang depending on different scenarios from greetings, money and shopping, partying, flirting and dating to cursing and insulting.

It’s not a book about food, but it’s simply not possible to visit Colombia without falling in love with their food!

Every word includes the literal meaning, actual meaning and real-life examples.

Did i remember to say it’s completely uncensored, and from times to times, very political incorrect…

But fun, real and useful.

Just when you thought the slang was enough, the chapter with Colombian sayings takes it to the next level. Some are wisdom passed down from generations, some are hilarious, some might be offensive and some are completely unhinged.

All with literal and actual meanings.

Examples from the book

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  • Colombian slang example
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  • Colombian slang example
  • Colombian saying expression example
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Going to Colombia? Dating a Colombian?
Trying to understand one?

Then this book might be for you!
It’s made for anyone who wants to understand what Colombians are actually saying — and why they say it.

✈️ Traveling to Colombia
🌎 Expats in Colombia
🇪🇸 Spanish learners
❤️ Dating a Colombian
👨‍👩‍👧 Colombian friends or family
🇨🇴 Anyone obsessed with Colombian culture

Misty landscape of Valle de Cocora with iconic tall wax palm trees and lush green hills.

“Jajaja, horrible”

My Colombian mother-in-law

How It Started

I arrived in Colombia thinking my basic Spanish would be enough when meeting my partner’s family and friends.

Oh, how wrong I was…
Within minutes, people were talking over each other, shouting across rooms, throwing around slang, nicknames, curses, jokes, and affectionate insults at full speed, and I understood almost none of it.

So I started writing things down to get through the day, but it slowly grew into this complete guide with more than 1,100 slang words, sayings, expressions, and the cultural context behind this chaotic and beautiful country.

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Frequently asked questions

Absolutely not. I started creating this book before I could speak Spanish myself; well, it was a big reason behind it. But if you do speak Spanish, that’s just better.

The book is written in English. The dictionary part is also written in English, with spanish/Colombian translations. All examples are in both English and Spanish.

Oh very much! In fact, every single Colombian that I’ve shown the book to has laughed loudly and enjoyed it. Both Colombians living in Colombia and those who have moved abroad.

It started as a list of slang and expressions I wanted to remember, which slowly turned into a full dictionary, yes, but it is so much more now. Several chapters explaining the culture and the people behind the language as well.

Yes! The book is completely uncensored, and will explain when it’s an insult and when it’s friendly.

In fact, we discussed whether to keep or delete some phrases and words, but in the end, we kept everything.

This is exactly the book i wish i had before travelling there. It might even be more useful than any other guide book on the market – looking at my Lonely Planet – Colombia, while typing this 🙂

In fact, i’ve heard from mulitple people travelling there with this book in hand, that it learned them words and phrases that connected them to locals they would otherwise not have connected with.

This book will definitely connect you deeper to a Colombian person, whether you’re trying to impress, get to know, or bond.

To truly get to know someone, it takes effort, and learning casual, deep and fun parts of a language, but also the cultural habits, is a big step.

The book is available on all of the big international marketplaces, both in paperback and as an eBook.

At the same time, it’s possible to order it through most local bookstores, just ask them.

Cover of Don’t Sound Like a Gringo in Colombia, a guide to Colombian slang, sayings and culture
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