By far. By very far! This single word is the one that non-Spanish speakers always ask me about the most. It never fails. As soon as language comes up as a topic of conversation. Specifically popular words used by Mexicans in Spanish here in Texas, the following question usually follows: What does that word mean that all Mexican guys use… it’s like “way” or “woo-ay”? Is it a bad word?
Obvio, it’s much easier to remember and learn bad words in another language than it is to learn all of the rules and grammatical regulations that would actually make one fluent in said language. ¡Los entiendo completamente!
So how do I answer this very question? It’s very simple really. Depending on the tone and context of it’s usage, guey or wuey – either spelling works – can be either good or bad in its intended message.
For example say someone says “¡¿Oyeme guey cuál es tu pedo?!”
They’re basically confronting you with a “hey man what’s your problem?!”
On the other hand, if you’re greeted with an ¡¿Ey wuey, cómo te va?!
You’re basically being greeted with a “hey (dawg/man/dude/fool/etc.) how are you?”
So there you have it. My very short and simple definition of guey!
Want something more formal? Here’s what Wikipedia offers:
Güey (usually misspelled as guey; pronounced like the English word ‘way’) is a word in Mexican Spanish which is commonly used to refer to any person without using his name and applies equally to males and females (though it is more often applied to males). It is used in Mexican Spanish in roughly the same way “dude” is used in modern American English. It is derived from the term buey, which refers to a castrated bull (an ox), used for meat, sacrifice, and/or labor (e.g. pulling plows and carts). Over time, the initial /b/ underwent a consonant mutation to a /g/, resulting in the modern güey. In Mexico this same word is used like an insult (can be a negative term like “fool” ), although, due to its extremely high frequency of use in a multitude of contexts, it has lost much of its offensive character, becoming a colloquialism.
I’m always on the hunt for new mexi-vocabulario.
What other words would you like me to include in the mexi-vocabulario? If you have one that you would recommend please share it with me here.
Writer’s Disclaimer: When I say mexi-vocabulario I don’t necessarily mean these words are exclusively Mexican, or only used by Mexicans. This is simply an expression of how they were introduced to me in our Mexican Spanish.
9 thoughts on “Mexi-Vocabulario: ¡Guey/Wuey!”
Love this, guey! Once while my husband talked to a friend on the phone, my daughters and I counted on our fingers how many times he said, Guey. Using all ten fingers times 3 of us, we ran out of fingers quickly.
jajaja! When the guys are hanging out at our place you could go through a couple hundred full hands of counting the many times we throw guey around… It’s just one of those words that slips off the tongue so easily 🙂
hey someone from mexico gave me a shirt that says ay guey mexico! what does that mean exactly when its refering to a country?
my mexican mom throw a taco at me and then she said idiota wuey
and then i ate the taco cause it looked good i first i thought it was chancla it not funny cause it hurt me alot
Wrengcjemjdf nwgejd
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WgreDwnd
First of all.. the word “pedo” means “fart”. Güey normally means “shit”.
My husband, who is Mexican, said a güey is a guy who’s gal screws around on him, which make sense since it comes from buey, a CASTRATED bull. It’s been softened over time and used as an endearment, an exclamation (Ai, güey!), or derogatory.
It depends on what part of México you are from. The most common translation to English is “dude”, but in some parts of México I know that it’s considered an insult – just like you said, a guy whose ruca is screwing around on him. One time my friend from Ensenada, B.C. (who grew up in SoCal) was trying to talk his way past a security guard so he could stay in my campsite, and he kept saying “blah, blah, blah, güey”, etc., and the guard got really offended and basically told him “¡Lárgate! y vete a la chingada, cabrón!”