Apañón

Apañón (ah-pah-GNON) means to be subjugated, typically by a crowd, in a violent, unfair and usually insulting fashion. Apañar is to subjugate in such way. Apañado means to be scared, in the same way one would be after an apañón.

Example:

Rafael: ¿Por qué andas tan serio?
Leonardo: Me apañaron afuera del metro unos culeros.

Rafael: Why so serious?
Leonardo: A couple of thugs bullied me and slapped me oustide of the subway station.

Below is a video of the classic song "Apañón" by Chilango band Maldita Vecindad y los Hijos del Quinto Patio. You can find the lirycs here: http://www.musica.com/letras.asp?letra=1223818.



Apañar is also used as agandallar, and therefore can mean to grab without permission.

Example:

Persona en un concierto de la sinfónica: ¡Esos cabrones apañaron nuestros lugares!

Concertgoer at the Sypmhony: Those assholes took our seats!

Tronar el ejote

Tronar el ejote (traw-NAHR el eh-HUT-eh) is a deep and colorful expression. It literally means "to snap the end of green bean." It means "to take a man's virginity." It's sort of the Chilango male version of popping an English-speaking woman's cherry.

Example:

Jorge: ¿Por qué anda tan pinche contento ese güey?

Ricardo: Le acaban de tronar el ejote.

Jorge: Why is that dude so fucking happy?

Ricardo: Some girl took his virginity.

Balconear

Balconear (bal-con-NEHARR) comes from balcón (lit. balcony). It means to expose somebody's embarrassing secrets--some times one's own. This term is not offensive. What might get you in trouble is the action itself. Try not to balconear your acquaintances.

Example:

Jacinto: Creo que alguien nos balconeó.

Margarita: ¡No mames! Todos nos han visto fajando en el elevador.

Jacinto: I think somebody exposed our secret.
Margarita: Give me a break! Everybody has seen us making out in the elevator.

Apretada, ponedora

In male Chilangos' psyche these two concepts constitute a full taxonomy of single women. On one hand, a woman is said to be apretada (ah-preh-TAH-duh, lit. tight) if she refuses to engage in sexual intercourse even with the one she loves or is interested in. It's an allusion to apretarse el calzón or holding her panties tight.

The opposite of apretada is ponedora (paw-neh-DOUGH-rah, lit. the one who puts): a sexually promiscuous woman. An alternative expression for ponedora is sí le pone. (ponerle means to engage in sexual intercourse.)

Both apretada and ponedora are ansolutely informal and even offensive.

Example:

Juan: ¿No que tu ex era bien apretada?
Carlos: Desde que cortamos se volvió bien ponedora. Chale!

Juan: I thought you said your ex was very conservative.
Carlos: She became very promiscuous after we broke up. Damn it!

Note: A man can be said to be apretado, but nobody refers to a man as ponedor (that's believed to be the default status of men).

Vientos

Vientos (vee-EN-toss) literally means "winds." It is used as a way to emphatically express approval. It comes from the word bien (lit. good). A stronger version is vientos huracanados, (vee-EN-toss hoo-rah-ca-NAH-thoss) which literally means "hurricane-like winds."

Don't be afraid to use vientos everytime you would use "good job" or "excellent." It's a solid workhorse of Chilango slang.

Example:

Estudiante de Doctorado: Después de seis años, finalmente terminé la tesis.
Asesor de tesis: ¡Vientos! Pensé que te la ibas a pelar.

PhD student: After six years, I finally finished my dissertation.
Thesis advisor: Excellent! I thought you were not going to make it.

Báscula, pasar báscula y basculear

A báscula (BASS-coo-lah) is a scale. Báscula is used in expressions related to searching or frisking somebody. The concept comes from the scales in the roads that are used to measure if trucks are carrying more or less than what they are supposed to.

Both basculear and pasar báscula (lit. pass scale) mean to frisk, search. ¡Báscula! is an interjection form used in lieu of any of the two.

Example 1:

Beto: No traigo ni un centavo.

Enrique: No te creo nada. ¡Báscula!

Beto: I don't have a penny on me.

Enrique: I don't believe you. I'll search you!

Example 2:

Abuelita: ¿Cóme les fue en su viaje a la playa?

Nieto: Uuuta, los militares nos pasaron báscula cinco veces.

Granny: How was your trip to the beach?
Grandson: Geeee, we were searched five times at military checkpoints.

Chiflando y aplaudiendo

Sometimes an adult wants to make sure that a young couple don't make out. The adult can ask the couple to keep chiflando y aplaudiendo (chee-FLAN-though ee ah-plough-DEE-en-though), which literally means "whistling and clapping."

It's virtually impossible to make out while whistling and clapping. Thus, the adult can avoid akward face-to-face supervision by being in a contiguous room and still hear the whistling and clapping. Of course, that's all in theory. in practice is enough to have an adult saying that to create awkwardness and stay away from smooching and hugging.

Example:

Mamá: Los dejo solos en la sala, pero... chiflando y aplaudiendo, ¿eh?

Mom: I leave alone in the living room, however, I wanna hear you clapping and whisteling, ok?

This couple took it literally.