English borrows slang from everywhere. Thanks to K-dramas, anime, Afrobeats, Bollywood and friends who switch languages mid-sentence, words like kilig, yalla, habibi and jugaad now turn up in English comments, captions and group chats. This guide collects the ones people most often look up, grouped by language, each with its own entry explaining what it means and where it comes from.

Nigerian slang

Nigerian Pidgin and Nigerian English have their own guide: see Nigerian slang for wahala, japa, sapa, abeg, Detty December and more.

Spanish

• Chido: cool, in Mexico.
• Qué onda: what’s up?, in Mexico and much of Latin America.
• Guay: cool, in Spain.
• Vale: okay, in Spain.
• Tío: dude or mate, in Spain (literally “uncle”).
• Flipar: to be blown away, or to love something.
• Ay caramba: wow, good grief; Bart Simpson’s catchphrase.
• Ay bendito: aww, poor thing, in Puerto Rico.

Hindi and Indian English

• Jugaad: a clever makeshift fix.
• Timepass: killing time, or something light and forgettable.
• Mast: great, fun.
• Jhakaas: awesome, Mumbai style.

Filipino

• Kilig: the giddy butterflies of romance.
• Lodi: idol, spelled backwards; also “buddy.”
• Petmalu: awesome.
• Astig: cool, tough.
• Charot: just kidding.

Indonesian

• Mantul: awesome, short for “mantap betul.”
• Gabut: bored, with nothing to do.
• Bucin: hopelessly lovesick.

German

• Krass: crazy, intense, awesome.
• Geil: great, but with a risky second meaning.
• Digga: dude, bro.
• Ehrenmann: a stand-up guy who just did something kind.
• Moin: hi, in northern Germany.

French

• Chelou: weird, shady.
• Kiffer: to love, to really like.
• Boloss: a loser, a sucker.
• Osef: who cares.

Arabic and Turkish

• Yalla: come on, let’s go.
• Habibi: my dear; also “buddy.”
• Kanka: bro, best friend, in Turkish.

Japanese and Korean

• Yabai: dangerous, oh no, or amazing.
• Sugoi: amazing.
• Omo: oh my!, in Korean.
• Daebak: awesome, in Korean.

For more, see our anime slang and K-pop slang guides.

How slang gets made around the world

Some tricks show up again and again. Filipino slang loves back slang, flipping a word around: idol becomes lodi and tigas (tough) becomes astig. French has verlan, which swaps syllables, so louche (shady) becomes chelou. Indonesian slang squeezes phrases into short blends, like mantul from mantap betul. And plenty of words simply shift their meaning over time: German krass comes from Latin for “coarse,” and Hindi mast once meant “drunk.”

More English varieties have their own guides: British, Australian, New Zealand, South African and Nigerian slang. Or browse the full A–Z index.