Job Discussion Forums

junkyak · Joined: 21 Jul 2007 Posts: 24 Location: LA Cali

WHat exactly does "hway" mean? The guys in the movie kept saying that to each other

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Guey. It's like saying 'dude' or 'man'.

What's up, dude?

Que onda, guey?

hlamb · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Posts: 431 Location: Canada

It's also used like "like" in that it can be inserted into any sentence or question, in any place, just to show how cool the speaker is.

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

�Guey� is slang for �buey,� which is Spanish for �ox�. So it can often mean "fool" or "'idiot". This is one word you should be careful with because it can be different depending on who is using it and in what context. I have never heard it used as "like".

Dragonlady · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:42 am Post subject:

deleted

unrelated to TESOL

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Phil_K · Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 2041 Location: A World of my Own

Having found the dieresis on my keyboard, may I be pedantic and confirm that the spelling is "G�ey". Many of the the machos that use the word wouldn't appreciate it if you pronounced it as "Guey".

Actually, it is the most important word in the vocabulary of about 10 words that some people have.

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

So does Guey make Guy cool? Or is it just natural with him?

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

MikeySaid · Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 509 Location: Torreon, Mexico

As with all other things, it sort of depends on the explanation that is given to you.

The explanation I was given years ago was given to me twice, and nearly identical, by a Mexico City finance/banker guy (smart AND wealthy) and by a (then) social anthropology student (now my fiance).

I was told this... the word originated as buey, yes. And buey is the farm animal previously mentioned, but a castrated version of that animal. Much less masculine.... eh

Keep in mind that an ox is a horned animal, and Spanish speakers will use the phrase "poner el cuerno" to refer to getting cheated on(knowingly, like a cuckold) by your wife/woman... So if in the right tone of voice someone told you "tu eres un guey!"... it could be very very pejorative.

Dragonlady · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 3:11 am Post subject:

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junkyak · Joined: 21 Jul 2007 Posts: 24 Location: LA Cali

ok thanks guys. I just saw another mexican movie y tu mama tambien and not much use of the word in there. But amartedeule was every other word lol

seanie · Joined: 28 Nov 2003 Posts: 54 Location: m�xico

I think MikeySaid is correct. When I first came to Mexico as an exchange student in 1988, my friends said buey. When I came back in 1999 as a teacher, I realised that the word had morphed into wey, which is how I get it in e-mail now. (And students find it funny when you say "no way!").