parcero

What it means

1. 1.

   Mate, buddy. Both a term of address and a noun for a friend. The clipped form parce is far more frequent in speech than the full word.

2. 2.

   Used to address a stranger of roughly your own age and class, the way English uses 'mate' — warm, but presumptuous if aimed at someone much older.

Examples with translations

• Parce, ¿usted sabe a qué hora abren?

  Mate, do you know what time they open?

• Voy con unos parceros del trabajo.

  I'm going with some workmates.

• ¡Ey, parcero, cuánto tiempo!

  Hey man, long time no see!

Where it comes from

From aparcero, 'sharecropper, partner', and cognate with Portuguese parceiro — both from Latin partiarius, 'one who shares'. It spread from Medellín's parlache to the whole country through 1990s music and television. The popular claim that the drug trade carried it in from Brazil is repeated constantly and evidenced nowhere.

First attested: 1980s in Medellín; nationwide by the 2000s

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

parce, parcerito

Similar terms:

llave, socio, cucho