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órale

OH-rah-leh/ˈo.ɾa.le/interjectionInformal

A Mexican Spanish slang term. Browse all Mexican slang.

What it means

  1. Right then; okay; let's go. Agreement or encouragement.

  2. Wow. Surprise or admiration, usually with the stress drawn out.

  3. Come on, hurry up. Impatient prompting.

    Three quite different meanings distinguished only by intonation.

Examples with translations

  • —¿Nos vemos a las ocho? —Órale, ahí nos vemos.

    'Shall we meet at eight?' 'Sure, see you there.'

  • ¡Óooorale! No sabía que tocabas la guitarra.

    Wow! I didn't know you played guitar.

    Note: Admiration, marked by the lengthened first vowel.

  • ¡Órale, que se nos hace tarde!

    Come on, we're going to be late!

Where it comes from

From ahora ('now') plus the emphatic -le ending that Mexican Spanish attaches to a great many imperatives — ándale, épale, híjole, úpale. The -le has no grammatical function; it is a purely Mexican intensifier.

Other forms

Similar terms:
ándale, va, sale