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tío

TEE-oh/ˈti.o/noun, interjectionInformal

A Peninsular Spanish slang term. Browse all Spanish slang.

What it means

  1. Dude, mate. The standard address term between friends in Spain, and the rough equivalent of Mexican güey.

  2. Any unnamed man: ese tío, 'that guy'.

  3. As pure filler marking casual speech, with no content of its own.

Literally: Uncle.

Examples with translations

  • ¿Qué pasa, tío? Cuánto tiempo.

    What's up, mate? Long time no see.

  • Tío, no me lo puedo creer.

    Mate, I can't believe it.

  • Ese tío trabaja en el bar de abajo.

    That guy works in the bar downstairs.

Where it comes from

Kinship terms becoming address terms for non-relatives is one of the most reliable patterns in slang worldwide. Spanish took tío the same way Mexican Spanish took carnal and English took bro.

Other forms

Spellings and variants:
tía
Similar terms:
colega, tronco