güey

n. a dude, guy, buddy, buster, cabrón, cuate; orig. chump, punk, idiot, fool. Subjects: Spanish, Mexico, United States, Derogatory, Slang

Editorial Note: This term is usually said to be a form of buey ‘ox’ or, in Mexico, ‘idiot.’ Often used vocatively as a salutation or interjection. Like cabrón, usually used only among friends, but not between men and women or strangers. Unlike cabrón, it also used among women. It is pronounced similar to way or hoo-way. It is sometimes spelled wey or way in English or in informal Spanish.

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Citations: 1940 R. García (Austin, Tex.) “A medias copas” @ Philadelphia Papers on Linguistic Anthropology (Dec. 2, 1998) Peter C. Haney “‘En un clavo están colgadas.’ History, parody, and identity formation in the Mexican American carpa” p. 3: Que mi vieja me hizo güey. That my vieja made me a güey (lit. “ox” / fig. “impotent fool"). 2000 Anthony Bourdain Kitchen Confidential (May 22) p. 221: Pinche wey means “fucking guy” but can also mean “you adorable scamp” or “pal.” 2003 Leslie Salzinger Genders in Production (Apr. 1) p. 191: Guey is a slang form of the word buey, meaning “ox” (beast of burden), and is used in conversation the way “man” is in English. 2003 [Mirasol] Flowerpop (Tucson, Ariz.) (June 18): It comes with the service, so everyone in the city walks around with their phones blabbering away on the radio while every innocent bystander must be subjected to hearing, “que paso anoche guey.” Then *beep* “pos nada guey, fui a Chamucos con Kike y Pepe.” *beep* “Bueno pues, soy a la puente. Hablame manana, vas a jugar el futbol?” *beep* “Si guey, quiere ir?” *beep* “Pos hablame cabron.” *beep* *2004 Roxana Fitch Jergas de habla Hispana “Jerga de México”: buey: (m.) (pronunciado güey) idiota. También se usa como término informal entre amigos. 2004 [Fluken] Redota (Jan. 11) “Güey”: Contrariamente a lo que se pueda pensar en México Güey en la mayoría de los casos no es una ofensa. Significa amigo, camarada o compañero. Ejem: ¿Qué onda güey? = ¿Qué hay de nuevo amigo? Estás re-güey = Eres muy tonto (en esta frase, el güey es un poco despectivo pero a la vez paternal)…El güey se utiliza unicamente con personas con las que se tiene cierta confianza. Es un poco ofensivo usarlo con personas mayores o con mujeres, aunque algunas mujeres también lo utilizan entre ellas. 2004 Maria Cortés Gonzalez El Paso Times (Tex.) (May 8) “Coors ad makes many question if ”: For many young adults along the border, “güey” is a simple slang greeting among friends. For others, it’s a crude insult that’s not used in polite company.

Posted 10 May 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

The Mexican slang “G�ey” always, with a smirk, means “cuckold” which is the only word in English that labels the man whose woman cheats on him. In Mexican Spanish, a man’s unfaithful wife or girlfriend causes horns to grow upon his head, which only he cannot see. There the word connects with “Buey” or oxen, and serves as the root for the popular song “El Venado” about a man who grows horns. The word comes loaded with sexuality, always disparages, and always signifies low class aliterate personalities, and should always insult (as does the use of “Bitch” or “Niggar” in English) as a label. In Mexican Spanish, in direct opposition to the Mexican “Ching�n” which signifies a heroic fornicator, or a type A personality, the overuse of the label “Guey” among the lower classes seeks to replicate the good-old-boys comraderie of the Mal Hablados, or potty mouths, of the ruling class.

by Mark Plimsoll 13 Aug 06, 0616 GMT

I worked with mexicans on a masonry crew and they always called me “way”. When I asked what it meant they said fool or idiot, which pissed me off, so I started insulting their mothers, which is normal in regular white man construction crews. But i found you don’t do that with latinos.

by seth 12 Feb 07, 0258 GMT

Mr Plimsoll, you are wrong on so many counts I don’t know where to begin. O.K., it is not “always with a smirk.” Wearing horns “encornado” is a term at least as old as ancient Greek to describe a man whose wife has cuckolded him. It does not have any correlation with “bitch,” or “Niggar” (sic)(nigger, niggah, nigga, but never niggar). The word may have a sexual undertone, when intended, but for the most part, it has become a standard greeting, probably best translated as “man,” as in, “Hey man, whassup?” or fool, dude, or guy, this last probably having become an informal cognate. Who are the “lower classes” who always “disparage?” What is the meaning of “aliterate?” Do you mean “illiterate?” I think you mean to say camaraderie, instead of comraderie. For the most part, I have noticed that the “ruling class” has at least as bad manners as those you refer to as the lower classes. After all, it is bad manners personified to be a member of such a venal and corrupt group.

by Damian Cano 11 Aug 07, 0407 GMT

yo pienso que la palabra guey is not a bad word, fro me this word mean like friend or body I am are mexican form San Miguel de Allende we use this word in good thing el que lo entienda de una forma diferente pues it hsi own but Ithink that that tis word is no bad.

by jose 06 Nov 07, 0458 GMT

way to go guey Jose I think you are absolutly correct in your comment. I lived in Mexico for several years and my friends and I all called each other guey without insult. I think of this as the equivalent of asshole in english when used amoung friends.

by john 12 Feb 08, 0514 GMT

You’re right john. I have lived in Mexico for several years, too, and my buddies and I called each other guey all the time! It definitely a good word, as long as you do not say it to strangers.

by bluebird 002 06 Mar 08, 1114 GMT

“Que paso’ buey!” is what I heard a lot of from a variety of working stiff Mexican cats when I lived and worked in Houston, whether they were locals, guys up from the Valley, or undoc’d day laborers. (of these the latter were always the least likely to use the phrase in mixed company).
It is fair to say it is analagous to the following familiarities:

-"niggah" in the common black American community
-"cara" among Brazilians
-"cunt" among young British men

So it’s colloquial and non-malicious. Welcome to the Human Race.

by GW 16 May 08, 0751 GMT

You are what you think, and words mean what their history loads them with, whether the speaker understands that or not. Aliterate, which anyone could look up, describes people who can read but don’t. Mexican homes usually do not display books, and with good reason. Unitl the sixties, the Catholic mass, delivered in Spanish, did not even promote bible reading!

by Mark Plimsoll 08 Jun 08, 0341 GMT