Don't Sound like a Gringo in Colombia: A Complete Guide to Slang, Sayings, Culture & the Real Way Colombians Speak

This is more than just another travel guide or dictionary. Don’t Sound Like a Gringo in Colombia is a funny, practical, and uncensored Colombian guide to the slang, insults, cultural habits, and everyday expressions that make Colombia so rich, dramatic, confusing, and unforgettable.

Inside, you’ll find more than 1,100 Colombian slang words, expressions, and sayings , explained with literal meanings, actual meanings, cultural context, and real-life examples. From regional differences and social types to crazy sayings that make absolutely no sense at first, this book helps you understand not only what Colombians say, but what they actually mean when they say it.

Created by a Dane who arrived in Colombia with very limited Spanish and somehow ended up collecting slang instead of learning grammar properly, this book grew out of countless “what the hell does that mean?” moments. It was carefully curated, debated, corrected, and improved with the help of his Colombian girlfriend, her family, and friends, making sure the slang sounds real, the culture makes sense, and the jokes don’t completely miss the point.

Whether you’re travelling to Colombia, living there, learning Spanish, dating a Colombian, or just trying to understand why everyone keeps saying parce , this book is your survival guide to Colombian Spanish in the wild.

Inside you’ll find:

Cultural context, insights and clarifications Colombian slang translated clearly Literal meanings vs. actual meanings Real-life examples Crazy Colombian sayings explained Gestures, habits, humour, insults, and everyday expressions Illustrations throughout the book Funny, useful, honest, and sometimes very politically incorrect, this is Colombian Spanish as it is actually used: warm, chaotic, affectionate, dramatic, rude, hilarious, and impossible to translate literally.

Read it before Colombia explains itself to you the hard way.