“Poor quality” has never been easier to say. Chileans have various incredibly common words to describe things that are shoddy, sub-par, or of inferior quality. And frankly, after a trip to the registro civil, you’ll understand why.
Penca:
Something that is irreparably poor quality. When a situation is flat-out sucky, penca is the most commonly used description. This has long been one of my favorite chilenismos (as demonstrated in the stories here). Careful, in true Chilean form, this word can also mean a certain male organ.
Chanta:
Chinese knock offs and professors who watch Naruto instead of teaching their classes are things that first come to mind with the word chanta.
Mula:
A perfect word for overpriced knock offs is mula. These are objects that scream YOU GOT SWINDLED. That mula dress you bought yesterday cost you seventy bucks, and it’s already falling apart, for example.
Charcha:
Purely poor quality. Something that’s really cheap and probably breaks really easily. For example, according to Edwin, my father-in-law always buys charcha tools that break after one or two uses. (When asked how to describe Miley Cyrus, I would say charcha, among other things.) It comes from an indigenous word that means “deficient.”
Rasca:
Consider that this word comes from the verb “scratch”… and then imagine the dirtiest, scratchiest, shabbiest thing you can. That’s rasca. Like a mangy mutt. Look up the meaning of “mange” and you’ll get it.
Peliento:
Peliento is like rasca, but it’s a little sadder. Like, if you see a street dog that on top of being mangy is limping and listless, that’s kind of like peliento. It comes from a word meaning vagabond.
Flaite:
Something that’s ghetto, but not in a good way. It could be something so flashy it’s tacky or looks like bad taste. It could be the duct tape holding together the frame of your car. It could be the insanely loud reggaeton music shaking your neighbor’s house. But mostly, it’s a kind of person, according to wikipedia, an “urban youth of low socioeconomic background.”
And finally, a word to describe something of excellent quality:
Filete:
A big old sirloin steak… that is the definition of top-notch for many people. For example:
¿Has leído el blog de la pelirroja peligrosa? Es filete.
Keep in mind that puro filete is something you might hear as a piropo… because seeing women as a piece of meat is always a flattering thing.
Still looking for more words? Look up some of these: punga, cuma, picante.
Chilean Adventures of the Pelirroja Peligrosa 