Image taken from Creamfields.com

Creamfields is an electronic music festival that happens once a year in the top clubbing cities around the world.  And by ‘electronic music festival,’ we actually mean ‘massive, outdoor orgy of a rave’. This event is one of the highlights for clubbers around Argentina, which is why it is no surprise that it attracts over 60,000 people every year.  As it was scheduled to happen this weekend in Buenos Aires (but has now been changed to December 19th, due to some issues with permits.  Who needs permits, anyway?) , we at Bueno, entonces…learn Spanish have decided to give you a lesson in la vida nocturna (nightlife), ranging from tragos (drinks) to drogas (drugs) to música (music) to…well, anything else we can think of, really. So here it goes:

Let’s start with clubs. Clubs in Argentina are called boliches, but boliche is a word that is only used in Argentina and Uruguay. If you want a more neutral word that will be understood everywhere, just stick to discoteca. As far as bars and pubs go, Spanish keeps it simple by using the same words, but putting a Spanish accent on them. Conozco algunos bares… (I know some bars…) ¡Vamos a un pub! (Let’s go to a pub!) But watch out for la entrada or el cover (the cover charge), sometimes they are crazy expensive in the city, and even in places where you least expect it.

Now, it is important to know music when you go out at night, because you don’t want to get stuck in a bar, pub, or boliche listening to something resembling a dying cat all night, or something like Celine Dion, which is equally as bad. These are pretty easy to remember though, because the Spanish words are the same as the English words, only said with an accent. El rock, el pop, la electrónica, el jazz, el reggaetón, el reggae, la salsa, el merengue, la cumbia (okay, we might have stolen a few of those from Spanish originally), etc… The words are all pretty much the same, with the exception of the varying genders for each genre.  That part is a bit tricky, but you’ll learn with time.

Now for the substances. Cigarrillos (cigarettes) are always popular both day and night in Argentina, but make sure you ask for a cenicero (ashtray) before you go and ash on someone. And tenés fuego? is the easiest way to ask for a light (literally, do you have fire?). The types of alcohol are pretty much the same as they are in English, as well, with a few exceptions. Vodka, Ron (Rum), Ginebra (Gin), and, of course, cerveza (beer) and vino (wine).  In Argentina, however, fernet is a staple to any good night.  Fernet is a liquor that originally comes from Italy, but is absolutely everywhere in Argentina.  It is common among the old and the young, the rich and the poor– everybody loves the stuff.  Oh, and you will almost never see anyone drink it in any other form than a Fernet and Coke (as in Coca-Cola…)

Drogas are a little trickier. There’s marihuana (which, like in English, as a bazillion different names, and every country’s is unique—here, you can call a joint either a porro or faso, among many other things). Pastillas (pills) of all sorts as well as the rest of the harder drugs have varying names from place to place, but again, use the name in English and they will often understand.

There you have it—all the nightlife knowledge you could possibly need when going out in Argentina. Oh, and remember, dancing here is not the same as in most English-speaking countries, so try to keep the grinding to a minimum as to not embarrass yourself and offend others.

Want to learn some Spanish phrases and hilarious pick-up lines? Check out our Facebook Page! To see clips from each individual Spanish class, go to our Youtube Page.

Teal Culture/News, Mini Lesson Argentina, Latin Culture, Spanish vocabulary