# flaite/wachiturro



## razorramone

I lived in Chile for a year and the word for chavs (uneducated kids who listen to hip hop, wear tracksuits, and pretend to be gangsters) was *"flaite*". 

I wanted to know if this word is used in other countries or is just a chilean phrase.

I heard in Venuzuela people talk about "*wachiturros" *people in a similar way, but I didnt understand if it was exactly chav/flaite or not. 


Are these both local only words, or are they used in other countries? If not.. what is the standard spanish word for chav?


(I'm aware wachiturros are also a band, but the Venuzuelans I talked to weren't referring to them.)


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## Adolfo Afogutu

razorramone said:


> Are these both local only words, or are they used in other countries? If not.. what is the standard spanish word for chav?



Hola:

I have never heard them before. Colloquial adjectives which are politically incorrect words often suddenly appear and quickly disappear without even being noticed. Besides that, they are almost always regional terms which would not be understood outside a country or region. They are known as *“planchas”* in Uruguay (the term is offensive).

Saludos


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## trutru

Hola.

I hadn't either listened to those words. For the concept, in Colombia, it may be "ñeros", or "pandilleros". Even though, _ñeros_ applys for people who live in the streets, as for dangerous people who could rob you, or pretend to be gangsters.


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## Oldy Nuts

_Flaite_ is an exclusively Chilean word. I found this enlightening, and more or less accurate to the best of my knowledge:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flaite


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## Orejitas

If I understand correctly the Mexican equivalent is "naco".  I don't think there's a universal Spanish word for this, or English word for that matter, I had to look up "chav"   It's not a universal concept, you know?  In the US we don't really have an equivalent.


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## k-in-sc

Wachiturro: guacho + turro
Here they're gangstas or "urban youths."


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## robjh22

> If I understand correctly the Mexican equivalent is "naco".



It is the equivalent of what? of "_chav_"?

I don't think so. A _naco_ in Mexico is an uncultured, low class rube, something akin to the U.S. term "white trash."

_Ahora bien, es tiempos más contemporaneos, esta palabra tiene un significado un poco ambiguo y confuso, aunque se ha utilizado esta palabra en una forma despectiva para señalar a las personas indígenas, últimamente se les llama "nacos" a la gente con una escasa cultura aparente, que no corresponde con la urbanidad de las clases altas.
En general la sociedad mexicana está acostumbrada al uso de la misma indiscriminadamente en relación a los estatus económicos, posiciones sociales, o cualquier otro círculo, y se utiliza con el fin despectivo de señalar a una persona que es diferente de ellos o con un punto de vista peculiar.

_http://es.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061030111021AAM9G9d_


_The above description corresponds well to the many descriptions of _naco_ I have heard over the years. The definitions I see of "Chav" remind me of the "punk" of the 50's:

_In the UK, a chav is a highly antisocial juvenile delinquent who wears (usually counterfeit) designer sports clothes and high-end brands and vulgar jewellery (= bling) and listens to rap music. _http://diccionario.reverso.net/ingles-definiciones/chav


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## k-in-sc

My experience is also that "naco" just means a trashy lower-class person.
Oldy's link gives possible synonyms for "flaite" in various countries. For Mexico it gives:
naco, varil, nopal, yope, chaca, chundo, gañán, lépero, gato, indio, macuarro, matacuaz, macehual, guarro, gatete, macuil, maik.


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## Silvia Dee

I will say the standard is "pandilleros" o "camorristas"





razorramone said:


> I lived in Chile for a year and the word for chavs (uneducated kids who listen to hip hop, wear tracksuits, and pretend to be gangsters) was *"flaite*".
> 
> I wanted to know if this word is used in other countries or is just a chilean phrase.
> 
> I heard in Venuzuela people talk about "*wachiturros" *people in a similar way, but I didnt understand if it was exactly chav/flaite or not.
> 
> 
> Are these both local only words, or are they used in other countries? If not.. what is the standard spanish word for chav?
> 
> 
> (I'm aware wachiturros are also a band, but the Venuzuelans I talked to weren't referring to them.)


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## Silvia Dee

That is in castellano, in differently áreas you 'll her diferents ñames (even in spain)


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## k-in-sc

"Castellano" is spoken in dozens of countries


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## Oldy Nuts

Silvia Dee said:


> That is in castellano, in differently* a*reas you'll he*a*r diferents *n*ames (even in *S*pain)



The language is called _Spanish_ in English...


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## Martoo

Los Wachiturros son un grupito de adolescentes que hacen cumbia en Argentina

http://staticvos1.lavozdelinterior....odistica/14_Feb_2012_17_09_05_wachiturros.jpg

No tienen ninguna relación con los que escuchan hip hop o los que imitan a gangsters porque esa cultura acá no existe.

Así que descartá el término *wachiturro *asociado a esto.


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## Moritzchen

Martoo said:


> Los Wachiturros son un grupito de adolescentes que hacen cumbia en Argentina
> 
> http://staticvos1.lavozdelinterior....odistica/14_Feb_2012_17_09_05_wachiturros.jpg
> 
> No tienen ninguna relación con los que escuchan hip hop o los que imitan a gangsters porque esa cultura acá no existe.
> 
> Así que descartá el término *wachiturro *asociado a esto.


Sí Martoo, pero fijáte lo que dice al final de su post:


razorramone said:


> ...(I'm aware wachiturros are also a band, but the Venuzuelans I talked to weren't referring to them.)


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## Oldy Nuts

Me estoy sintiendo confundido. Creí que la pregunta original se refería a una expresión 100% chilena, que no puede tener equivalente universal en todos los países de habla hispana. Y ahora estamos hablando de un conjunto musical (?) que el autor de la pregunta original descartó. ¿O estoy más obtuso que de costumbre?


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## k-in-sc

The details vary from country to country, but lower-class youth cultures that feature garish fashions and abominable music seem to be more or less universal ...


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## Blondie90

k-in-sc said:


> The details vary from country to country, but lower-class youth cultures that feature garish fashions and abominable music seem to be more or less universal ...



Okay so, could someone say which is the English word for all these varieties, please??


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## Oldy Nuts

Several have been suggested in this thread, starting with _chav_ in the opening post. I have my doubts that there is a single, universal name for them in English.


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## SuperScuffer

The female of the species is known as a "Chavette".

BTW I am sure that Chav has the same roots as the Spanish word Chabola.


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## k-in-sc

But the word "chav" doesn't exist in the U.S. All these terms are regional, as has been said. So the question is what group you are describing and to whom.


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## Orejitas

Agreed.  In the US I don't think we have a close equivalent


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## SuperScuffer

k-in-sc said:


> But the word "chav" doesn't exist in the U.S.


The question is what the word is in Spanish.  The fact that a word doesn't exist in US English is irrelevant to the question.


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## k-in-sc

SuperScuffer said:


> The question is what the word is in Spanish.  The fact that a word doesn't exist in US English is irrelevant to the question.


The most recent question was:


Blondie90 said:


> Okay so, could someone say which is the English word for all these varieties, please??


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## adrianaxle

So the word in Venezuela is_ wachiturro? _Can any Venezuelan confirm that? Are the Colombian words ñ_ero _and _pandillero _used or understood at all in Venzeuela?


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## josecarlosfuentes

I think that _pandillero _is more neutral and can be understood by any Spanish speaking person.  _Wachiturros _and _Pibes Chorros_ are music bands from Argentina, but those names are also used to describe what in Chile are called fleites.


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## Sherlockat

Orejitas said:


> If I understand correctly the Mexican equivalent is "naco".  I don't think there's a universal Spanish word for this, or English word for that matter, I had to look up "chav"   It's not a universal concept, you know?*  In the US we don't really have an equivalent *.[/QUOTE ]
> 
> What about _white trash_?
> 
> *white trash*
> Slang term for white people that usually live in a trailer park. With low incomes that spend their tax returns on things like big screen TV's instead of clothes for their kids. These people tend to be mouthy and fight frequently. Generally these people are uneducated and have little concern for personal hygiene. To see these people at their best watch Jerry Springer.
> _What happened on Jerry Springer today? Oh, the usual. Some White trash ho beat down her white trash boo because he was getting freaky wid the white trash neighbor who is married to her father.
> 
> Source: THE URBAN DICTIONARY_


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## scw2011

A native can check me on this, but I think in Spain (at least in the South) this person is called "cani". In English I would maybe say "trashy" "white trash" "thug" but it's hard to compare because, of course, the types of people vary from country to country.


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## Sandra7386

We don't use this Word in Spain.


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## scw2011

Oh. I heard it used in Sevilla by some young people


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## TheDraught

scw2011 said:


> A native can check me on this, but I think in Spain (at least in the South) this person is called "cani". In English I would maybe say "trashy" "white trash" "thug" but it's hard to compare because, of course, the types of people vary from country to country.



Hi there! I am from the South of Spain and we use the word 'cani', yes, that you also may find written like 'kani' -since it's slang. Other similar words -always from the South- are 'kie' and 'choni', but this last one mostly applies for girls.


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## gemcat4esp

In England we would use a "chav"
In Spain a choni or cani
All are a type of lowly educated individuals!


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## PippaM

Oldy Nuts said:


> The language is called _Spanish_ in English...


Actually, castellano is _Castilian _in English. _Spanish _is español.
Siendo el castellano el idioma oficial por ley o constitución nacional en todos los países de habla hispana (incluida España, artículo 3, numeral 1) y, creo, con la excepción de Uruguay y Cuba donde figura como español. Después, el uso diario depende de las influencias externas o internas más que del verdadero nombre.
_
_
El *wachiturro *de Argentina podría ser el _chav _inglés, son jóvenes de barrios de bajos recursos con una cultura propia y definida por el tipo de música, la ropa y la jerga que usan. (Hay que tener mucho cuidado con algunas explicaciones de este término en internet por el prejuicio que arrastra). Hace tiempo que no la escucho.


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## SuperScuffer

PippaM said:


> Actually, castellano is _Castilian _in English. _Spanish _is español.
> Siendo el castellano el idioma oficial por ley o constitución nacional en todos los países de habla hispana (incluida España, artículo 3, numeral 1) y, creo, con la excepción de Uruguay y Cuba donde figura como español. Después, el uso diario depende de las influencias externas o internas más que del verdadero nombre.
> 
> 
> El *wachiturro *de Argentina podría ser el _chav _inglés, son jóvenes de barrios de bajos recursos con una cultura propia y definida por el tipo de música, la ropa y la jerga que usan. (Hay que tener mucho cuidado con algunas explicaciones de este término en internet por el prejuicio que arrastra). Hace tiempo que no la escucho.


The thing is for most English speakers Spanish *is* castellano - we don't know that in Spain there is more than one language.  I doubt if many people could tell you which country Castilian is from, but we all know where they speak Spanish.


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## Masood

The OP's from America and I'm surprised they use the word _chav_ over there. I thought it was a very British word!


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## rajulbat

Masood said:


> The OP's from America and I'm surprised they use the word _chav_ over there. I thought it was a very British word!


I've never heard it.


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## Bmm5045

You're correct that it isn't used in the States.  Only those who have some intimate knowledge of British English or watch British programming would know it, in my opinion.


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## PippaM

SuperScuffer said:


> The thing is for most English speakers Spanish *is* castellano - we don't know that in Spain there is more than one language.  I doubt if many people could tell you which country Castilian is from, but we all know where they speak Spanish.


But, be that as it may, my point is Castilian is the language we speak and why English speaker don't know this it's something linguistics or the educational system should answer.
I doubt there is one country where there's only one language, and I don't mean immigrant languages.

I can't multi-quote. To Bmm5045, your'e right I've just watch a British show and they used "chav".


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## rajulbat

The Castilian/Spanish castellano/español debate is one that could go on and on and on and which has nothing in particular to do with this thread and which implicates politics, history, pragmatism, etc.

See, e.g.:


español - castellano (100 posts)
Discussion on Castellano (55 posts)
Idioma castellano y español (34 posts)
Español / Castellano (closed in 2006 after mod noted that issue had been discussed in multiple other threads)
¿Hablamos "Castellano" o "Español"?
castellano/español (96 posts)
Español y Castellano (closed in 2007 at post # 33 by moderator after foreros failed to follow directions not to engage in debate)


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