Greetings
Hola / Buenas
OH-la / BWEH-nas
Hello. 'Buenas' alone is the casual all-purpose greeting at any hour.
Social
Cachai
ka-CHAI
'You get it?' — the single most Chilean word. Appended to the end of roughly every second sentence.
Bacán
ba-KAN
Cool, great. 'La raja' means the same thing but is considerably cruder.
Po
po
A softener tacked onto anything — 'sí po', 'no po', 'ya po'. Meaningless and essential.
Daily life
Al tiro
al TEE-ro
Right away / immediately. Uniquely Chilean and used constantly.
RUT
root
Your tax identification number. Chile runs on it — banks, contracts, phone plans, even supermarket loyalty cards ask for it.
Carnet / Cédula
kar-NET / SEH-du-la
Your Chilean ID card, which carries your RUN. The physical proof you exist administratively.
Micro
MEE-kro
A city bus. The Metro is 'el Metro'; the payment card is the Bip!.
Food
Once
ON-seh
Literally 'eleven', actually the early-evening tea-and-bread meal around 6-8pm. Chileans often eat it instead of dinner.
Completo
kom-PLEH-to
A hot dog buried under avocado, tomato and mayonnaise. A national institution, not a snack.
Emergency
Temblor
tem-BLOR
A tremor — as opposed to a 'terremoto', a proper earthquake. Chileans distinguish sharply and you will learn to.
131 / 132 / 133
uno-tres-uno...
Ambulance, fire, police. Chile has no single emergency number — you dial the service you need.
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