Friends & Family

Un tío/Una tía []Lit. An uncle/aunt, but you'll hear these words a lot, particularly amongst young people, to refer to man/dude. Used on its own, it refers to a friend.
Hola tío, ¿qué tal? Hey dude, what's up? Una tía buena, un tío bueno [] Lit. A good aunt, a good uncle. Slang for an attractive girl or boy - drop un/una to use it as an exclamation: "¡Tía Buena!"

Estar bueno/a [] To be physically attractive. Not to be confused with ser bueno/a, to be good.
Example: ¡Hay que ver lo buenísimo que está Enrique![] Enrique is really hot!

Estar potable [] Potable means drinkable, but used with estar this means to be physically attractive. Not to be confused with ser potable, to be drinkable.

Una piba, un pibe [] A young girl, boy - especially used amongst younger people. The term is in general use in Argentina and Uruguay, where it originated before crossing the Atlantic to become a cool word in Spain.

La basca/la peña [] The gang, the guys, the girls. A group of friends or people in general.
Example: Vinieron Ángel y toda la basca [] Ángel came along with the whole gang. Ayer había mucha peña en el bar [] There were a lot of people at the bar yesterday.

Ser buena gente [] Lit. To be good people. To be a good person.
Ser un coñazo [] to be a pain (in the ass).
Ser un poco coñazo: to be a bit of pain.
Example: Pablo es un poco coñazo pero buena gente. Pablo is a bit of pain but a good guy.

Legal [] Lit. Legal, but applied to people it means you can really trust them.
Example: Es un tío legal [] Lit. He's a legal uncle. He's a good guy. Al final se portó como una tía legal [] Lit. In the end she behaved like a real sport.

Ser un cachondo / una cachonda (mental) [] Applies to people who like to have fun and are extroverted.
Example: No paramos de reír en toda la tarde, es que es un cachondo mental... [] We didn't stop laughing the whole evening, he's wacky ...Careful! - don't confuse this with estar cachondo / cachonda [] which means "to be horny"!