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 birds/blokes. Used on its own, it refers to a mate. Hola tío, ¿qué tal? Hello mate, how's things?
El/La tronco (*) Mate, pal. Less frequent but more streetwise. Lit. a tree trunk. Tranqui tronco (*) Chill out, mate!
La basca/la peña (*) The folk, the gang, the posse. A group of friends or people in general. Vinieron Ángel y toda la basca (*) Ángel came along with the whole gang. Ayer había mucha peña en el bar (*) There were a load of people in the bar yesterday.
El pariente/La parienta (*) Lit. The relative. The old man/The missus.
Mi pareja Lit. My partner. Applies to both members of an unmarried couple.
Es/son buena gente (*) Lit. He/She's/They're good people. He/She's/They're good trustworthy. Es un poco coñazo (**) pero buena gente (*) He's a bit of a pain but a good guy.
Legal (*) Lit. Legal, but applied to people it means you can really trust them. Es un tío legal (*) Lit. He's a legal uncle. He's a good bloke. Al final se portó como una tía legal (*) Lit. In the end she behaved like a top sport.
Ser un cachondo/una cachonda (mental) (*) Applies to people with a good sense of fun. No paramos de reír en toda la tarde, es que es un cachondo mental... (*) We did not stop laughing the whole evening, he is bonkers ... Warning - don't confuse with estar cachondo/cachonda (***) which means \"to be on heat/horny\"!