Che

Che is a word used commonly in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Valencia in Spain, and some parts of Bolivia, with usages similar but not identical to mate or pal in British English. In Argentina, it is used like "hey" or "eh" in the United States and Canada. Like the popular use of the introjection "man", it has the particularity of being able to be used both before and after a phrase: "Man, this is some good beer", or, "Let's go get a beer, man." ("Che, está buena la cerveza. Vamos a buscar unas cervezas, che.")

The origin of this word is unclear. It is said that it may be derived from the native South American Guarani language's che, which means simply "I" or "my". In Tehuelche and Puelche (Pampa) languages che means "man" and in Mapudungun language (Mapuche) it means "people". Others, however, argue that the word che is derived from the archaic Spanish word ce, used to call someone's attention, with che used commonly in Valencia, Spain and in Costa Rica.

In other Latin American countries, the term Che is used to refer to someone from Argentina. For example, Ernesto "Che" Guevara earned his nickname from his frequent use of this expression, which, particularly to his Cuban comrades, was a curious feature of his idiolect. Guevara is popularly known simply as el Che in Latin American countries. This sort of appellation based on utterance is common when persons from different cultures interact (see, for example, les goddams).

Many tango song names start with the word che ((e.g. Che, bandoneón and Che, papusa, oí)). Also, Cheeee! was a catchphrase used by the late José Marrone when impersonating the clown Pepitito.

Che

Further reading