What's your favorite Spanish greeting?

[True2marie]

In Spanish, as in many languages, there are different ways to greet people.  My favorite one is ¿Qué onda? which basically means what's up.  It's just a casual way to say hello and a departure from the usual hola.

[Alfonso]

In Spanish, as in many languages, there are different ways to greet people.  My favorite one is ¿Qué onda? which basically means what's up.  It's just a casual way to say hello and a departure from the usual hola.

My favorites are similar to yours. I like "¿Que tal?" and "¿Que Pasa?", I also like "Buenas" or just saying "Hombre".

[Trellum]

Uhm I usually greet people with a ''hola!'', ''Buenos dias!'', ''que onda?'' or my friend's fav: ''que rollo?''.  LOL.  It depends on the person I'm greeting really, the more formal greetings are for older people or people I just met.  I generally avoid to use ''tu'' when I just met someone or when the person is obviously older, so the greeting must fit the circumstances

For younger people anything will  do   Where I like they like to greet each other with things like: ''que rollo? ''que pex?'' (que pedo - very rude, lol).  Or my most hated greeting phrase: ''que onda wey!''.  Ugh... I never use those, by the way. I think those sound so bad, I usually use ''hola'' with young people

[SpringBreeze]

I like a plain and simple "hola". I like hola even more when it's in front of a noun or term of endearment. For example, I use to say Hola chica a lot to my girl friends. And i love when my Latin boyfriends say stuff like "hola mi amor" or "hola mi corazon".

[Alfonso]

Uhm I usually greet people with a ''hola!'', ''Buenos dias!'', ''que onda?'' or my friend's fav: ''que rollo?''.  LOL.  It depends on the person I'm greeting really, the more formal greetings are for older people or people I just met.  I generally avoid to use ''tu'' when I just met someone or when the person is obviously older, so the greeting must fit the circumstances

For younger people anything will  do   Where I like they like to greet each other with things like: ''que rollo? ''que pex?'' (que pedo - very rude, lol).  Or my most hated greeting phrase: ''que onda wey!''.  Ugh... I never use those, by the way. I think those sound so bad, I usually use ''hola'' with young people

Interesting, I'm still learning my Spanish and I never heard que pedo before. What does it mean and why is it rude?

[Rosa]

My favorite Spanish greeting is usually "hola" .I learnt it in high school and to this day I still greet friends at times that way :grin:.

[MyDigitalpoint]

In Spanish, as in many languages, there are different ways to greet people.  My favorite one is ¿Qué onda? which basically means what's up.  It's just a casual way to say hello and a departure from the usual hola.

Actually is a casual word that means what's up indeed, in fact this has been always its meaning but not the context.

"¿Que onda?" became popular in the early 70s among young people following the American hippie movement. My mom says whoever said this greeting was considered kinda hippie, hence not commonly used in a casual context as it's used today.

Another greeting from the 70s, still in use and that is sort of "extended-version" of "¿que onda?" mixed with slang is this: ¿Que ondón Ramón, qué patín hijín?

This greeting was popularized by Mexican actor Alejandro Suárez characterized as one of those hippies I said under the name "Vulgarcito" (little vulgar one)

[Astdua]

I like to shorten my Hola, at least in written variant, to a little cute "Ola", and then immediately followed by a polite "como estas?". Occasionally I'd mix it up and use Buenos Dias!

[Lola]

I am still new to Spanish, so I like to use "¿Que Pasa?" and "Hola". I enjoyed seeing some of these other ways to say hello.

So, "¿Que onda?"  means "what's up indeed"? Forgive me if i misunderstood. I'm thinking about adding it to my mix, I think it sounds kind of funny and I like it.

[Soroboru]

I like to use "Que habido?" which literally means "What's up?" as in "what's been happening lately", and also, "Que hay de nuevo, viejo?" which is basically "What's new, old friend?", however, this one only applies to male friends. Those are very informal ways of greeting, but then again, who likes to be formal with friends, right?

[rosacrux]

"¿Que onda?" and "¿Como va todo?" are my favorite greetings. I also use "¿Que cuentas?" and "Buenas". I rather like informal greetings.

[Kaynil]

I usually greet with "¿Qué rollo?" to people who unexpectedly greet me. I guess if I was to try to translating would be something like "what's rolling [with/in your life]?".

One of my faves that hasn't been mentioned yet, I think, is "quióbole" which really is a speedup version of ¿Qué húbole? just like wazzap for what's up? which roughly translates to "what's been happening with 'it' (your life/day)". I think this one is also from some decades before the 90's so it is not very common nowadays.

Interesting, I'm still learning my Spanish and I never heard que pedo before. What does it mean and why is it rude?

Pedo is the Spanish word for "fart" and also a slang to refer to the action of causing trouble or stirring a conflict being words or action. For example, a guy sees his ex-girlfriend with one of his friends, then he decides to follow them with the only intention of creating a conflict. That's a situation some would use "pedo" to qualify it "Ya se armó el pedo" (A big quarrel/drama has started)", "Este tipo solo quiere hacerla de pedo" (This guy just here to create conflict)

A way to "water-down" a bit the word pedo is to say "pex". It is like saying darn instead of damn, but it is only used in the greeting context, it I recall correctly.

So when people say "¿Qué pedo?" it can be a greeting in the style of "Wazzap (Any relevant or juicy news since we last talked?)" or a "Dude, what the eff?" in a complaining voice.

"Wey" is the writing for the word 'güey' when used in a casual way. Basically it's a way to call someone an xxx or sheep by comparing him to a farm Ox. However during the 90's teenagers started using it as "dude" kind of tag ending to refer their friends and people their age, so it is not as offending any more but it still make older people cringe to hear youngsters saying 'wey'.

I hope that helps. :wacky:

[brothainarms]

Mine is definitely "Que tal?".  It always came across as super chill to me for some reason.  I use it with my friends all the time, even if they don't speak spanish!.  It's just a fun way to change things up.

[caspaaa22]

Usually it's "Que tal" or simply "Que lo que"

I like the way "Que lo que" sounds and how it can be said quickly to a close friend.  It's Dominican slang for basically "What's up?" and the literal translation makes me laugh every time.

[dapapas]

Hahaha! I guess im a little more slang than everyone else when it comes to spanish. My favorite greeting is, "Odale.'" You can acompany that with a "vato" or "homes." Of course "homes" is english but you get the point.

When im around people I know well i use slang greetings. They're less formal and more personal in my opinion. When i walk in my grandparents house, Im greeted by an "Odale' Frankie. Que pasa?" from my grandpa.

[LivetoErr]

When we go down the the little store down the road, the owner always says, "¿que pasa?" to us. Our response is always, "nada." For whatever reason, that is funny to the lady. Everyone else, always says, "buenos días or buenas tardes." 

If I am the one to say hello, it's normally, "hola." I'm too shy to say anything more to someone.

[dorannmwin]

The two that I find that I use the most frequently are Hola and Que pasa? Why, I am not exactly sure, but they don't sound as harsh as some of the other "greetings" in my opinion.

[czarina84]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2013‎ ‎1‎:‎11‎:‎40‎, Soroboru said:

I like to use "Que habido?" which literally means "What's up?" as in "what's been happening lately", and also, "Que hay de nuevo, viejo?" which is basically "What's new, old friend?", however, this one only applies to male friends. Those are very informal ways of greeting, but then again, who likes to be formal with friends, right?

I didn't know that "viejo" meant "old friend".  I was taught that it mean "old man".  I was also told that as an adjective, it just meant "old".