Házmela buena

(sayings & idioms)
B2 (¡Nivelazo!)Used EVERYWHERE 🇲🇽MUY informal 💀Ñero (barrio) 🧢Abuela-approved 👵
Boomers 👶Gen X 🎸

🧠 What it means

This one literally translates as: make it good for me. It’s what Mexicans say when they’re hoping something will happen, especially if it’s unlikely. Kinda like a Mexican good-luck charm. 🪄 In English, we’d say: 👉 fingers crossed / here’s hoping / help me out 💡 You might also find it written as hazme la buena (albeit less frequently)... there’s little consensus as to the correct way to write it, since it’s VERY colloquial and lives mostly in spoken Spanish.

🌪️ When to whip it out

Whenever you want to respond enthusiastically to the possibility of something happening:

— Estoy segura de que le gustas a Leticia.
— ¡Házmela buena!
— I’m pretty sure Leticia has a crush on you.
— Here’s hoping!

¡Házmela buena, San Juditas!
Grant me this miracle, San Juditas!

It’s also used when you think something is way out of your reach, but you'd still love for it to happen:

— En una de esas, hasta ganas el Nobel de Literatura.
— ¡No, pues, házmela buena!
— Who knows, you might even win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
— Pff, I wish!

⚠️ Tone

VERY informal (but not rude at all!).

✅ An oldie but a goodie, and definitely abuela-approved!

⚠️ Slightly dramatic!

🔁 Similar chunks

Que tengas boca de profetaPon changuitosBueno fueraHazme el milagroOjaláPrimero DiosQue Diosito te escucheFavor que me haces

🦜 El Rincón del Cotorreo

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San Slim? Who on earth is that? (They aren't, perchance, praying to Carlos Slim, are they?)

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@FutureMexicana They are indeed, lol. Bit of a weird example, I must admit, but I’ve been trying to include examples I actually hear, even if they’re weird and/or messy, jiji

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@Ruperto Urgh, the site never showed me that someone had already commented on this before and that you had already answered them, either! I thought I was the first one asking about this in a completely blank comments section. Only adter seeing your notification and then refreshing the page twice and copypasting the url I was able to see all the content of the Rincón de cotorreo section

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I’m on the Sayings and Idioms Hazmela Buena and I’m not understanding the Extra Example: Por favor, San Slim, hazmela buena. Is it a reference to the billionaire Carlos Slim helping out with some $$$?

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@Mexusa Not quite… you know how Carlos Slim owns Telcel, the monopolistic phone company? Well, it’s a reference to that.

That line is actually from the Netflix series Bandidos. One of the characters is stranded in the jungle and trying to get his phone to work, which is why he says, “Por favor, San Slim, házmela buena.”

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@Ruperto Gracias por aclararlo. Acabo de añadir Bandidos a mi lista de Netflix para verla después de que terminemos 100 Years of Solitude.