Onda this,
onda that.
If you ever visit Mexico (especially the big cities), you're going to hear
onda at every turn.
So what in the name of all things slangy does it mean?
A lil bit of history…Let me take you back to the swinging sixties for a sec.
The groovy artists, writers, and young people of the time began playing around with their own language and expressions.
Because, well, that's what groovy people do.
And colloquial language
VERY often bubbles up from subcultures and countercultural movements before eventually becoming mainstream.
Now,
onda literally means
wave (in the sense of radio and sound waves).
So, the groovy folk transmogrified
onda into something similar to the English word
vibe.
And boy can you make a lot of expressions using
vibe in English!
Good vibes,
bad vibes,
what's the vibe, etc., etc.
¿Y qué crees?
The same is true with
onda in Spanish!
Note:
onda ain't quite as groovy these days (it's now part and parcel of everyday Mexican Spanish), but it
IS super common!
Right, back from the tangent (sorry about that, couldn't help myself)…If you
REALLY want to force the literal-ish logic,
¿qué onda? means something like
what’s the vibe?
Or more simply:
👉
What’s up? / Hey!
¿Qué onda?What’s up?
¿Qué onda? ¿Cómo andas?What’s up? How are you?
¡Qué onda, güey!What’s up, dude!
Qué onda, raza.Hey, guys.
🧩 Common patterns¿Qué onda con + person / thing?What’s up with…? / What’s going on with…?¿Qué onda con ese güey?What’s up with that guy?
¿Qué onda con los precios aquí?What’s up with the prices here?
¿Qué onda con Rupert?What’s up with Rupert? / What’s going on with Rupert?
💡 Depending on your tone, this can be a genuine question
OR express surprise, confusion, annoyance, etc.
ver / saber qué ondasee / find out / know what’s going onVoy a hablar con él para ver qué onda.I’m going to talk to him and see what’s going on.
No sé qué onda con ellos.I don’t know what’s going on with them.
Déjame ver qué onda.Let me see what’s going on.