playful📍 Peru — general

Qué palta

Literal meaning: "What avocado"

Embarrassment / Awkwardness (Peru)

KEH PAHL-tah

What does it mean?

"Palta" literally means avocado, but in Peruvian slang it means embarrassment or awkwardness. "Qué palta" is "how embarrassing" and "me da palta" is "it makes me embarrassed" — one of the most charmingly Peruvian idioms in daily use.

How to use it

Casual, used constantly among friends. Completely harmless — describes a feeling, not an insult.

Example sentences

How embarrassing, I forgot his name.

Qué palta, se me olvidó su nombre.

It makes me so embarrassed to ask.

Me da palta preguntar.

Related phrases

Qué roche

Embarrassment / Awkward situation (Peru)

Chibolo/a

Young person / Kid (Peru)

More peru-slang phrases

Causa

Friend / Buddy (Peru)

Pata

Friend / Pal (Peru)

Bacán

Cool / Awesome (Peru)

Misio

Broke / No money (Peru)

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