What does “hacer la meme” mean in Argentine Spanish?
Cuando el hijo le cuenta a mamá que tiene novia
A2 Spanish listening practice · Rioplatense Spanish · Picked for people who know a little
Hacer la meme is Rioplatense baby-talk for “to go to sleep, to nap.” Argentine and Uruguayan parents use it with toddlers: vamos a hacer la meme, mi amor (“let’s go nap, my love”). The phrase belongs to a small set of Argentine baby words that survive into family teasing long after the kids grow up: upa (“up, pick me up”), nono (“sleep”), meme (“nap”).
In this clip, a mother teases her teenage son who’s just announced he has a girlfriend: “si estás tan grandecito para tener novia, también estás grandecito para hacerte la meme solo” (“if you’re so grown up for a girlfriend, you’re grown up enough to nap on your own”).
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A2 Spanish listening practice video?
How common in written Spanish
How common in spoken Spanish
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Argentine and Uruguayan parenting content and family vlogs
- ▸In Rioplatense sitcoms (Casados con Hijos Argentina, Los Simuladores)
- ▸In Argentine pediatrician and sleep-training content
- ▸In Argentine grandmother-grandchild conversations
- ▸In Argentine rap and pop lyrics teasing a partner (Wos, Trueno, Nathy Peluso)