The more I pay attention to the way we use certain phrases in Argentina, the more I’m impressed by the magic of languages. Languages are living beings, I like to say. Just as those that Charles Darwin discovered when he visited Galapagos Islands, roughly 700 km off Ecuador and saw how differently they’d developed in isolation compared to those inhabiting the mainland.

Today I want to share with you some of my favorite Argentine Spanish expressions with the verb HACER, things we say without even noticing how confusing they might sound to foreign speakers of Spanish.

Hacer una gauchada | to make someone a favor

Rodri, ¿me hacés una gauchada? ¿Me alcanzás hasta la estación que estoy a pata?

Hacer quilombo (1) | to complain

Los empleados de la fábrica tuvieron que hacer un poco de quilombo para conseguir los aumentos.

Hacer quilombo (2) | to make a mess

Los hinchas hicieron quilombo cerca del estadio después del partido. 

Hacerse el boludo | to play dumb

No te hagás el boludo que yo sé que fuiste vos.

Hacer la segunda, hacer la dos | to back up someone, to support someone

Che, Seba, tengo que ir a buscar a Nadia al aeropuerto a las 3 de la mañana. ¿Me hacés la segunda?

Hacer un papelón | to make a fool of oneself

Leandro entró a los gritos a la oficina. Hizo un papelón terrible.

Hacerse la rata | to be absent for school without your parents knowing it

Ramiro se hizo la rata y se quedó boludeando en la plaza.

Hacer una vaquita | to collect money as a group to buy or pay for something

Che, ¿hacemos una vaquita y le compramos algo a Lu para el cumpleaños?

Hacerse el copado | to play cool

Se hacen los copados, pero son altos garcas.

I’ll soon be posting more idiomatic expressions with other common verbs. Stay tuned!

Happy Spanish learning,

You might also want to read these articles:

• Know thyself
  Take this questionnaire to know yourself better as a learner and leverage your learning.
• Redefining what a lesson is
  It’s time for a full disclaimer. What does learning a language look like in 2025?
• ATR | A Todo Ritmo
  Learn what ATR means and when/how it’s used in Argentina.
• Self-talk
  In this article, we talk about the convenience of self-talk in our Spanish practices.
• Little wonders
  This post will give you some short phrases to react naturally in conversations.
• Expressions with DE
  Let’s dive in into a few everyday expressions with DE, shall we?