A phrase that’s been around for quite some time is ATR (pronounced letter by letter A-T-R), and to be honest I didn’t know about its origins until I opened Google to find out before writing these lines.

ATR stands for “A Todo Ritmo” and it’s used in moments where you want to express that you’re either hectic or euphoric.

It was first used by Pablo Lescano, the most representative face of the so called cumbia villera, who has over 20 years of hit making describing life in the slums. There’s an episode in the podcast (episode 52) about cumbia villera.

It can be both heard in conversations and read on Whatsapp.

For example:

-¿Qué onda amigo, todo bien?
-Todo bien, todo bien. ATR con el viaje.

-Vengo de unas semanas ATR en el laburo.
-Uh, ¿por qué? ¿qué onda?
-Fin de año, como siempre. Y además cambiaron algunas caras, estamos a pleno.

This last phrase I used (a pleno) is another very common expression you may hear and has the same meaning.

The choice is yours,

Happy learning and thanks for stopping by,

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