ATR | A Todo Ritmo

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,

You might also want to read these articles:

• Cancherear
  Dive into the nuances of the word ‘canchero’ and how ‘cancherear’ can make or break a moment.
• Hacer una vaquita
  I’m not going to argue how ridiculous this phrase may sound at first. Let me just tell you what it means in Argentina.
• Pizza in Argentina
  An appreciation post dedicated to pizza—specifically, Argentine-style pizza.
• Put your pen to ink
  Do you need some motivation and ideas to do some writing practice in Spanish? Click right here!
• The Paradox of Choice
  Today, I want to introduce the concept of paradox of choice, and show you how it’s detrimental to your progress.
• Argentinian Spanish Input (part 1)
  In this post, I included podcasts you can try to leverage your learning with natural input.