Bolivian Spanish word
chancho
Meaning: pig / pork (colloquial)
Where it is said: Wiktionary labels chancho 'Latin America', and the Diccionario de americanismos lists Bolivia among many countries where it means the pig.
Start with lesson 1
Greeting at any hour and saying your nameLesson 1, level A0
Start lesson 1How it is used in Bolivia
The everyday Bolivian word for pork, you'll hear 'no lleva chancho' far more than 'cerdo'. Recognizing it keeps a pork restriction as reliable as the allergy one.
How to use it
In Bolivia chancho is the everyday word for pork, heard more often than cerdo. Either word works for a restriction, and the reply may be 'no lleva chancho'.
Examples
No como carne de chancho.
I don't eat pork.
A real exchange
At dinner in Sucre
You
Y una última cosa: no como carne de cerdo, así que evíteme cualquier plato con chancho.
And one last thing: I don't eat pork, so please keep any pork dish away from me.
Waiter
El pollo a la plancha es de pollo, no lleva cerdo. Anotado: sin maní y sin cerdo.
The grilled chicken is chicken, no pork. Noted: no peanut and no pork.
The waiter answers with cerdo: same meat.
What to avoid
- Don't call a person chancho: the Diccionario de americanismos gives 'scruffy, dirty person' (marked derogatory, Bolivia included), and WordReference marks 'fat person' as offensive.
Good to know
- Origin
- Wiktionary traces chancho to sancho, from sanch, a call used for pigs.
- Not to be confused with
- In Bolivia chancho can also name a dish: the Diccionario de americanismos describes a suckling pig marinated with ají and spices, baked, and served with potatoes, plantains, salad and llajua.
Questions people ask
What does chancho mean in English?
Pig, and as meat, pork: WordReference gives both translations for Latin American Spanish.
Sources
What this page says beyond the chapters of the course comes from these sources.
- ASALE, Diccionario de americanismos: chanchoaccessed 21 October 2026
- Wiktionary: chanchoaccessed 21 October 2026
- WordReference Spanish-English: chanchoaccessed 21 October 2026
Learn it in a real situation
Food, Restaurants, and Dietary Needs