¿qué onda?

Cultural Note

Literally 'what wave?' — as in 'what's the vibe?' 'Qué onda' is the standard informal greeting across Mexico and Central America, the equivalent of 'what's up.' You can use it as a greeting ('¡Qué onda!'), a question about a situation ('¿Qué onda con eso?'), or to check on someone. 'Buena onda' means 'good vibe/cool person' and 'mala onda' means 'bad vibe/uncool person.' In Argentina, 'onda' is also used similarly. Spain doesn't use 'onda' in this way at all — they'd say '¿qué tal?' instead.