# Is the term "vato" offensive?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [April 7, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769 "2004-04-07T16:05:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769/1 "2004-04-07T16:05:02Z")
From [urbandictionary.com](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vato):
> [@](#):
>
> 2 definitions of vato.
>
> 1. Mexican OG for duuude: “Eh, vato? Whassup???”
>
> 2. homey to “cholo” (a Mexican gangster)
Someone was telling me that it’s a bad to say “vato” in the vicinity of or while addressing someone who looks like he’s from a Hispanic street gang, it’s not as bad as the N-word but close. Is this true, or is this guy full of day-old tamales?
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769/2 "2004-04-07T16:16:42Z")
I think you’ve been whoosed. [Eddie Guerrero](http://smackdown.wwe.com/superstars/guerrero_e/index.html) says it all the time on broadcast TV.
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### Author:  [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769/3 "2004-04-07T16:26:02Z")
I’ve always taken the word as like using “man” in English. This is from Northern New Mexican Spaniards, not Mexicans. I’ve used it often with “odale” before I even knew any Spanish without any bad effects. 😕
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### Author:  [@DaToad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaToad)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769/4 "2004-04-07T17:38:28Z")
AFAIK, “vato” is slang that translates to “guy” and doesn’t have a negative connotation.
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769/5 "2004-04-07T17:41:23Z")
WAG: Probably depends on context, intonation and audience.
But I’ve heard as well that “Vato” could elicit negative response from the Hispanic community.
“Homey” never got me in trouble with Chicago kids, but the LA hispanics I knew positively bristled at the term.
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### Author:  [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769/6 "2004-04-07T18:37:42Z")
Maybe it’s simply seen as patronizing if it’s said by a non-hispanic. Imagine a dorky white guy coming up to a crowd of hispanic youths and saying, “Hey, mis amigos! Que Pasa with you?” or up to some black teens and saying, “Yo, homies! Word to your mother!”
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### Author:  [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2004, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-term-vato-offensive/238769/7 "2004-04-07T18:58:37Z")
I hear _vato_ all the time, and I say it now and then when attempting to speak Spanish (or, more usually, Spanglish). Nobody seems to mind. And I’m the only non-Hispanic in my office.