Gendered variation in Mexican slang

Abstract

This study examines how the distribution of two common Mexican Spanish slang phrases — “no mames” (no shit) and “no manches” (no way) — is related to the gender of the speaker. We use data from Twitter and self-report surveys. We find that both men and women use “no mames” (perceived as vulgar) more than “no manches” (non-vulgar) overall on Twitter, but women use “no manches” more frequently than men. Speaker intuitions regarding the use of the phrases in face-to-face interactions provide evidence that many speakers might be unaware of the gendered distribution of the phrases as seen online. This study contributes to our understanding of slang, context, and gendered variation in everyday social life, showing that gender is a relevant factor in slang usage in an online context despite speakers being seemingly unaware of how gender conditions slang usage in everyday social interactions.