Slang dictionary
no mames
or ¡no mames! [noh-mah-mess]
What does no mames mean?
No mames is crude Spanish slang used to express disbelief (both positive and negative) or excitement. Used especially among Mexican Spanish speakers, the exclamation corresponds to “No way!”, “You’re kidding me!”, or “Stop messing with me!”. For instance, a statement of “I won the lottery” might be followed by “no mames.”
Where does no mames come from?
The Spanish verb mamar literally translates as “to suck,” so no mames can be said to mean “don’t suck (it).” There is some implication that the phrase is referring to fellatio, as mamazo is a term for that. There’s also some speculation that mames comes from the word mamadas, which loosely means “lies” or “BS.”
No mames is sometimes extended to no mames güey (no-mah-mess-goo-ee) and no mames wey (no-mah-mess-way), which both roughly mean “No way, dude!” Wey and güey are both Spanish slang words meaning “dude” or “guy,” though wey can also connote “idiot.”
No mames comes from the Latinx community and specifically from the Mexican and Mexican-American communities. There’s some debate about whether it was originally coined in Mexico, but many native users insist that it was. One of the earliest records of the phrase’s usage online is from a Spanish-language forum post on July 27, 1992. The term came to some prominence much later when actor Diego Luna taught it to comedian Conan O’Brien on his late-night talk show in 2015.
Examples of no mames
Who uses no mames?
No mames is used colloquially in the Spanish-speaking Latinx community, specifically among Mexican and Mexican-American youth, but many consider the expression vulgar and some associate it with gang language.
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of no mames like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of no mames that will help our users expand their word mastery.