Caló
Americannoun
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a variety of Spanish influenced by Mexican underworld argot with a large admixture of English words, spoken especially by Mexican Americans in cities of the southwestern United States.
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a language spoken by the Spanish and Portuguese Roma.
Etymology
Origin of Caló
First recorded in 1840–45 Caló for def. 2, and in 1945–50 Caló for def. 1; from Spanish, from Romani
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The price for free speech should not be this high,” said Arturo Carmona, president and publisher of Caló News, a news site that covers issues that matter to English-speaking Latinos.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2025
Caló News, which focuses on Latino issues, will launch its own initiative to cover southeast L.A.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2024
Last month, I attended a forum at City Club LA hosted by the nonprofit Latino Media Collaborative, which sponsors Caló News, about what it deemed a “crisis” in Southern California journalism.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2024
Caló is a language that cholos use here that’s derivative of Spanish, English and sometimes even Nahuatl used by some nations in Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2022
Is it in Caló that you are speaking before me, and I a chalan and national?
From The Bible in Spain Vol. 1 [of 2] by Borrow, George Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
