mera
MEH-rahadjective, adverbRegionalCali & Valle del Cauca
A Colombian Spanish slang term. Browse all Colombian slang.
What it means
Intensifier placed before a noun, meaning 'absolute' or 'total': mera nota, mera chimba, mera vaina. Strongly marked as vallecaucano and Pacific-coast speech.
On its own, as an exclamation of astonishment — '¡Mera!' — roughly 'unbelievable'.
Examples with translations
¡Mera rumba la de anoche, ve!
Last night's party was something else, man!
Se compró una mera camioneta.
He bought himself one hell of a truck.
Where it comes from
From mero/mera, 'mere, pure', which in several American varieties flipped from limiting to intensifying. The Colombian use is concentrated in Cali, Buenaventura and the Pacific littoral; a Bogotá speaker using it is quoting, not speaking.
Other forms
- Spellings and variants:
- mero