Mexico, Quality - understand-culture

Pleasing the Boss

A lambiscón is a person who flatters someone to win a favor or a privilege. The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México illustrates the word with an office scene. A lambiscona types on her laptop and pretends not to want to miss a single remark from her boss.

A barbero, a barber, is also a flatterer. Hacerle la barba a alguien, “to do someone’s beard,” means to praise someone or behave servilely to get something from that person. The dictionary gives two examples. One is a student who wants to pass a course by flattering his teachers. The other is hacerle la barba al jefe, “to do the boss’s beard.”

The Superior’s Approval

Visto bueno, “seen and good,” often abbreviated Vo. Bo., is the approval that an authority or a superior gives to a document after reviewing it. That is how the Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México defines it.

At UNAM, the readers of a thesis give their verdict on a form titled voto aprobatorio, approving vote. The form offers two options, APROBATORIO and NO APROBATORIO.

Whoever Pays Commands

El que paga manda, “whoever pays commands.” In April 2025, an article in the Jalisco section of La Crónica de Hoy introduced it with the words “Ya lo dice el refrán” (as the saying goes). In October 2026, a column in SDP Noticias used a variant, quien paga manda, as its epigraph.

Close Friendship

Article 51 of Mexico’s Amparo Law lists the reasons for which the judges who hear amparo cases must excuse themselves. Fraction VII reads: “Si tuvieren amistad estrecha o enemistad manifiesta con alguna de las partes, sus abogados, abogadas o representantes” (If they have a close friendship or a manifest enmity with one of the parties, their lawyers or representatives).

Article 39 of the Federal Code of Civil Procedure sets out the impediments of judges in civil cases. They include a “relación de intimidad con alguno de los interesados” (close relationship with one of the parties) and “tener mucha familiaridad con alguno de ellos” (being very familiar with one of them).

Amiguismo

Amiguismo, from amigo, friend, is favoritism toward friends. In June 2021, the columnist Rafael Cardona wrote in La Crónica that “el amiguismo campea en el gobierno” (amiguismo runs freely in the government).

In October 2025, the sports site Unánimo Deportes criticized the call-ups of the national football team. It wrote that the coaching staff kept calling up some players “por inercia o por ‘amiguismo'” (out of inertia or out of amiguismo).

Silent Disapproval

Hacerle la ley del hielo a alguien, “to apply the law of ice to someone,” means that a person or a group agrees to stop dealing with someone.

The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México gives the example “Sus compañeros de trabajo le hicieron la ley del hielo por envidia” (His coworkers gave him the ice treatment out of envy). In 2018, Milenio listed the ley del hielo among the forms of workplace harassment.

Darle el avión a alguien, “to give someone the airplane,” means to pretend to pay attention to what someone says. In one of the dictionary’s examples, a speaker says that the end of a term shows whether the students valued the teacher or only gave the teacher the airplane.

A Public Scolding

In March 2016, the governor of Aguascalientes, Carlos Lozano de la Torre, visited a neighborhood of the state capital with the federal secretary Rosario Robles. In front of her, he scolded his own secretary of social development, Juan Manuel Gómez, over a task that was not yet done. “¡Hoy mismo!” (Today!), he shouted.

Expansión reported that hours later the governor apologized. “Les pido una disculpa si ofendí a un compañero colaborador” (I apologize if I offended a fellow collaborator), he said. He added: “Es mi carácter, es mi manera de resolver las cosas” (It is my character, it is my way of solving things).

In Front of Everyone

In 2019, a subdirectora, an assistant director, of Conafe, the federal agency for community education, accused its director general, Cuauhtémoc Sánchez Osio, of workplace harassment. Eje Central reported her account.

According to her, he told her: “Te voy a regañar frente a todos, pero tú aguanta y no me contestes nada” (I am going to scold you in front of everyone, but you put up with it and do not answer me).

In her account, he explained the purpose. “La idea es que todos los directores escuchen el regaño y así me respeten” (The idea is that all the directors hear the scolding and so respect me).

What Happens Is That

Es que…, “it is that…,” and lo que pasa es que…, “what happens is that…,” often open an explanation. In 2026, a study in Verbum et Lingua, a journal hosted by the University of Guadalajara, examined how speakers in Puebla soften what they say.

It found that they did so mainly by justifying themselves. The justification, the author wrote, builds “una imagen de honorabilidad, empatía y honestidad” (an image of honorability, empathy and honesty).

That Will Do

Áhi se va, “there it goes,” means “as it is.” The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México gives the expression hacer algo al áhi se va and the example “Entrégalo, áhi se va” (Hand it in as it is). Hechizo describes something made improvisedly, without following the genuine rules or procedures, such as una turbina hechiza, a homemade turbine.

A ojo, or a ojo de buen cubero, “by the eye of a good cooper,” means by estimate, without measuring or weighing. The dictionary’s example is a kitchen exchange: “¿Cuánta cebolla le pongo? A ojo, según la cantidad de carne” (How much onion do I add? By eye, depending on the amount of meat). Al tanteo means by approximation, without a precise measure.