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Slang file #002RisingLove & family

What does mijo mean?

Say itMEE-ho/ˈmixo/noun (form of address)

Where you’ll hear it
  • Mexico
  • Central America
  • Colombia
  • Caribbean
  • Spanish speakers in the US

A warm, short form of "mi hijo" ("my son"; for a woman, mija) that people use to speak to their child, and also to a friend, coworker, or partner, like "dear" or "buddy."

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

Mijo is a short form of mi hijo, which means "my son." For a girl or woman, it’s mija, from mi hija ("my daughter"). People say it straight to someone, the way English speakers say "dear," "sweetie," or "buddy." Parents say it to their kids, but friends, coworkers, and couples use it too. You hear it across Latin America and in Spanish-speaking families in the US, often in the middle of an English sentence.

Say it MEE-ho, and mija is MEE-hah. The Spanish j has no exact English match. It sounds like a strong, breathy h, made a little further back in the throat. The word is casual and warm, not rude, and it fits a family dinner better than an email to a client.

Word stats

How casual
Warm and informal. Older people use it freely, and between people your age it shows you’re close.
OK at work
Some people say it to coworkers, even at work. Calling your new boss mijo on day one takes more courage.
Abuela-safe
Fully safe in front of abuela (grandma). She probably says it more than anyone.
Rudeness
Not rude. At its sassiest it’s teasing, like calling someone "sunshine" during an argument about the dishes.
Freshness
As old as your grandparents’ kitchen, but more people look it up every year.

Spotted in the wild

Text from your girlfriend’s mom · Friday
  1. LupeHola mijo! are you coming sunday? I’m cooking
  2. Youyes!! what should I bring?
  3. Lupenada, just come hungry mijo 😊

What it means here: "Hola" means "hi" and "nada" means "nothing." Lupe calls you mijo, "my son," the same warm word she would use for her own son.

Group chat · the guys
  1. Carlosmijo you still owe me 20
  2. Youbro I paid you tuesday 💀
  3. Carlos…oh. my bad mijo

What it means here: Between close male friends, mijo just means "buddy," even when the friend is wrong about money.

Text with your partner · Sunday night
  1. Youmija, did you wash the dishes?
  2. Anaah no, mijito, yo los lavé ayer 🙃
  3. Anayour turn

What it means here: Between partners, mija and mijito mean "sweetie." Ana’s reply means "no way, sweetie, I washed them yesterday," so the sweet word is teasing here.

How to use it

  • greeting + mijo / mijaHola, mija, ¿cómo estás? ("Hi, sweetie, how are you?")
  • advice or a request + mijoPonte un suéter, mijo. ("Put on a sweater, dear.")
  • Ay, mijo… (sympathy or a soft scolding)Ay, mijo, ¿otra vez perdiste las llaves? ("Oh, buddy, did you lose your keys again?")
  • mijo / mija inside EnglishMija, come eat before it gets cold.
  • mijito / mijita for extra sweetnessGracias, mijita. ("Thanks, sweetie.")

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds offTe quiero, mijo. (said to your daughter)

    Say thisTe quiero, mija. ("I love you, sweetie.")

    Match the person you’re talking to: mijo for a boy or man, mija for a girl or woman. Your own gender doesn’t matter.

  • Sounds off"MY-joe"

    Say this"MEE-ho"

    The Spanish i sounds like "ee," and the j is a breathy h. "MY-joe" sounds like an English name.

  • Sounds offm’ijo

    Say thismijo (or m’hijo)

    If you use an apostrophe, keep the h. The RAE’s usage guide accepts m’hijo but calls m’ijo wrong [2]. Plain mijo is the common spelling in the Americas.

  • Sounds off"Mijo means millet, so Grandma called me a grain."

    Say this"Grandma called me ‘my son.’"

    Same spelling, different word. Mijo, the grain, comes from Latin milium, and it’s the only mijo in the RAE’s main dictionary [3]. A hug usually tells you which one she meant.

mijo or not?

Is each of these mijo? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. Your friend’s grandmother hugs your friend, who is 35, and says "ay, mijo."

  2. A man texts his sister: "mijo, call mom."

  3. Two best friends in Los Angeles: "mijo, you’re late again."

  4. A recipe says "1 taza de mijo" ("1 cup of mijo").

The mijo family

  • mijitoThe small form of mijo (mijita for a girl or woman), even sweeter.Also a favorite word for winning an argument sweetly.
  • mijijoA Dominican Republic form (mijija for a woman) used for a friend or coworker.One extra syllable, same amount of love.
  • m’hijoThe same word, written with an apostrophe and the h of hijo ("son").The spelling the RAE prefers. Same word, more punctuation.

Where it came from

  1. 1903Florencio Sánchez’s play "M’hijo el dotor" ("My Son, the Doctor") opens in Buenos Aires on August 13, with the word in its title. The title later becomes a common phrase. This is an early dated use, not proof of the first.
  2. 2003The VOX dictionary of Spanish from Spain and the Americas lists mijo, mija (also written m’hijo) as a Latin American word: what a parent says to a child, or an older person to a child or young person.
  3. 2010The Diccionario de americanismos records mijo, mija with three uses: to your children, to a friend or coworker, and between partners [1]. In the same year, the RAE’s spelling rules call for writing m’hijo, m’hija.
  4. TodayThe RAE’s usage guide has an entry for mijo, mija [2], but its main dictionary still lists mijo only as millet [3]. Abuelas everywhere keep using it anyway.

Who can call you mijo?

Mijo started as something parents say to their kids, but it goes much further. The Diccionario de americanismos, a dictionary of Latin American Spanish, lists three uses, all marked as popular and affectionate [1]:

Who says itTo whomWhere it’s listed
A parent or older relativeTheir child, even a grown one18 places, the US included [1]
A friend or coworkerA friend or coworker14 places [1]
A husband, wife, or partnerTheir partnerOnly the US, Mexico, Colombia, and Chile [1]

Older people also say it to children and young people in general, not only to their own. Between friends and coworkers, it shows closeness. Linguist Enrique Pato says people use it this way even in formal and work settings. In the US, Spanish speakers drop it into English: from family or elders it means "my son," and between close male friends it means "buddy".

The sources say little about strangers your own age. If you just met someone, let them call you mijo first.

The use also changes from place to place:

  • Colombia: the director of the Instituto Caro y Cuervo, a Colombian language institute, said grandparents used mijo between husband and wife, and that people no longer use it that way. Other sources still list that use for Colombia [1].
  • Spain: the main dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (the RAE, which sets standard Spanish) lists mijo only as the grain millet [3]. Still, a study of a large collection of modern Spanish texts found mija in every Spanish-speaking country, Spain included.
  • Canary Islands: people say mi hijo or mi hija ("my son," "my daughter") even to people who aren’t family, and sometimes it sounds like mijo.

Sources

  1. mijo, mijaASALE, Diccionario de americanismos, 2010
  2. mijo, mijaReal Academia Española / ASALE, Diccionario panhispánico de dudas (2.ª ed.)
  3. mijoReal Academia Española, Diccionario de la lengua española

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