What does the Argentine Lunfardo word “arbolito” mean?
Arbolito is the Argentine lunfardo word for a person that offers to buy or sell dollars in the streets of the city center. When you visit Buenos Aires and walk the popular street “La Florida” you will find many arbolitos. Usually they will whisper the words “cambio, cambio” to you or “dólares”.
How frequently is this word used?:
Medium-high frequency. It’s good to know this word in case you have a conversation with a local about money exchange.
Examples of this Argentine lunfardo word in use:
- “En la calle Florida, los arbolitos están cambiando el dólar a 200 pesos”.
- “Las calles de Buenos Aires se han llenado de arbolitos”.
- “Yo no les cambiaría dólares a los arbolitos porque no confío en ellos”.
- “Si necesitás vender dólares, andá a la calle Florida que hay varios arbolitos”.
- “El dólar blue se vende en el mercado informal a través de arbolitos y cuevas”.
Interesting facts about this word:
The word “arbol” means “tree”. Locals call these people “arbolitos” because dollars are green like trees. Moreover, these people usually stand in the streets like trees.
In the category «Word of the Week» you will learn:
- One Argentine Lunfardo word per week
- The meaning of the word
- Frequency of the word
- Other usages for the word
- Interesting facts about the word
More Argentine Lunfardo
See more Argentine slang words of the week by clicking here.
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