Today, I discovered the Chonga Girls and their viral hit “Chongalicious”, the video seen above that was apparently based on a song by Fergie. My friend, Rogelio, taught me the many synonyms to “chonga” in the various Spanish dialects. Let’s review.

Chonga: According to Urban Dictionary, a chonga is

Primarily found in Miami (most famously, in Hialeah), the chonga is known for her cheap form of dress, a combination of the so-called gangsta look and that of a prostitute, but can vary between the two. She wears ridiculously large hoop earrings large enough to be bracelets, which are usually gold and have their name written in them, and diamond studs high up on her ears.

Other key factors that identify a chonga are the excessive use of makeups (including eyebrow and lip liners), name brand hip hop clothing (Baby Phat, Sean Jean, Ecko, etc) and sneakers (Air Force Ones or Reeboks), an attraction to malls, tight jeans, large amounts of hair gel, and a liberal use of Spanglish.

The variants of chonga include:

Chola: A Mexican variant of chonga. The chola style is common in southern California like east LA, San Diego, OC, and also NYC.
Cafre: A Puerto Rican variant of chonga.
Chusma: A Cuban variant. In Cuban Spanish, this is a vulgar word.

Thank you, Rogelio, for teaching me the slight variations existing between chongas, cholas, cafres and chusmas.