Social
Regio / regiomontano
REH-hyo
Someone from Monterrey. Regios are proud of being blunter, more punctual and more business-minded than the rest of Mexico, and will tell you so.
Raite
RYE-teh
A lift in someone's car, from 'ride'. 'Me das un raite' is how you ask — essential in a city with thin public transport.
Carne asada
KAR-neh a-SA-da
Not a meal but a social institution — a weekend grill in someone's back yard. Being invited to one is how you actually make friends here.
Daily life
Troca
TRO-ka
A pickup truck, borrowed straight from English. Northern Spanish is full of these and Monterrey uses more of them than anywhere.
Canícula
ka-NEE-koo-la
The forty-odd-day heat peak from roughly mid-July to late August, when rain stops and temperatures run to 45°C. Regios plan their year around it.
Tarifa DAC
ta-REE-fa DAK
The high-consumption electricity tariff. Let your twelve-month average pass the limit for your tariff region — 850 kWh a month here — and CFE strips the subsidy and bills you several times more.
Autorización municipal
ow-to-ree-sa-SYON moo-nee-see-PAL
The permit from your own municipality that you must hold before the state of Nuevo León will issue you a driving licence.
Food
Lonche
LON-cheh
A filled roll, from 'lunch'. A lonchería is where you eat one, and it is the standard regio working breakfast.
Cabrito
ka-BREE-toh
Roast kid goat, the regional dish. Ordering it properly means knowing which cut — pierna, riñonada or paletilla — you actually want.
Culture
El cerro de la Silla
el SEH-rro deh la SEE-ya
The saddle-shaped mountain on every regio logo and licence plate. Locals navigate by it, so learn which side of it you live on.
Emergency
911 / 073
NWEH-veh OO-no OO-no
911 for all emergencies; 073 is Agua y Drenaje for leaks and supply failures, a number every household here has used.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.