Colombia - "the word for stranger is friend"?

WHen Columbians address people they don't know they often use the word 'amigo.' It literally means 'friend.' In the USA they (we) tend to use "Hey, you" for the same purpose.

I find it agreable enough, I hate being addressed as 'hermano' (brother ) by complete strangers (usually drunk or stoned) or 'primo' (cousin) as is done in other latin american countries. My favorite is Argentina's use of "che."

My absolute least favorite happens when I walk with my beautiful daughter and strangers address me as "suegro"- father in law.

it is true..........as a colombian girl we help the others.... and we love it.... we are a big family in fact we call some people " brothers" and it doesn´t matter if we don´t know them...and i´m sure that every people is happy here and we always look the good side of the bad things

PS.. maria a , i don`t thing that ecuador is better , i thing that there are bad politics and that country is ugly... i know because i have been there twice , I´m from colombia and i know what i´m talking about, and if someone want to come to southamerica i would recomend venezuela ( isla margarita) , panama , argentina (buenos aires) , chile (santiago) , brazil (sao pablo ) ...and of course colombia ( cartagena, santa marta , eje cafetero and bogota)........

hey maria A.

Why are you always criticizing Colombia? Do you work for the tourism bureau of Ecuador or something?

Colombia is a great country and it has unsafe places like any other country in the world!

Are you telling here everyone that Ecuador is completely safe????????

It is because in Colombia if we do not know someone we just call them amigo or friend in english. And to the person who wrote that it is dangerous and you could get robbed, you should do your research. Colombia is now among the safest in latin america.

Hi Beardo,

Yes, I remember that ad and it's more of a 'welcome to Columbia'. It promotes tourism where they would be extending or showing hospitality to strangers visiting their country...thus really being friends...opening their arms to their visitors.

Kind of like where you are...where the Cubans extend their open arms to welcome 'friends' to Cuba and into their homes and hearts even though everyone is technically a stranger, befriending all.

So it's not a word...it's an idea, a gesture.

People in Colombia say "amigo" when they dont know someone and want to get their attention. It would be impolite to say hey a**hole, dont you think?

They mean that colombian people are friendly to strangers,...but really if you are thinking of going there, I would not recomend because you could get robbed of never see your family again better go to Ecuador for sure....it is awonderful place to go, it has alot of places to visit, the people are so nice and helpful, and they try to make you feel at home, and there is alot of beautiful places to visit, and the night life, the place to party are so beautiful not only the quality of the places but the people that go there too........the beaches are clean beautiful and surrounded by hot people the culture is amazing and so diverse that you wont get tired of it......and for sure is alot safer and more beautil that honduras or peru, it is a wonderful place to live too and is warm and nice all the time.

please listen to me I am sure you are gonna love it. and I ma sure your family will too, becasue not only you will have fun but you will be sure that no one is gonna kidnap you or steal something from you.

i think they mean that us people here are very nice people and they are maybe promoting tourism with that ad