Meaning
In popular Mexican Spanish, ¡aguas! is an alert meaning roughly 'watch out', 'careful', or 'look out' when someone wants to warn another person about immediate danger or trouble.
How it is used
The Diccionario del español de México explicitly records ¡Aguas! as a popular expression of alert before danger and also gives echar aguas for warning or keeping watch. The Academia Mexicana de la Lengua discusses the warning construction historically and cautions against a popular but unsupported Nahuatl explanation, showing why the practical meaning should be separated from folklore about origin.
Examples
- “¡Aguas! Viene una bici por atrás.”
- “¡Aguas con el escalón!”
- “Aguas, que el piso está mojado.”
Pronunciation
/ˈaɣwas/ · AH-gwahs
Tone and register
Urgent or cautionary rather than inherently rude. It can be shouted sharply in immediate danger or said more lightly to warn a friend about an obstacle, person, or developing problem.
Visitor guidance
Visitors should learn ¡aguas! as a practical safety cue: when someone says it suddenly, pay attention before trying to translate the literal word 'waters'. The warning use belongs to Mexican Spanish broadly and is not a CDMX-only expression.
Cultural context
Aguas is especially useful visitor language because the literal dictionary meaning of agua gives almost no clue to the warning function. It also demonstrates Maperla's origin policy: a memorable etymology may circulate socially, but current meaning can be documented confidently without repeating an unsupported origin story.
Places represented
Open the reviewed place guide for each regional sense carried by this canonical entry.