How do you say a "shot" referring to alcohol?

Question

What are some common ways of saying a shot of liquor? This can be referring to a small, usually 1 to 2 ounce drink taken all at once or can be a measure of liquor.

For example: I ordered a round of shots for the table. We took a shot of whiskey. There are 2 shots of vodka in the drink.

Also, how would you translate "shot glass"? Wordreference.com translates this as "copita", but I'd like to get some opinions from the real world.

Cantinero, un shot de tequila ... (we dont really say cantinero tho) means unsurprisingly barman a shot of tequila. — Rostol, Mar 14 '17 at 03:18

score 48 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 07 '12 at 06:39

48

In Spain, or at least in parts of it, those small doses of liquor are called chupito.
And the glass, either chupito too, or vaso de chupito.

answered Mar 07 '12 at 06:39

MikMik

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For the sentence "There are 2 shots of vodka in the drink." I suggest 'trago' as a translation of 'shot'. – Sergio Cinos Mar 07 '12 at 08:16
It can also be referred (and usually is) as "golpes", "There are 2 shots of vodka on the table" could be translated as "Hay dos golpes de vodka sobre la mesa" – Bardo May 06 '14 at 12:59
@Bardo No, it can't. Nobody says that. – david May 07 '14 at 22:30
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@david I live on the north of Spain and I've been using it for years, also every single barman we ever asked for "golpes" understood us perfectly, so it's not something that just we use. – Bardo May 08 '14 at 10:17
@Bardo Well, perhaps the barmen are just guessing at what you mean. I doubt you heard that expression from a native speaker, although it might conceivably be a regional difference. I'm Spanish and never heard it used in Madrid or Barcelona (or from anyone else I know for that matter). – david May 08 '14 at 12:32
@david I'm also Spanish, and used this expression in all the north of Spain and in Madrid, always with success. – Bardo May 08 '14 at 12:45
@david http://lema.rae.es/drae/?val=golpe 7th meaning. It's accepted by RAE – Bardo May 08 '14 at 12:48
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OK, I see. So it's one of those words accepted by RAE but never actually used with that meaning. (At least certainly not in Madrid, regardless of whether you managed to get it understood there.) – david May 08 '14 at 13:07
I've often seen "golpe" used in recipes for cocktails. See some examples here – MikMik May 09 '14 at 11:40

score 14 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 07 '12 at 04:53

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In Mexico, we always said... (drum roll)...

shot

The same for shots of espresso, or flavor shots in a Starbucks latte.

answered Mar 07 '12 at 04:53

Flimzy

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This is what I've heard, but I'm always very wary of trusting the English word is actually used when I hear people around here (in Texas) use the English. – Rachel Mar 07 '12 at 19:49
@Rachel: I had the same concern, but was told numerous times the word was 'shot', and I can attest to personal experience that "Quiero una mocha grande con cuatro shots" works at Starbucks, without any funny looks. :) – Flimzy Mar 09 '12 at 06:02
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@Flimzy: This is what is actually known as an anglicism. It means that we are "borrowing" a word from English but it is actually not correct. That is why nobody looks at you funny. That being said, as far as I can tell, there is no word in Spanish that would be an exact translation of "Shot" in this context, at least in Mexico. – Sergio Romero May 02 '12 at 19:46
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@SergioRomero: Just because a word is borrowed doesn't make it incorrect. If there was some native English word for "tortilla" or "taco" I don't think anyone would say it was incorrect to use the Spanish loan words. – Flimzy May 02 '12 at 20:05
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False! (-1). This question has +14 kviews. The disinformation your answer is generating is terribly high. (Which is your source? Are you a native speaker?...) I do agree some people say shot, but lot of people are eager to show off some "English" by using anglicisms. And this people might be less than 10% of the rich, brainless, young people. Kindly consider to amend this answer. – c.p. Jun 18 '14 at 15:21
@SergioRomero That's right. Altough it exists "caballito", and in cases is the best option for translating shot. – c.p. Jun 18 '14 at 15:25
@c.p. I'm from Mexico City, and every time I go to parties, people always ask for “shots de tequila”. “Caballito” does exist, but it's more the glass itself than the amount of drink. – Arturo Torres Sánchez Nov 16 '14 at 18:02

score 10 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 07 '12 at 04:23

In Chile it's said Corto or Cortito, when talking about tequila:

Un corto de tequila

But if you say "shot" it is also understood (more used when talking about vodka):

Nos tomamos unos shots de vodka

A "shot glass" is also called corto, or more verbosely: vaso de cortos.

score 9 · Answer 4 · edited May 28 '16 at 14:09

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Shot glass

In Mexico, at least the tall narrow kind of shot glasses we use for drinking tequila are called caballitos ("little horses", "horsies", or "ponies").

edited May 28 '16 at 14:09

fedorqui

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answered Mar 08 '12 at 00:34

hippietrail

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dockeryZ · Answer 5 · 2014-05-06T11:44:50.513

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I've always heard of it being referred to as un trago

Additionally, the verb tragar means to swallow so it makes the most sense anyway. Where I'm from, in the Appalachian Mountains, I constantly hear my elders refer to a shot as a swallow... or rather, a swall'r if you want to get dialectical about it.

edited May 06 '14 at 11:44

answered Apr 30 '14 at 12:53

dockeryZ

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At least in certain parts of Mexico this seems pretty common – el_menjurje Dec 10 '19 at 22:59

fedorqui · Answer 6 · 2017-04-07T09:24:20.783

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I am adding this summary following what was discussed in Juntemos en respuestas wiki las respuestas cortas específicas de regiones / Let's use community wiki to summarize set of short region specific answers. Feel free to edit to add the term used in your country or region.

Argentina

shot

Chile

corto

Costa Rica

un trago de guaro

Cuba

trago

España

chupito (both the shot and the glass)

México

Caballito (únicamente cuando es tequila) / shot

Panamá

un trago de guaro

Perú (Lima)

trago corto

edited Apr 07 '17 at 09:24

answered May 28 '16 at 14:12

fedorqui

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Añado esta referencia de acuerdo con lo indicado en Juntemos en respuestas wiki las respuestas cortas específicas de regiones. – fedorqui Jun 03 '16 at 10:06
In Costa Rica shot of liquor = un trago de guaro. I think other countries also use this phrase. – user2793412 Apr 30 '14 at 12:44
In Lima, Perú it is common to hear trago corto. – vincent Apr 25 '12 at 18:42
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En el caso de México, se dice Caballito cuando es simplemente tequila, si llegara a ser otra bebida no se le llama Caballito, de igual forma, se le dice shot – Phi Mar 13 '17 at 21:45
@Flxtr anímate a darle a [edit] para incluir esta valiosa información, que por eso es community wiki, para que la mejoremos entre todos :) – fedorqui Mar 13 '17 at 22:39

score 4 · Answer 7 · answered Jun 10 '13 at 19:54

Chupito in Spain and in Mexico are two VERY different meanings. I learned that word living in Spain and when I said it in Mexico on a resort they all started laughing. Turns out it's a sexual act there. In Cancun, Mexico they use the word "caballito" for a shot of alcohol. That was what I was told, but I'm sure the word shot would work just fine too.

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Jun 18 '14 at 11:14

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I live in Mexico, and we always say caballito to refer both to the glass itself and the amount of drink. I've never heard shot used in Spanish, but then I'd only know about Mexico...

answered Jun 18 '14 at 11:14

Princess Kiara

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score 1 · Answer 9 · edited Apr 30 '14 at 13:58

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There are too many different regional words for that. Not any answer about a signle word will be correct.

Spain: Chupito (for the shot itself), Vaso de chupito (for the shot glass), Trago (for a measure of liquour in another beverage)
Mexico: Caballito/Shot
Peru: Trago corto
Chile: Corto/Shot

edited Apr 30 '14 at 13:58

Flimzy

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answered Apr 30 '14 at 05:19

Envite

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score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 06 '17 at 17:40

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En Cuba se dice dice normalmente "trago".

"Vamos a tomarnos un trago"

Si estas ya en el bar puedes decir:

Sirveme un sencillo o un doble.

answered Apr 06 '17 at 17:40

Adrian Cid Almaguer

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score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Jun 26 '14 at 06:28

Relevant to México:

I'm surprised no one has considered:
Un tequila derecho.
^{(Which is served in a "caballito")}

Additionally, as others pointed out caballito is the name of the glass but is casually used to refer to a shot(trago):

Use cases:
"Vamos por unos tragos"("Let's go for some drinks".)
"Traigame una ronda de shots"("Bring me a round of shots".)
Al cantinero: "Sirvame un trago"(To the barman: "Hit me".)

a mexican order of caballito shots, called bandera for the colors _{Image source: wikipedia / GDFL license}

How do you say a "shot" referring to alcohol?

11 Answers11

Relevant to México: