is "100% Chingon" considered a compliment or insult?
He is 100% Chingon.
12 Answers
The dictionary definition makes it sound pretty good, but I've never heard it used among my mexican friends, even younger ones, so I don't know. I will ask them later this week and report back.
Chingón is very common in Mexico. It is street slang for someone who is very good doing something, ie "Es bien chingón para los coches." (He is good at repairing cars). "Es bien chingón para la música." (He/she is a good musician).
And I agree with Paco. Stay away from the infinitive of this word until you have a complete command of the language and the culture as well.
I agree with those who have suggested that without context it is impossible to tell.
There is a new "dictionary" out in Mexico called "el chingonario" and it is a humorous look at all the variations of meaning this word and its infinitive have. It is an extremely complex word and non native speakers are hard pressed to master all its variations; in fact, non native speakers may never master it! 
Even a lift of the eyebrows or a slight variation of inflection can change the meaning.
It depends on how you look at it really..
Jaja, Pacofinkler, good advice. I did think it sounded a bit like a very common expletive.
The infinitive of this verb and its seemingly endless usages and variations are heard almost daily in México.
There are so many uses that trying to translate them would be futile, only a very good command of mexican spanish would allow a person to understand whether it is an insult, a complement or an expletive.
Stay away from it if you are unsure of how to use it!.
No creo que se dice en España - I would say it is considered 'palabrota'.
Suena más a halago que a insulto. Pero depende ¿no?
Read 'El plan infinito' by Isabel Allende. The beginning section of the story is set in California in a 'barrio latino' in Los Angeles. There are plenty of variants of that word, I suppose I can't repeat them here as they only seemed to be used with a negative connotation!
There is something so catchy about the sound of it, I can understand why it's used so frequently.
Technically you're saying, "he's very good at (blank)!", but in Spanish. Not to be used in formal settings, but good for an intensifier every now and then.
Hey, gee thanks guys. I looked up the infinitive and learned my first swear word.
I always hear it positive and in the sense Julian mentions. I never have heard it used negatively, it's infinitive though, sure. This is one word where the infinitive + ón / ona does not seem to be a direct representative of the main verb, although like Paco says handle with care, you can't be sure too sure.
The dictionary definition makes it sound pretty good, but I've never heard it used among my mexican friends, even younger ones, so I don't know. I will ask them later this week and report back.
