Do you say "Porfa" instead of "por favor" -- is it rude?
Hola amigos! This might be a ridiculous and obvious question, but I want to ask.
When my friend and I speak Spanish with each other (we're both learning and non-native speakers), we will often inject "porfa" at the end of a sentence when asking for something instead of the regular "por favor". This seems like a natural shortening of a word/phrase that would happen in any language.
However, I was at the taquería the other day and placed an order in Spanish and said "porfa" at the end without thinking...la guapa behind the counter gave me a very strange look, and I wondered if "porfa" was somehow offensive (or a whole different meaning altogether!) or she was just a bit surprised to hear a gringo like myself try to order in her native tongue.
So, is "porfa" common and ok to use? I hope so, because it's too much fun to say! Of course, note that I wouldn't use any kind of slang on purpose if I was trying to speak formally.
Gracias, tenga un día gran!
3 Answers
"Porfa" is used amongst buddies, but it would not be okay to use it in a formal conversation with your boss, the pastor, a client, etc. I would say that that is just, not good Spanish. If you are learning Spanish, why not learn it the right way? It just lower the quality of your language skills and the way some people might see you, even the person you are trying to impress! I was dating an American who learned to speak Spanish in Mexico and used to call me "cuate eres muy bello" "cuate, me gustas mucho" also the words "'órale and híjole", I had to politely ask her to please drop the "cuate, órale and híjole" they were such a turn off for me! Spanish is a romantic language, squeeze the juice out of it!
Hi RedLine!
"¡Por fa!" is very common and you can use in a informal and nice way.
I guess she was surprised because you said so.
I've heard tourists (gringos) use it here in Bolivia.
An' "por fav" cos they don' like the "r"on the end 
