Boyfriend. "Polola" is girlfriend.
The standard Chilean word for a committed partner, more serious than casual dating and less than a fiancé. "Pololear" is the verb: "llevamos dos años pololeando" means we have been together two years.
From a Mapudungun word for a small beetle that hovers around — the image is someone always buzzing nearby.
Chileans genuinely do not use "novio" for this stage — novio implies engagement. Getting this wrong changes the meaning of your relationship.
Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Chilean Spanish — it uses pololo the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Chilean Spanish.
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