What does "a la orden" mean?

You're welcome / at your service / can I help you?

Country: 🇨🇴 Colombia
Say it: ah lah OR-den
Register: Safe anywhere

How it's actually used

Colombia's default reply to "gracias," instead of "de nada." Shopkeepers also call it out to passersby as an invitation, and use it again as you leave. You will hear it dozens of times a day in any Colombian market.

Examples

Gracias. —A la orden. "Thanks." "You're welcome."
¡A la orden, señor! ¿Qué necesita? At your service, sir! What do you need?

What other countries say

Mexico says de nada or para servirle, Spain says de nada or nada nada.

Now actually use it out loud

Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Colombian Spanish — it uses a la orden the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Colombian Spanish.

What does "a la orden" mean?

How it's actually used

Examples

What other countries say

Now actually use it out loud

More slang like this