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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.

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  • Cantinero, un shot de tequila ... (we dont really say cantinero tho) means unsurprisingly barman a shot of tequila.
    – Rostol
    Commented Mar 14, 2017 at 3:18

11 Answers 11

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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.

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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
    Commented Mar 7, 2012 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
    Commented Mar 9, 2012 at 6:02
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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
    Commented May 2, 2012 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
    Commented May 2, 2012 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.
    Commented Jun 18, 2014 at 15:21
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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.

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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
    Commented Mar 7, 2012 at 8:16
  • 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
    Commented May 6, 2014 at 12:59
  • @Bardo No, it can't. Nobody says that.
    – david
    Commented May 7, 2014 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
    Commented May 8, 2014 at 10:17
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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
    Commented May 8, 2014 at 13:07
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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.

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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").

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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.

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  • At least in certain parts of Mexico this seems pretty common
    – el_menjurje
    Commented Dec 10, 2019 at 22:59
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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
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  • In Lima, Perú it is common to hear trago corto.
    – vincent
    Commented Apr 25, 2012 at 18:42
  • In Costa Rica shot of liquor = un trago de guaro. I think other countries also use this phrase.
    – user2793412
    Commented Apr 30, 2014 at 12:44
  • Añado esta referencia de acuerdo con lo indicado en Juntemos en respuestas wiki las respuestas cortas específicas de regiones.
    – fedorqui
    Commented Jun 3, 2016 at 10:06
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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
    Commented Mar 13, 2017 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
    Commented Mar 13, 2017 at 22:39
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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.

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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...

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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

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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

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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.

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