Emily Burns
By now, you’ve probably seen the phrase “ontas” somewhere on social media. Whether it’s attached to a thirst-trap celebrity photo or a random tweet, “ontas” seems to be the latest phrase everyone is using. So, we decided to do a little digging in hopes of gaining some clarity on this new youth lingo.
Have you noticed the word “ontas” popping up in your newsfeed lately?
Tons of celebrities are tweeting it, some even tagging each other.
Ontas? @dylansprouse
— Barbara Palvin (@BarbaraPalvin) April 18, 2019
¿Ontas?
— NASHUP (@NASHOVERSTREET) April 19, 2019
Ontas?
— DrakeBell.ethᵍᵐ (@DrakeBell) April 18, 2019
i don’t ontas to my ex anymore
— Taylor Caniff (@taylorcaniff) April 18, 2019
Or using it as an Instagram caption for their thirst-trap photos.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwcZzL4nIt0/?utm_source=ig_embed
And others, like us, are pretty confused about what it means.
Why do I have so many dms on Instagram of people saying "ontas?" Am I missing something? Puedo hablar espanol tambien pero no entiendo.
— Ross Butler (@RossButler) April 18, 2019
What is Ontas?!
— Colin o'donoghue (@colinodonoghue1) April 19, 2019
Why is everyone saying ontas?
— Steve Aoki (@steveaoki) April 18, 2019
As it turns out, “Ontas” is a shortened version of “Dónde estás,” meaning “Where are you?” in Spanish.
In this usage, “Ontas” is more of a sexually motivated term like “U, up?” or “Where you at?”
https://twitter.com/mrpzxstyles/status/1118981323421564930
https://twitter.com/aihtcy/status/1120747579187367937
The definition has even been verified by Urban Dictionary.
Urban Dictionary
Needless to say, people are taking full advantage of the phrase now.
h/t: BuzzFeed
