The Malespín is a kind of Spanish-language slang which originated in the 19th century in El Salvador and then spread to the rest of Central America.
Valle adds: "There is a tradition that it was invented by the Salvadoran general Francisco Malespín, in the same year of 1845 as when he burned and looted León, metropolis of Nicaragua."
Julián Corrales Munguía, in his work The language of the underworld: the slang (1972), said that the key of malespín, so popular in past years, has been forgotten in general, but there are some people who remember it perfectly.
The following examples show the words as pronounced now, and in brackets as each should be written according to the key of "classic" malespín (a>e, i>o, b>t, m>p, f>g, y p>m): Sometimes, there is hesitation in some words, as shown in the alternations in the vowel and the consonant system: arpene and curpeni (brother); cunabi, cuñedi and cuñefli (brother in law); Benefia and Penefi (Managua); nelfin, nelfis and nelfes (hips); percebi and percedi (market).
In the Central American countries that have adopted some words of this slang, usually with slight variations of the original term, as users have sometimes changed the spelling through forgetfulness or ignorance of the key.