Spanish profanity

This article is a summary of profanity in the Spanish language. Spanish profanity varies significantly among Spanish-speaking nations, and even in regions of the same nation. Idiomatic expressions, particularly profanity, are not always directly translatable into other languages, so most of the English translations offered in this article are rough and may not reflect the full meaning of the expression under discussion.^[1]

Pendejo

Pendejo (according to the Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española, lit. "a pubic hair'^[2] is, according to the Chicano poet José Antonio Burciaga, "basically describes someone who is stupid or does something stupid."^[2] Burciaga said that the word is often used while not in polite conversation.^[2] It may be translated as "dumbass" or "asshole" in many situations, though it carries an extra implication of willful incompetence, or innocent gullibility that's ripe for others to exploit. The less extreme meaning, which is used in most Spanish speaking countries, translates more or less as "jackass." In Peru, a pendejo is a smartass. Somebody that is skillful, but in a tricky way. In Argentina, a pendejo is a young person, in contrast to "viejo" (old man).

Burciaga said that pendejo "is probably the least offensive" of the various Spanish profanity words beginning in "p," but that calling someone a pendejo is "stronger" than calling someone estúpido.^[2] Burciaga said "Among friends it can be taken lightly, but for others it is better to be angry enough to back it up."^[2] In Mexico, "pendejo" most commonly refers to a "fool", "idiot" or "asshole". In Mexico there are many proverbs that refer to pendejos.^[2]

Burciaga says that the Yiddish word putz "means the same thing" as pendejo.^[2]

Cabrón

"¡Chinga tu madre, cabrón!" in C major. Play.

The modern Mexican Spanish version has different connotations depending the place or the situation, is commonly accepted as Spanish equivalent for the English profanity: motherfucker. As an adjective it is equivalent to "tough" as "It is tough" (Está cabrón). In offensive mode it means "asshole" and other insults in English. The seven-note musical flourish known as a shave and a haircut (two bits), commonly played on car horns, is associated with the seven-syllable phrase ¡Chinga tu madre, cabrón! (Fuck your mother, asshole!). Playing the jingle on a car horn can result in a hefty fine for traffic violation if done in the presence of police, or road rage if aimed at another driver or a pedestrian.^[3] In Mexico, "cabrón" refers to a man whose wife cheats on him without protest from him, or even with his encouragement.

Pinche

Pinche has different meanings:

In Spain, the word refers to a kitchen helper.^[1] It mainly means a restaurant chef assistant or a kitchen helper who helps cook the food and clean the utensils. Another meaning is used as an insult, as in pinche güey ("loser"), or to describe an object of poor quality, está muy pinche ("It really sucks").^{[citation needed]} Many restaurants in Spain have the name "El Pinche", to the great amusement of Mexican and Chicano tourists.^[1]

In Mexico, the saying can range anywhere from semi-inappropriate to very offensive depending on tone and context. Furthermore, it is often equivalent to the English terms "damn", "freakin'" or "fuckin'", as in estos pinches aguacates están podridos… ("These damn avocados are rotten…"); Pinche Mario ya no ha venido… ("Freakin' Mario hasn't come yet"); or ¿¡Quieres callarte la pinche boca!? ("Would you like to shut your fuckin' mouth?"), but most likely should be translated to the euphemism "frickin'" in most situations. Therefore, it can be said in front of adults, but possibly not children, depending on one's moral compass. Sometimes pinchudo(a) is said instead.^{[citation needed]} It refers to a mean-spirited person.^[1]

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Gladstein and Chacón (editors) 39.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Gladstein and Chacón (editors) 40.
^ Gerrard, Arthur Bryson, ed. (1980). Cassell's Colloquial Spanish (3rd revised ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. ISBN 978-0-02-079430-1.

References

Cabellero, Juan. Dirty Spanish: Everyday Slang from "What's Up?" to "F*%# Off!", Ulysses Press, ISBN 1-56975-659-7.
Gladstein, Mimi R. and Daniel Chacón (editors). The Last Supper of Chicano Heroes: Selected Works of José Antonio Burciaga. University of Arizona Press, 1 September 2008. ISBN 0-8165-2662-1, ISBN 978-0-8165-2662-8.
Hamer, Eleanor & Diez de Urdanivia, Fernando. The Street-Wise Spanish Survival Guide: A Dictionary of Over 3,000 Slang Expressions, Proverbs, Idioms, and Other Tricky English and Spanish Words and Phrases Translated and Explained, Skyhorse Publishing, ISBN 978-1-60239-250-2.
Wegmann, Brenda & Gill, Mary McVey. Streetwise Spanish: Speak and Understand Everyday Spanish, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-146086-1.

External links

Real Academia Española—Details pendejo and other slang in its dictionary
La página de la chingada^{[dead link]}—Different variations of chingar

[GladsteinChacon39-1] Gladstein and Chacón (editors) 39.

[GladsteinChacon40-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Gladstein and Chacón (editors) 40.

[3] Gerrard, Arthur Bryson, ed. (1980). Cassell's Colloquial Spanish (3rd revised ed.). London: Cassell Ltd. ISBN 978-0-02-079430-1.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Profanity
By language	American Sign Language Cantonese Dutch Esperanto Finnish Georgian German Hindi-Urdu Hokkien Italian Japanese Korean Latin Mandarin Chinese Norwegian Polish Portuguese Quebec French Romanian Russian Sinhala Spanish Swedish Tagalog
Devices	Bleep censor Broadcast delay Expletive deleted Grawlix Swear jar Wordfilter
Other	Expletive attributive Expletive infixation Fighting words Four-letter word Hypoalgesic effect of swearing Maledicta Maledictology Minced oath Pardon my French Profane Swearing Act 1694 Profanity in science fiction Scunthorpe problem Seven dirty words List of ethnic slurs
Category