Questions about the word pendejo

[47of74]

Does it mean stupid or asshole?

If it's the latter, is there a milder word?

I'm thinking of using the word pendejo a letter to the editor to refer to a certain orange asshole, but I wonder if the snowflakes at the local paper would keep it or edit it out.

[lunasun]

1. Son of a bitch is acceptable . President uses it in public

[47of74]

2. good point

[TexasProgresive]

3. I've always heard it defined by my Latino friends as fool

pendejo
noun
US
vulgar slang

A stupid or contemptible person.

Origin

Spanish, literally ‘pubic hair’.
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/pendejo

[mitch96]

7. Yup, same down here in Miami

I like Cheech and Chong skit on pandejo... or as Tommy Chong said.. "pandecko"

m

[Gothmog]

4. Trey Martinez Fischer used this word for the GOP at the Texas Democratic Convention a while back

Trey got some grief https://twitchy.com/brettt-3136/2014/06/28/texas-state-rep-trey-martinez-fischer-gop-stands-for-gringos-y-otros-pendejos/

[OregonBlue]

6. I thought it meant public hair and is like calling someone a son of a bitch or a fucker.

[COLGATE4]

5. It means "stupid", a "fool" nt

[TlalocW]

8. I've always treated it as, "asshole"

I'm sure depending on context, it would have milder meanings. You can't always have a one-to-one translation of every word in one language to another, and if you're unsure if you have the fluency - cultural as well as linguistic, it's best to treat it as if it only means its worst definition. Use estupido, tonto, bobo, etc.



TlalocW

[shanny]

9. For tRump I'd go with "pendejasso"

i.e. even bigger pendejo

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. One problem with Spanish is that it is highly dialectical.

So a word that might be totally acceptable in one country is vulgar and unacceptable in polite company in another. Which means, where are you using this word? Or from what country are you taking it?

And it goes beyond mere words. There are grammatical constructions that vary enormously between Spanish speaking countries.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

11. Yes, HIGHLY dialectical.

I have friends from Mexico who throw it around at each other all the time and they laugh about it. But I got the shock of my life when visited by some friends from Puerto Rico and invited them all for a get together at my house for BBQ. The Islanders were outraged and offended by the word. So, even though they all speak Spanish, the dialectical differences were . . . enlightening.