Like every word that we use each day, there is a story behind it somewhere of how it became part of our daily language. Words travel from town to town and from country to country, just like the people that speak them. As time goes on, words transform into different meanings, sometimes even quite the opposite of what they used to mean.
It is important to understand what a touchy word like pendejo means and even what it used to mean because depending on where you use it, the meaning could vary. Before you let pendejo roll off of your tongue again, here is a brief history of the word so that you understand how other people may perceive it when you say it.
Table of Contents
Origin of “Pendejo”
During the 16th century in the European country of Spain, pendejo started out as being used to refer to young teens that suddenly felt more mature than their age because they had grown some pubic hair. Once you read between the lines, pendejo wasn’t used to congratulate these kids on their new stage of growth. It was making fun of their belief that they were worthy of an adult’s level of respect.
Moving on to the 17th century, pendejo started to take on a whole new meaning, and it started being used to describe people that were considered cowards. Again, this wasn’t a compliment, and in many cases, it probably infuriated many people that were having their perceived bravery questioned.
After colonization had run its course, Spanish, the language of Spain, spread to other countries and started to be spoken in much of the Americas. By the time the early 1900s occurred, pendejo had drifted from being a word that people used to address someone that was considered cowardly to becoming a way of calling someone dumb or stupid.
Modern Definition of Pendejo
This brings us closer to the current way that the word pendejo as an insult has evolved to the point that it is used to call someone an “idiot,” as explained in both the Dictionary and the Urban Dictionary as slang terms. In Spanish, pendejo is a masculine noun that gets applied to men, and the feminine formation of pendejo is pendeja when being used for women.
The typical pendejo meaning is considered very offensive and should not be used in formal situations involving family members or co-workers. The general idea is that when someone you don’t know very well could be highly offended by you, assuming you have the right to call them an idiot at work, at your place of worship, or during a formal gathering.
There is a time and place for everything, and the word pendejo is no different. It would be terrible to use pendejo in business emails or professional meetings where you need to make a good impression on people or work in unison with them, and you disrespect their intelligence with this word.
Keep the term pendejo restricted to only being used when you are in the private company of close friends that you already have a history of joking with. Also, just because you can normally call your friends a pendejo and you all burst out into shared laughter doesn’t mean that you should call them the Spanish version of a “dummy” when they are introducing you to their significant others for the first time.
Where Pendejo is Commonly Used
Pendejo is used mostly in Spanish-speaking countries and is quite popular in Mexico and locations where there is a high concentration of people of Mexican heritage, such as the Southwest region of the United States of America. Mexicans generally use pendejo as an insulting way to call someone a jerk or stupid.
But this loose definition would differ in a country such as Argentina that still uses pendejo to refer to a young man who thinks that they have already leaped into an adult, much like the original use of pendejo in Spain in the 16th century. The usage of the word pendejo has expanded beyond its initial use by people of Latin heritage that speak Spanish to become a slang word that gets often used by English-speaking Americans at times.
Things to Consider when Saying Pendejo
Using the word pendejo to swear at people that you don’t know on a personal level isn’t recommended. You may feel at the moment that it is much more humane to curse this person out and tell them how much they are an idiot than to hit them. Even though it is the less violent option, calling someone a derogatory word can still lead to a physical confrontation that you had no intention of engaging in. Just because you want to keep the conflict in the realm of words doesn’t mean the person you called dumb isn’t going to punch you for it.
We can’t control what other people do, but we sure can control our own behavior. Don’t call people words that you wouldn’t want to hear from them in return, and keep pendejo as a word that stays between you and close acquaintances.
