pendejo

You heard it, you said it, you know it.

PENDEJO. USE IT IN A SENTENCE. ERES UN PENDEJO.

There’s the Orange Pendejo, first of all, and that pendejo down the block who parks his ranfla like a baboso. Let’s not forget that pendeja on the train with the cheap perfume and those pendejos at the construction site who cat-call every time a mujer walks on by.

But what does PENDEJO mean, exactly? If you’ve ever looked it up, the dictionary says it means “pubic hair,” but how did that turn into “asshat” or “jerkface” or “_______?”

Let’s follow along with University of Texas Río Grande Valley Profe David Bowles:

Mas…Espanish 101: ¿Where did we get the word PENDEJO?