So my girlfriend (native Spanish speaker) has started calling me (native English speaker) "Patán." What I want to know is, should I be worried?
Is a redneck a good thing or a bad thing? If she´s "proud to be with a redneck", you got nothing to worry about.
LOL. Well, its kind of an old word, not very used nowadays, so I guess she uses it as an affectionate nickname... depending on the way she says it. You can find it in literature from a couple centuries ago. Patán = bumpkin, brute person.
Patán = Hillybilly, redneck, countryboy, lacking breed... Just coming down from the hills. Spanish people is sometimes fond of giving a bit derogative names to their beloved ones as 'intimate names' (my piggywiggy and all that stuf). Maybe it's the same 'out there'? (The patán is like 'my rude boy'... ahem.) It depends on the tone, of course. Anyway, examine your behaviour... A bit too Simpsonesque, perhaps? Then, that's it. Quit mixing coke with the wine. That should help ;P
Sadly, none of those descriptions is exactly wrong. Let's hope she means it affectionately (LOL). Thanks for all yer help. see ya'll later.
In Australia we call this a bogan dont know what the american translation is ... ive heard on the simpsons yocal...?
Most of the Spanish-speaking people With whom I come in contact (mostly from Latin America) know exactly what patán means and use it correctly. It does have a pejorative connotation.
Is your girlfriend from México? See this quote from a Mexican website: http://www.todito.com/paginas/contenido/fc07122005/nt14915.html chantajista = blackmailer calculador = selfishly scheming? egoísta = egotist, selfish
I am Mexican and used that word yesterday, then came back here to see how I could explain to him what it means, In Mexico, we use derogatory terms as pet names as a joke, don't worry about being called a patán, it just means you are not acting like prince charming! I would compare it with unrefined, not gentelman like this thread was funny
And, I agree with claudiadeplaya, patán is often used lightly, but again context is everything. My experience with the term also comes from México. Where is your girlfriend from and do you deserve to be called a redneck or a "brute" (i.e. giant a-hole, in my opinion)? These questions are for self-reflection, no need to answer.
The same happens here. If we really want to insult someone, that won't be the word of choice, for sure.
Well, it's an old thread, but there is another possibility: Patán (Muttley) is the dog that goes with Pierre Nodoyuna (Dick Dastardly) in the double 0 car in Los Autos Locos (Wacky Races), an animated television series of Hanna-Barbera. In Spain, when somebody laughs as 'j, j, j, j' (please pronounce it as Spanish J) it is quite normal to make a reference to 'el perro Patán'. I'm almost sure this is not the answer to the original question, but since the title of the thread was 'Patán' I thought it was worth to make a reference.
In Central America I found that patán when used as an adjective is the closest I could get to 'creepy', in teh sense of 'creepy man', hombre patán. Is this correct? Asqueroso didn't seem to capture the sexual side of being creepy, is there a word in Spanish that captures this idea? French appears to lack a good translation, which is why so many people here in Montreal include it in English, "je suis parti parce que j'ai trouvé les hommes la un peu creepy."
I don't know about Central America, but in Mexico: rabo verde--if the man in question is older me da cosa--which is less harsh than asqueroso. (neither always imply something sexual). Creepy doesn't necessarily have a sexual connotation either. It is the context that leads one to that conculsion. I have asked people to clarify what they mean by "creepy" on more than one occasion. I'd use asqueroso. Someone will ask for clarification if need be.
creepy = horripilante....also.....pavoroso (although I admit, I've never used or heard them uttered).
