boludo and pelotudo

[BROOKLYN]

how did these words come about?? whats the difference?

 

[LaurenW]

pelotudo is a stronger version of boludo in the negative sense of the word.

not sure of the origin ... but in my mind I compare boludo to the US word 'bitch' which girls sometimes now use endearingly (but can still be an insult) ... I think it just evolved from an insult/negative word to something like 'dude'. hopefully someone else can clarify/add insight!

EDIT: i am not saying bitch and boludo are equal in definition (they aren't) but that their transformation from insult to casual term to address someone close to you is similar

 

[Davidglen77]

The real meaning of "Boludo" and "Pelotudo" is someone who is "ballsy" or has "a lot of nerve" hence the root of these words "Bolas" y "Pelotas". However these words have become synonymous with idiot or dummy over time. I wouldn't say these words are as strong as calling someone "bitch" that would be more like "hija de p**a" though with a different actual meaning of course.

 

[mariposa]

it's more like knucklehead, can be negative but also affectionate.

 

[syngirl]

The real meaning of "Boludo" and "Pelotudo" is someone who is "ballsy" or has "a lot of nerve" hence the root of these words "Bolas" y "Pelotas". However these words have become synonymous with idiot or dummy over time. I wouldn't say these words are as strong as calling someone "bitch" that would be more like "hija de p**a" though with a different actual meaning of course.

I wouldn't agree with pelotudo being synonymous with dummy -- if it were then they wouldn't bleep it out on television, nor when it's in subtitles would they write it pel*&#% etc.

Boludo is much more acceptable, it's like saying Dude...

Pelotudo is like saying Asshole. Some people would say it's like saying Jerk -- though Jerk back in the day was considered a bad word as well.

Like most parts of the world stronger language is becoming more and more common and more accepted in conversation.

If you're young you probably can't even be bothered to say the whole word though... a lot of the time it's just bolu... because teenagers/20 somethings use it pretty much every 5th word that last syllable gets to be exhausting jajaja

 

[syngirl]

For calling someone a bitch perra will work.... and roll your Rs over-exagerratedly. Hija de puta is stronger... and Conch#$a is even stronger (like saying the C word in english) and if you want stronger then that the conch#$a de mierda will do the trick. (And if you want to sound like a local you can scream out conch*#ga de mierda anda a la concha de tu hermana (madre etc).

Anyone looking for more tips on swearing can just get in the car with my husband or come on over and watch a Boca match, the Seleccion, or any of the tennis matches with Argentine players....

 

[nativexpat]

Well, to me boludo and pelotudo means you have big balls, but in the sense that you are an idiot, not that you are ballsy.... and although in the last years those terms have been upgraded to "normal" words, they still sound aggressive and vulgar to me. Maybe if you are under 20...

I can't stand that my late thirtysometing old friends address themselves with "boluda"... I flinch every time.

It's the legacy of the 2001 crisis - people stopped giving a damn about many things, including their vocabulary, their values, etc.

Just imagine going back to the US, Canada, or wherever you are from and hearing your mom use the word 'bitch' or 'motherf*er' every time she talks to a friend.

 

[syngirl]

Oops I'm silly -- why would you learn swearing from my husband when you can get it from the Tano Pasman (if you haven't seen this video, you can't possibly have been watching much Argentine tv in the past few months!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE7MMmEGXno

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeu4BrOkZF0 (same vid with english subtitles)

 

[Davidglen77]

I can't stand that my late thirtysometing old friends address themselves with "boluda"... I flinch every time.

It's the legacy of the 2001 crisis - people stopped giving a damn about many things, including their vocabulary, their values, etc.

Just imagine going back to the US, Canada, or wherever you are from and hearing your mom use the word 'bitch' or 'motherf*er' every time she talks to a friend.

I feel the same way, I do not like people using curse and derogatory words as casually as they do these days. When I owned my shop, young people sometimes would come in and say "che boludo, blah blah blah" and I would cut them off and say "mi nombre es David, cualquier cosa que necesites me llamo asi" that usually stopped that from happening again. Maybe I am prude and at 40 something years old being too formal, but I feel those terms are disrespectful and I never use any of those words and wouldn't especially to people I don't know. When I see a group of kids they all call each other "boludo and boluda" these days, I guess nobody is named Juan, Carlos, Bautista, José, etc, they are all boludo/as these days.

 

[va2ba]

From my experience, boludo is an affectionate way of calling your friend a dummy. Pelotudo is what you call the taxi driver who "accidentally" makes a wrong turn that ends up costing you 10 pesos extra.