# pinche



## 4GRLBABIES

I would be really grateful if anyone could explain to me what the word Pinche means in english.


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## jivemu

¿Could you give us any context, please?

Saludos.


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## Miguelillo 87

4GRLBABIES said:
			
		

> I would be really grateful if anyone could explain to me what the word Pinche means in english.


Pinche in english... It's not in Spanish.


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## gotitadeleche

Miguelillo 87 said:
			
		

> Pinche in english... It's not in Spanish.



What do you mean? Pinche is a Spanish word.


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## 4GRLBABIES

My friend says the word Pinche all the time, he is mexican, but he does'nt know what it would mean in english.


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## Miguelillo 87

gotitadeleche said:
			
		

> What do you mean? Pinche is a Spanish word.


Yes it's. It means "Cooker's helper" and also it's a bad word.


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## jivemu

Maybe, it means here something like "damn it!" or "fuck[ing]"...

Mexicans, can you tell us?


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## suso26

Pinche is definitively a spanish word.
Pinche is despective way to refer to someone. It could mean almost the same than "fuc... ng" or "damn it"..  maybe I am exaggerating but if you say Pinche Carlos is when Carlos has done something that you do not like.
Sometimes among people the word Pinche is common, but they have to be in very close terms.


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## Miguelillo 87

4GRLBABIES said:
			
		

> My friend says the word Pinche all the time, he is mexican, but he does'nt know what it would mean in english.


Ah o.k I get it. Depends on the context for example:

Pinche madre I forget the money. Here pinche is like Damn it!!!

AND IN THIS:
Pinche pendejo I'm gonna punch you. It's like You fucking bastard...


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## loladamore

I don't think it's _that_ strong, but it is pretty emphatic and 'rude'. When used to complain about someone or something, I'd say it's roughly equivalent to *friggin'/freakin'*. It can be used, as Miguelillo says, as an exclamation, like *damn!* And context determines its exact meaning/translation, as *pinche Carlos* might mean that Carlos did something terrible, or among friends, he might have told a risqué joke, and *pinche Carlos!* might be more like *what are you like/you're a one/you're too much *and is not necessarily an insult.
Is that too much?


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## crises

Perfect explanation, loladamore. I totally agree.

Un saludo


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## mazbook

And except when my wife uses it , *¡Pinche gringo!* when said by a mexicano/a to a gringo is about the only time when I hear *gringo* in a derogatory manner anymore.

Surprisingly, in the frontera area of Texas/México, pinche is considered such a vulgar word that high school kids get suspended if they're heard using it.

Saludos desde Mazatlán


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## jdg5959jdg

i think it all depends on the mood. If the suggestion of the statement is already meant to be negative, adding "pinche" only strengthens it.

If the statement isn't meant to be negative its okay.


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## mazbook

Also, I forgot to say, the archaic meaning of *la *pinche was "scullery maid".  

In the hierarchy of British servants (in days long gone by) this was the absolute lowest position.  This was the person who mopped the kitchen, took out the garbage, cleaned up nasty messes, peeled potatoes, etc.  Since scullery maids were considered the most worthless of all the servants—a position often given retarded girls—I have always translated the adjective *pinche* as "worthless" and found that it worked in nearly all translations...without being vulgar at all—the normal sort of everyday usage *in México.*

Saludos desde Mazatlán


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## Moritzchen

Wow Mazbook! I had no idea of the term "scullery maid". When I grow up I want a big house with a scullery attached to the kitchen.


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## Edwin

Sea lo que sea está en el DRAE:



> *pinche.*
> 
> 1. com. Persona que presta servicios auxiliares en la cocina.
> 2. adj. C. Rica, El Salv. y Nic. *tacaño* (ǁ miserable).
> 3. adj. despect. malson. Méx. *ruin* (ǁ despreciable).



y WR.com dice:



> *tacaño,-a*
> I	adjetivo mean, stingy, miserly
> 
> II	m,f miser, scrooge





> *ruin* adjetivo
> 1   (despreciable, vil) mean, despicable, stingy
> 2   (avariento, tacaño ) stingy, miserly: era ruin con su familia y generoso consigo mismo, he was stingy to his family but generous to himself



Memory aid:  *pinche*::*penny pincher*


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## mazbook

Hola Edwin!  Una ayuda memoría muy muy buena.  Pero yo no necesito.  Escucho *pinche* casí diaro aquí en Mazatlán. 

Saludos desde Mazatlán


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## Moritzchen

Edwin, you've been following the wrong lead. Pinche is not a penny pincher. It's like "measly", "miserable", and everything lola explained in post #11. Así que sea lo que fuere lo que explicas está equivocado.


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## Edwin

Moritzchen said:
			
		

> Edwin, you've been following the wrong lead. Pinche is not a penny pincher. It's like "measly", "miserable", and everything lola explained in post #11. Así que sea lo que fuere lo que explicas está equivocado.



Lo he dicho en parte en broma, porque *pinche* parece *pincher*.  

Quizás tenga otras acepciones pero según el DRAE entre sus acepciones  son tocaño y ruin. Y ambas palabras tienen la acepción (entre otras) : stingy = penny pincher. Pero entiendo que hay otros significados. En todo caso, no me atrevo usarla.


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## jcmuro

Hello. As Edwin says, in the Dictionary of the Spanish Royal Academy they say:

*pinche**.**1.* com. Persona que presta servicios auxiliares en la cocina.*2.* adj._ C. Rica_,_ El Salv._ y_ Nic._ tacaño (ǁ miserable).*3.* adj. despect. malson._ Méx._ ruin (ǁ despreciable).

Translated:

1. Person who helps in the kitchen (mostly profesional).
2. Despicable, ruin.
3. Despicable.

Notes: 
- In Spain, 'pinche' denotes less level, degree, learner. It is, in the kitchen example there are a qualified cooker and a helper, in Spanish a 'cocinero' and a 'pinche'.
- But pinche is not only attached to cooking but to any occupation. In fact, there are 'pinche de cocina' (the original meaning), 'pinche de electricista', even 'pinche de medico' and wichever you want to use. 

Definitely, it is an amusing word


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## elsita

to return to the original question - sorry! - in british english, i'd say the closest translation is 'bloody', as used in an exclamation - 
bloody traffic!
or even 'sodding...'
I don't think you'd hear these in the US? 
But I don't think it's a strong as 'fucking'
?


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## pejeman

4GRLBABIES said:


> My friend says the word Pinche all the time, he is mexican, but he does'nt know what it would mean in english.



In our Republican Kingdom of Mexico, (heil Nikito Nipongo!) we do not need the RAE to tell us what Pinche means or how to use it. Besides the meanings explained by Miguelillo and Loladamore, I would say that pinche, as your mexican friend says, also means "son of a gun".

Saludos


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## stevegehl

I worked in construction, in the border area of Texas and also in California, and I can tell you that pinche, for Mexicans, is a bad word.  Probably somewhere in the neighborhood f-ing or s.o.b.  The maids kept calling a friend of mine the "pinche vieja" until I told her what it meant.  It is definitely an insult and would not be usable on American TV I am pretty sure.


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## aurilla

In Puerto Rico it has a less colorful meaning, it's simple a hair pin (bobby pin). "Pinche de ropa"= "clothes pin" 

To us, the Mexican expression "pinche madre" or whichever other way it's used, just draws a blank stare, maybe sometimes a giggle, because of the visual image of a "mother pin".


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## cjwoodso

no one has mentioned the fact that it can also be used to indicate an "ass hole" . No seas Pinche!


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## laffprince

I would NOT like to know many vulgar or  bad word nether English neither Spanish, as many persons may to express in the words.  But like many of you said the word "pinche"  has a meaning depending the context because it´s uses.  And like some one of  you said, for our surprise,  this word is defined in the Spanish dictionary like “miserable” and in some places in Central America, especificaly in my contry,  you can find many persons saying pinches billetes, pinches billetitos, pinche puestecito, as the use of pinche money miserable money, or pinche job, miserable job,  however in this areas you never say to the persons they are “pinches” like miserables persons, and by this reason I tray to understand why some one in this conference explains  why the children are prohibited to say one to other or to use this expression like “pinche hombre, pinche man, pinche lady,  pinche señora, etc, or just "pinche" expressing  about the persons miserable condition.  How ever the idiomatic expression can to get different ways to use or different meaning depending the culture or the context they are used, or including the modern way  in  the comic ways.   All the explaining was good, but I enjoyed the explaining of loladamore, except by using with names, for the above reasons, but it was good.  I liked. …


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## mexicomida

mazbook said:


> Hola Edwin!  Una ayuda memoría muy muy buena.  Pero yo no necesito.  Escucho *pinche* casí diaro aquí en Mazatlán.
> 
> Saludos desde Mazatlán



mazatlán, me gusta tu pinche foto.


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## lalodeacapulco

Estuve leyendo este pinche thread y llegué a la pinche conclusión de que no tenemos la más pinche idea de como traducirlo al Inglés. Así que 
decidí mandar esto a la fregada y dejar de perder mi pinche tiempo.


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## gardo

I think it means (depending of the mood/intonation) something from lousy to despicable or bloody. It is normally accompanied by a harder insult (and so increases the harshness): pinche pendejo, pinche puto, pinche mamón, etc. But can be used before a noun also: pinche Jeff for instance, where it's less harsh.


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## rikku_095

what does 'pinche madre' mean?


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## MHCKA

Esto es muy viejo...pero pinche tiene acepciones tan distintas que difícilmente tendrá traducción única.

Incluso a veces no tiene significado alguno, cuando le dices a otra persona, Pinche Juan, no tiene una función en estricto, solo acompaña al nombre, y se usa así por la costumbre (y desde luego la clase social).


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## kellow9

In Ecuador at least, *'pinche'* is used to mean something like 'useless', 'stupid' - for example 'este pinche auto', meaning this 'stupid bloody car', this 'useless sodding car', something like that. I've never heard it used in Spain, but they seem to use it a lot at least in the Andean nations.


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## smiley27b

4GRLBABIES said:


> I would be really grateful if anyone could explain to me what the word Pinche means in english.


 
My friends from Texas say that all the time, and it is close to f-ing, depending on the context. It can be harsh, like calling some one a name as posted in above examples. It can also be playful, like when someone's said something surprising or funny (ex. pinche Lupe!). That is how they use it. It always depends on the dialect of the person speaking. 
lalodeacapulco's post-hillarious!!


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## MHCKA

Por ahí debe andar otro hilo donde extendimos las explicaciones acerca de esta palabra, llegando a la conclusión de que es una especie de comodín.


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