# pagafanta / pagafantas



## laisla

Hello

Does anybody know the word "pagafanta"? I'm afraid I don't have much context to supply.

Thankyou


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## danicafe

Once I saw that word on a web page related to relationships, to describe men who use to pay for everything a woman wants in order to  convince her to have a relationship, but fail on that target and become a kind of slaves of that woman, always paying for everything and doing favors while she has relationships with other men. A kind of "conned cuckold".


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## Fantasmagórico

I completely agree with danycafe. This term refers to the poor “nice guy” who spends hours listening to a girl crying about the “not-so-nice” guy she is completely crazy about, pays the bill, walks her home, and then goes home feeling like crap. Literally,

  “Pagafanta” = “The one who pays for the Fanta”.

  I also agree this is not a common term. In the same website mentioned by danycafe, I have read “amigo gay paga-cafés”.


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## sirgawain

¿En inglés?   Lo siento, pero no tengo contexto.

Gracias.


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## monprenom

Un *pagafantas* es generalmente un chico o un hombre que está enamorado o pillado de una chica que solo le considera como su amigo, sin embargo, este la invita a todo, se preocupa por ella...

Paga + fantas = pagar (to pay) + Fanta (a drink)

A pagafantas is a boy or  man who is in love with a girl. This girl considers him just as a friend. However, the pagafantas pays for the meals with the girl, for example. We could say that a pagafantas is stupid and it's not a very positive noun.


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## Jorik5

I agree with you monprenom, as you can read in the thread I posted, a pagafanta is often unhappy with himself. And there isn't a English word for pagafanta, so you have to describe it. Or you can call a pagafanta, a 'conned cuckold'.


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## señorgringo

Late to the party (by about four years) but in the U.S. we call them:

beta males (machos betas)
orbiters (red pill term)
pussies
ass kissers
bitch boys
weakling
chumps

... and the list goes on. In recent years especially there has been an awakening among young men that we refer to as 'the red pill movement' (inspired by the Matrix movie). The term orbiters has also become more popular in regards to chumps who follow girls on Facebook or other social media and exhibit sycophantic behavior (i.e. liking every dumb thing she posts and posting obsequious comments.

I was actually looking for an equivalent term in Spanish and I'm glad I found this thread.


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## mancunienne girl

]

That's interesting! I thought those terms were general ones for any kind of loser, not a specific guy who does everything for the girl he likes for nothing..... In BR there is certainly no specific word for this type of guy that I have ever heard of, but he would certainly be called a "mug", which is a general slang term for anyone who does things for people all the time with little or no reward or recognition for doing so.

A "cuckold" doesn't work for me as it implies that the man is married to the woman and is being cheated on.


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## señorgringo

Yeah, that's an old fashioned term and at least in the U.S. it's rarely in use anymore. Sycophant would also be a possibility? But in respect to an adoring male who winds up in the friend zone - beta male or orbiter is what's in use these days.


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## Txiri

Good grief, we thought WE had a bad time of it when we were in high school ... how cold!

I definitely would not disagree with all the list señorgringo put up--they are fascinating, esp. the beta male (machos beta, I would say, not pluralizing 'beta'), and orbiter, esp. the reference to "red pill term."  I never watched The Matrix all the wya through ...

An ass-kisser.  

He follow her around like an adoring puppy.

He plays second fiddle.  (This one is an idiom.)


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## mancunienne girl

señorgringo said:


> Yeah, that's an old fashioned term and at least in the U.S. it's rarely in use anymore. Sycophant would also be a possibility? But in respect to an adoring male who winds up in the friend zone - beta male or orbiter is what's in use these days.


Sorry Señorgringo, but in BR at least neither a "cuckold or a sychophant" mean what you think they do, in that they do not specifically describe a guy trying to get off with a girl to no avail. A cuckold is a married man whose wife is "playing away" and a "sycophant" is a general term for anyone (man/woman or otherwise!) who creeps up to anyone, or behaves obsequiously. It could be an employee of either sex who tries to impress the boss for example.


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## levmac

I do like "chump" for AmE and "mug" for BrE. Neither has the exact meaning of the spanish, but both would be clear in the right context.


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## señorgringo

mancunienne girl said:


> Sorry Señorgringo, but in BR at least neither a "cuckold or a sychophant" mean what you think they do, in that they do not specifically describe a guy trying to get off with a girl to no avail. A cuckold is a married man whose wife is "playing away" and a "sycophant" is a general term for anyone (man/woman or otherwise!) who creeps up to anyone, or behaves obsequiously. It could be an employee of either sex who tries to impress the boss for example.



I didn't suggest cuckold and I was only throwing out sycophant as a related alternative. As translations for 'pagafanta' my original list stands - and that's based on spending 20 years over in the States.


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## triskelia

I think the Word "loser" would probably be the best direct (one word) translation to describe a man who has a very low self-esteem in the presence of women


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## franzjekill

Comiquísimo lo del español "pagafantas", muy diciente, además. A pesar de ser la primera vez que lo leía, de inmediato comprendí su significado. Felicitaciones al que lo inventó, quienquiera que haya sido. A esta región no llegó. Para describir esa situación, solíamos decir que el fulano "es de los que calienta el agua para que otro se tome el mate".


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## jilar

En inglés podrían inventar algo como "cokepayer" . Pues seguro que es más común que la Fanta.


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## señorgringo

I think 'pagafantas' refers more to the type of orbiter and sycophantic admirer who populate the real as well as the online social circle (i.e. Facebook) of young girls these days. They are the guys they may call up when they need a ride or when they need someone to move that heavy fridge into their apartment. The implication is that they pretending to be 'just friends' but the ugly truth is that these poor fellas found themselves trapped in what's called the 'friend zone'. 

The 'doormat' on the other hand is more akin to the often ridiculed 'calzonazos' - at least here in Spain. Those guys may once have had game in their prime but have long since given up after years of being henpecked into submission by their 'mujeres mandonas'. I hope that explains some of the colloquialism in both languages ;-)


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## Dannjn

In 2020, we’ve officially created a term as close as possible to pagafantas. It is “Simp.” Although it has no relation to meaning “a man who pays for the drinks” in any literal sense, the term Simp sort of describes a man who is “seen as too attentive and submissive to women, especially out of a failed hope of winning some entitled sexual attention or activity from them.” In other words, the man tries to tend to her needs all the time, but sadly fails in the attempt of doing so.


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## Steven Starry

I haven't seen anyone mention "sucker," but "sycophant," "toady," "doormat," and "chump" all work as well. None of them have the exact same connotations as "pagafantas." I saw today in Spanish politics that Pablo Iglesias called Casado a "pagafantas," so the term's not used just for romantic relationships.


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## jilar

Steven Starry said:


> I saw today in Spanish politics that Pablo Iglesias called Casado a "pagafantas," so the term's not used just for romantic relationships.


Buen apunte Pedro Sánchez acusa a Pablo Casado de ser un 'sirviente' de Vox

Pero ese, que yo sepa, es un uso nuevo. No sé si es original del señor Iglesias o este lo oyó a otros.
Digamos que el concepto empieza a evolucionar. Y si empezó para referirse solo a un chico que busca la atención de una chica, invitándola a las copas (sea Fanta u otra bebida) o, de una forma más general, dándole todo lo que la chica pida/quiera, a día de hoy, y más tal y como lo ha usado Iglesias, el concepto se entiende como "sirviente" o quizá hasta como un "pringado" (recordemos que en el significado original iba incluido el detalle de que el chico no consigue a la chica, este se podría decir en inglés  como "loser").

Aquí hay un buen artículo al resepecto
¿Qué se esconde detrás de un 'pagafantas'?
Y vemos que aparece una propuesta en inglés, "friend zone", que obviamente no sirve para traducir a pagafantas, pero sí a "pagafantismo".

Sobre ese último término podemos leer el origen de "pagafantas". Sí, hubo una película así titulada.
¿Qué es un pagafantas? | Cultura | elmundo.es


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## Steven Starry

When there's no easy way to translate a term like "pagafantas," maybe we can have a look through a thesaurus to make up compound nouns or add descriptive adjectives in order to get at the problematic (romantic) double-meaning. With "pagafantas" I've come up with (I've tried to use alliteration), "friend-zoned fanboy," "smitten sycophant," "groveling groupie," "consort chump," and "turned on toady." These are debatable, "ass-kissing aficionado" and "fanboy fawner." These wouldn't have a romantic connotation, "doormat disciple," "suck-up sycophant," and "brown-noser believer."


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## Kaoss

Hace tiempo que la palabra pagafantas amplió el uso más allá de las relaciones románticas ( o más bien la falta de ellas...). Además la política siempre ha sido muy dada a usar analogías con las relaciones de pareja: un partido corteja a otro hasta conseguir un acuerdo de apoyo, viven una luna de miel pero luego la coalición se divorcia...


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## SuperScuffer

Steven Starry said:


> When there's no easy way to translate a term like "pagafantas," maybe we can have a look through a thesaurus to make up compound nouns or add descriptive adjectives in order to get at the problematic (romantic) double-meaning. With "pagafantas" I've come up with (I've tried to use alliteration), "friend-zoned fanboy," "smitten sycophant," "groveling groupie," "consort chump," and "turned on toady." These are debatable, "ass-kissing aficionado" and "fanboy fawner." These wouldn't have a romantic connotation, "doormat disciple," "suck-up sycophant," and "brown-noser believer."


What's wrong with "simp" as suggested above?

Its even been used by politicians to insult their opponents:-

Australian politician Bill Shorten said that Prime Minister Scott Morrison needed "to make sure he doesn't look like he's just a simp to Donald Trump". 

Urban Dictionary: Simp


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## Steven Starry

You're absolutely right: Simp - Wikipedia


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## extraordinario

Yo creo que el significado de "pagafantas" se ciñe, exclusivamente, al contexto del romanticismo. Otra cosa es que los políticos, o quien sea, utilice este término en sentido metafórico. 
En cualquier caso, yo nunca he utilizado la palabra "pagafantas". No tiene un uso demasiado extendido, e incluso me atrevería a decir que hay muchos hispanohablantes que no tienen ni idea de lo que significa. La palabra, eso sí, me parece graciosa.


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## Aguas Claras

extraordinario said:


> Yo creo que el significado de "pagafantas" se ciñe, exclusivamente, al contexto del romanticismo. Otra cosa es que los políticos, o quien sea, utilice este término en sentido metafórico.
> En cualquier caso, yo nunca he utilizado la palabra "pagafantas". No tiene un uso demasiado extendido, e incluso me atrevería a decir que hay muchos hispanohablantes que no tienen ni idea de lo que significa. La palabra, eso sí, me parece graciosa.


Estoy de acuerdo. Creo que, cuando Pablo Iglesias llama "pagafantas" a Casado, está acusándole, de manera metafórica, de intentar atraer/seducir/arrimarse a la ultra derecha,  sin que la ultra derecha le haga mucho caso (puesto que la definición de "pagafantas" sería un hombre que paga las bebidas a una chica en un intento a arrimarse a ella sin que ella le corresponda).


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## jilar

Ahora la pregunta es si hay, o puede haber, chic*a*s pagafantas. 

Yo creo que sí, al menos si generalizamos su definición. Pero serán menos comunes, imagino. ¿Acaso por ser menos común que un chico no corresponda a una chica? Qué dilema filosófico. 

Y además las relaciones hoy en día no se circunscriben exclusivamente a chico-chica. Hay todo tipo de  (posibles) relaciones.


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## TheCrociato91

The only objection I have to _simp_ is that, as far as I know, it's a word that's only somewhat recently become popular, and it's still mainly associated with Internet slang, so I'm not sure whether its meaning is clear to people that are not really familiar with Internet slang.



> A definition of _simp_ appeared on _Urban Dictionary_ in 2005,[3] and the word continued to be used by rappers into the 2010s, when it was adopted by members of manosphere,[1] incel,[5] and MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) forums[11] alongside similar derogatory terms such as _cuck_, _beta_, and _white knight_.[5][11]
> 
> The word became widely popular on TikTok in 2019,[1] and soon also became popular on Twitch[2] and Twitter.[5] According to Google Trends, interest in the term doubled between late 2018 and late 2019.[11]


(from the Wikipedia page cited above)

On the other hand, _pagafantas _seems to have existed as an established term (albeit an informal one) for a longer period of time. But I'm open to corrections on this one.


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## Ágape1

"Simp" is the closest word to that meaning I can think of.

Be aware that the usage of "pagafantas" has changed (this thread is thirteen years old) and it's currently considered kind of sexist. It's still an insult towards the "simp", as it implies that man was a "loser" for being friendzoned. However, nowadays what's criticized is the fact that these are men who are nice to women solely because they expect sexual retribution. In English Internet lingo, this is mockingly referred to as "Nice Guy™" or "nice guy syndrome".

But since the Spanish word "pagafantas" targets the man's inability to score with the girl, and not the fact that he's being nice just because he wants to get laid, using this term will now frame _both_ the person who uses it and the simp as sexists, so it's starting to become less popular.


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## extraordinario

TheCrociato91 said:


> The only objection I have to _simp_ is that, as far as I know, it's a word that's only somewhat recently become popular, and it's still mainly associated with Internet slang, so I'm not sure whether its meaning is clear to people that are not really familiar with Internet slang.
> 
> 
> (from the Wikipedia page cited above)
> 
> On the other hand, _pagafantas _seems to have existed as an established term (albeit an informal one) for a longer period of time. But I'm open to corrections on this one.


"Pagafantas" is not an internet slang whatsoever. It's a slang term that you can use in any context, not only in an internet related context. 
What you should bear in mind is that "Pagafantas" is not a common term. Many people in Spain do not know its meaning, especially the elderly.


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## TheCrociato91

extraordinario said:


> "Pagafantas" is not an internet slang whatsoever. It's a slang term that you can use in any context, not only in an internet related context.


I was talking about _simp_.



extraordinario said:


> What you should bear in mind is that "Pagafantas" is not a common term. Many people in Spain do not know its meaning, especially the elderly.


Good to know. Thank you.


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## SuperScuffer

extraordinario said:


> "Pagafantas" is not an internet slang whatsoever. It's a slang term that you can use in any context, not only in an internet related context.
> What you should bear in mind is that "Pagafantas" is not a common term. Many people in Spain do not know its meaning, especially the elderly.


I would say that "simp" also fits that description.


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