# Emo?



## Shenanigans

Hi, I've seen a lot of times the word "emo", in sentences like "I hate emo guys" and thing like that. Please, can anybody tell me what emo means?

Thank you!!


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## Swettenham

Hola Shenanigans

Emo is a style of music.  It derived from pop-punk (melodic punk rock music).  It's name is short for "emotional," because emo is generally known for emotional lyrics about guys breaking up with their girlfriends and stuff like that.  Guys who listen to emo are often called overly-sensitive and feminine, and a lot of people make fun of them.


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## Shenanigans

Thank you!!

By the way, it's an emo sort of a prep?


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## Swettenham

Not really.  Like I said, emo kids started out as punk rockers.  They generally do seem more fashion-oriented, more like "pretty boys" than your average punk-rocker.  And they like to whine about their girlfriends...  boo hoo...


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## Shenanigans

Thanks A LOT!!!!!!! I was very confused with that word!!


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## Pr0x1mo

Just to elucidate, being called and "emo" is very insulting nowadays.  It's another way of calling someone a "p*ssy" or "fagg*t".


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## Pr0x1mo

And i guess the spanish translation for emo would be emo, emo for emocional.


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## diegodbs

Pr0x1mo said:
			
		

> And i guess the spanish translation for emo would be emo, emo for emocional.


No creo. Si alguien en español usa la palabra "emo" no lo entendería.


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## Fernando

De acuerdo con diegodbs. "Blandito", quizás.


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## diegodbs

Fernando said:
			
		

> De acuerdo con diegodbs. "Blandito", quizás.


Eso si.


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## Pr0x1mo

diegodbs said:
			
		

> No creo. Si alguien en español usa la palabra "emo" no lo entendería.


 
Yes, but if a lot of people start using it in spanish, then it will become common, and another slang word for spanish speakers.

Like, theres a lot of slang that i say in english that i straight translate to spanish for fun, and say it a lot.  At first my south american friends have no idea what im talking about, but then they start saying it and it becomes common, the word or phrase becomes a meme, a virus, spreads, then you have a whole community making it mean something.

I say "for sure" (as a slang term) in english pronounced "Fo shoooooo" so just to joke around, i started saying it in spanish "por seguroooooo" at first my friends that speak spanish (they don't speak english at all) were confused, but they starting getting what it meant when i said it by the context of the situation, they're like "lo puedes hacer?" and i'd say "por segurooooo".  etc... 

I bet if i started say "eres un emo" a lot, it would become a common derogatory slang word in spanish.


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## Residente Calle 13

I guess, as with many words, it depends *WHERE *it's used.

I wouldn't say it's understood everywhere but I wouldn't say it isn't understood anywhere.


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## Fernando

Pr0x1mo said:
			
		

> I bet if i started say "eres un emo" a lot, it would become a common derogatory slang word in spanish.



You mean, if I began to speak in Spanish to Englsih people, then I would "convert" all English-speakers to Spanish-speakers?




			
				Residente said:
			
		

> I wouldn't say it's understood everywhere but I wouldn't say it isn't understood anywhere.



I would. Except for Proximo friends, of course.


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## Residente Calle 13

Fernando said:
			
		

> I would. Except for Proximo friends, of course.



And fall into a logical trap. Proving something is said is almost always easier than proving it's never said.

http://www.google.com/search?client...ial_s&hl=en&q="chicos+emo"&btnG=Google+Search


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## Pr0x1mo

Fernando said:
			
		

> You mean, if I began to speak in Spanish to Englsih people, then I would "convert" all English-speakers to Spanish-speakers?


 
No.  I speak spanish, my friends speak spanish as their first language.  I take an english term, translate it to spanish, then i start saying it, it catches on, they start saying it (in spanish), it becomes common.

My friend is from spain, and he got use to my "lingo" that when he went back to spain he started saying "por seguro" to everyone, at first they had no idea what he meant by it, but then he explained what it meant, eventually, all his friends started saying it too.

How do you think slang gets made up?  It starts somewhere, by someone or a group of people, and eventually the word or phrase catches popularity even though it has not literal dictionary meaning, its just something made up.


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## diegodbs

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> And fall into a logical trap. Proving something is said is almost always easier than proving it's never said.
> 
> http://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial_s&hl=en&q=%22chicos+emo%22&btnG=Google+Search


 
Por eso dije: "yo no lo entendería". 
He estado consultando el enlace que has puesto y me parece, por las palabras que usan, que la palabra "emo" puede ser más conocida o usada en América en determinados ambientes juveniles. Quizás tienen más influencia del inglés que nosotros, y en España ya la tenemos. No sé.


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## Gizmo77

Well, using musical terms is not quite strange in Spain, when referring to attitudes. If you like heavy metal music "you are heavy", gothic "gótico", pop "popero", näif pop "poppy", rock "rockero", punk "punki o punkarra"...

Even when something is quite unbelieveable or surpraising youngsters say "qué heavy (lo que me pasó ayer-->)"

Pachanga is a Southamerican style, while in Spain it's used to talk about "bad or too commercial music". When someone makes things shabbily it's said that "he is a pachanguero", and it's also used to describe an informal match (soccer or streetball).


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## Residente Calle 13

diegodbs said:
			
		

> Por eso dije: "yo no lo entendería".
> He estado consultando el enlace que has puesto y me parece, por las palabras que usan, que la palabra "emo" puede ser más conocida o usada en América en determinados ambientes juveniles. Quizás tienen más influencia del inglés que nosotros, y en España ya la tenemos. No sé.



Lo que tú dijiste, Diego, está bien y es bastante útil.


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## Fernando

Residente Calle 13 said:
			
		

> And fall into a logical trap. Proving something is said is almost always easier than proving it's never said.
> 
> http://www.google.com/search?client...ial_s&hl=en&q="chicos+emo"&btnG=Google+Search



Thank you for the info, Residente. You have proved it is used, at least in some circles. But before, there was no evidence provided for Proximo about the use of the word (apart from his claimed popularity). 

Anyway, and apart from the musical terminology, I find no neccessity for the use of the word in common Spanish.


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## Pr0x1mo

^^I never said it was, i said it _could_ with enough people using it, which is how slang gets made up.  Sounds like you're getting offended, or, you're misunderstanding what I'm typing, if you feel more comfortable i can type out my responses in spanish.


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## LadyBlakeney

My friends and I are making up new words and expressions all the time, some of them a creative use of a word in English or some other language. I believe this is a common and widely studied social behaviour that increases the sense of belonging to a group. However, I'd never go as far as to say we're producing new words in Spanish or any other tongue. Any newcomer, Spanish as they can be, would be puzzled with our own private jargon.


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## Residente Calle 13

I don't believe this is the case with this word. It seems that it's a borrowing from the English term which, I've been told, is quite real.


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## Laucita

hey, i just wanted to say that in england the word "emo" is not derogatory at all. Sure many people don't like them, but there are many proud emos walking the street too. I think a good translation for it is the band greenday. 
laucita


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## LadyBlakeney

You're right Residente, I'm just saying that we lack the background to understand "emo" in Spanish unless the person who says it goes into an explanation about neo-punk music and fluffy boys.


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## Residente Calle 13

Until a few months ago, if you had told me "He's so emo." in English I would not have had a clue what you were talking about and I grew up in the United States speaking English for virtually my entire life. And although I'm no spring chicken, I'm not exactly ancient.

I think that with terms like these, which tend to be age specific, the best thing to do is use the English term (because a universal Spanish one is seldom found) and then explain them (perhaps in parenthetical expressions).

If someone asked me to translate _*pariguayo*_ into English I would explain what it meant for those same reasons. 1) there is no English version 2) many people, even people who speak Spanish, don't know what this word means.

I would not be surprised if many of you know what *a bachatero* was either. Some would swear without thinking about it, that it's never said in Spanish.


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## diegodbs

Por ejemplo yo.
No sé qué quiere decir ni pariguayo ni bachatero.


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## aurilla

En Puerto Rico le dicen al género y a las personas con esa "mentalidad" de igual manera, "emo", pronunciado "imo".


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## Fernando

Nevermind, proximo, I regret my remark, but you said something as, well, I am going to introduce a new unuseful word in Spanish and this way everybody will use it.

I agree with you that slangs words (every word, I would say)are introduced this way, but not as the result of a deliberate process. We have enough unuseful English word in Spanish to deliberately introduce new ones. 

I do appreciate to know there is a word for that kind of music, but (unluckily enough) we have enough (too many?) words to define affeminate in a more or less derogative way.

I hope I have expressed myself.


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## kit_vicious

soy española y conozco gente de todo tipo de estilos musicales, y la palabra 'emo se utiliza muchisimo. ha aparecido en revistas, reportajes de TV y en la radio. es una nueva palabra que actualmente se usa mucho


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## maloga

Maybe the word "emo" was not very common when this thread was openned ( I didn´t know it either ) but now young people use it a lot,especially the ones who are into these types of music, dressing, culture...
It`s not derogative, although most people don´t like them.
Anyway, I know some emo boys and also girls, who are very proud to be called so. Some people insult them and some admire/adore them. Like every other style (punk, rock...) some like it and some don´t, it´s normal


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## kratu

Emo = just another popular culture youth genre for unimaginative/insecure sheep. The fact it has become a well known word (at least among young people) in Spain in such a short period of time just goes to show the power of MTV culture from the USA.
Back on topic (),I think that Swettenham's description is the most accurate one:


Swettenham said:


> Emo is a style of music. It derived from pop-punk (melodic punk rock music). It's name is short for "emotional," because emo is generally known for emotional lyrics about guys breaking up with their girlfriends and stuff like that. Guys who listen to emo are often called overly-sensitive and feminine, and a lot of people make fun of them.


But that was written two years ago. "Emo" is probably only used by really "uncool" people by now... at least for all I know or care.


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## mullet57

Before I read this I would have said “Emo” was some kind of cartoon caracter or child’s toy, but I’m over 50


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## swift_precision

Fernando said:


> Nevermind, proximo, I regret my remark, but you said something as, well, I am going to introduce a new unuseful word in Spanish and this way everybody will use it.
> 
> I agree with you that slangs words (every word, I would say)are introduced this way, but not as the result of a deliberate process. We have enough unuseful English word in Spanish to deliberately introduce new ones.
> 
> I do appreciate to know there is a word for that kind of music, but (unluckily enough) we have enough (too many?) words to define affeminate in a more or less derogative way.
> 
> I hope I have expressed myself.


 
Yo también hasta muy poco tiempo no sabía de qué se trababa "emo" y francamente cuando la escuche por la primera vez, me sonó a chino, pero cuando se me explicó entendí bien. En cuanto a lo que tu dijiste Fernando, no creo que la palabra sea "inútil" ni que proximo intentaba a mandar todos los hispanohablantes en este mundo utilizar esta palabra "inútil" en español. La palabra es una definición de un estilo de música distinta y pienses lo que pienses seguirá siendo eso. Si hay bastante gente que le puede dar luz a la palabra, llegará a ser parte de un lenguaje. Lo que temes, y corrjiame si no estoy cien por ciento en lo correcto, es que "demasiadas" palabras inglesas ya hayan llegado a ser parte del español. No creo que el español pierda nada de la gracia si algunas palabritas se añaden desde "aca".


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## swift_precision

Residente Calle 13 said:


> Until a few months ago, if you had told me "He's so emo." in English I would not have had a clue what you were talking about and I grew up in the United States speaking English for virtually my entire life. And although I'm no spring chicken, I'm not exactly ancient.
> 
> I think that with terms like these, which tend to be age specific, the best thing to do is use the English term (because a universal Spanish one is seldom found) and then explain them (perhaps in parenthetical expressions).
> 
> If someone asked me to translate _*pariguayo*_ into English I would explain what it meant for those same reasons. 1) there is no English version 2) many people, even people who speak Spanish, don't know what this word means.
> 
> I would not be surprised if many of you know what *a bachatero* was either. Some would swear without thinking about it, that it's never said in Spanish.


 
Yo sí entendio qué quiere decir pariguayo y  bachatero jeje.  And I agree with you that some of those words should just be used in English *with *an explanation attached of course.


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## qLa

diegodbs said:


> No creo. Si alguien en español usa la palabra "emo" no lo entendería.


Pues en realidad yo veo que hay muchos jóvenes que ya saben lo que es un emo, y lo llaman "emo" sin mayor confusión.


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