What does “pijo” mean in Spain?
Trabajar de camarera en bodas en un castillo
A2 Spanish listening practice · Spanish from Spain · Picked for people who know a little
Pijo (masculine) and pija (feminine) are Castilian Spanish for “posh, preppy, upper-class-flashy.” The word carries a small eye-roll: a pijo drives a German car, vacations in Marbella, and uses brand names as nouns. Different Latin American countries have their own equivalents: Mexico says fresa (“strawberry”), Argentina says cheto/a (also concheto/a), and Peru says pituco/a. Each one mocks the same kind of person, but the word stays inside national borders.
In this clip, a young woman remembers her job at a castillo (castle) wedding venue: “era un poco pijo” (“it was a bit posh”). Her uniform was scratchy, gray, with an apron, like a maid.
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Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-ESP 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In Spanish sitcoms about young adults in Madrid (Skam España, Élite)
- ▸In Spanish stand-up about class and money (Eva Hache, Andreu Buenafuente)
- ▸In Spanish reality TV about influencers and dating
- ▸In Spanish university campus banter
- ▸In Spanish regional comedy about the Madrid-Barcelona class divide