The other day I was having dinner with an Argentinian friend and her new French roommate who had just arrived in Rosario to study abroad for a semester. At the dinner table we had a brief discussion that went something like this:
“Last Sunday evening, estaba al pedo at home, doing little more than staring at Facebook, when Ceci called me and asked me if I wanted to go grab a beer. After four pints of beer estábamos en pedo, talking al pedo about nothing of any real importance. We heard the guy next to us tirar un pedo and we couldn’t help but laugh uncontrollably. He then came over to talk to us and asked us for a kiss, we both laughed and said “ni en pedo!” Teníamos un pedo terrible when we left the bar, zigzagging through the streets, didn’t know how we were going to get home. With a stroke of luck, we found a taxi passing by de pedo and he took us home a los pedos, it felt like seconds flat! When I got home, my husband me cagó a pedos for getting home so late and drunk.”
“What does pedo mean?” the French girl asked, with a puzzled look on her face.
“Pedo” is probably one of the most diverse words in Argentina. “Pedo” literally translates into fart, but as you can see, colloquially it is has a variety of different meanings depending on context and the article or preposition used. Here are some definitions and examples of Argentine phrases that use the word “pedo”.
Estar al pedo- not doing anything important or productive, bored, idle
Example: Estaba tan al pedo que me puse a limpiar la casa.
Al pedo- Useless or waste of time
Example: Al pedo fui a la terminal porque ya no había pasajes a Bs.As
Estar en pedo- drunk
Example: Estaba en pedo sábado a la noche.
Tener un pedo terrible- to be really drunk
Example: Tenía un pedo terrible el viernes y perdí mi billetera
De pedo- by chance/luck
Example: De pedo metí el gol y ganamos el partido.
Ni en pedo- like saying “not even if I were drunk” or no way in hell
Example: Ni en pedo saldría con ese tipo.
Cagar a pedos- to reproach someone or tell them off
Example: Mis padres me cagaron a pedos por que choque el auto.
Tirar un pedo- to fart
Example: El nene tiró un pedo enfrente de todos.
A los pedos- extremely fast or in a hurry
Example: Volvimos de Buenos Aires a Rosario a los pedos para ver el partido de fútbol.
So there you have it, 9 phrases that you can use with the word “pedo” here in Argentina!
Written by Vanessa Galban
Travel Writer and ESL teacher