Que pedo? No farting around…

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The translation for the Spanish slang word pedo is fart. As hideous of a word as that is (seriously, just typing it makes me cringe), in Spanish there are a bazillion different uses for it. Which ultimately means that there is no way in hell to avoid the word pedo. Ugh.

While pedo alone means fart, when the word is paired with virtually any preposition and put into any other context, it means something different. Keep in mind that some of these are country-specific, while others can be used in almost any Spanish-speaking country.

Pedo #1: Que pedo. In Mexico this will normally be asked as a question, meaning ‘What’s up?’ In other places it would be said as an exclamation for laziness, as in ‘Wow, how lazy.’

Pedo #2: Al pedo. This is another form dealing with laziness. To be al pedo is to not have anything to do.

Pedo #3: En pedo. To be en pedo is to be totally smashed. Drunk. Plastered. It is most often paired with the verb ponerse. Example: yo me puse en pedo (I got drunk).

Pedo #4: A los pedos. Tengo que ir a los pedos means that you have to rush—you’re in a hurry.

Pedo #5: Hasta los pedos. When you are hasta los pedos, you are super-busy. You could say estoy hasta los pedos.

Pedo #6: Es todo un pedo. It’s all messed up. Similar to es un quilombo, which is another slangy way of saying that it’s a big mess.

Pedo #7: Tener un pedo con alguien. Translation: to have a pedo with someone. In this form, pedo means some sort of an issue. Have a problem with your boss? Tenés un pedo con tu jefe.

Alright, that’s enough pedos for now. But remember that there are loads more ways of using this word, and the usage will vary from country to country, so your best bet is to ask a local if it makes any sense. Part of language learning is asking the questions that make us uncomfortable, right?

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