This is the first post with a slight twist on the What’s the Word? section of Speaking Latino. This time the word is in Spanish. This also happens to be a MEGA What’s the Word post. PALO has so many meanings and phrases tied to it.
PALO generically refers to a stick, like a broom stick, a pool stick or baseball bat-type stick. However, PALO may also refer to the soccer goal posts. Also, in Argentina, PALO is a million Argentine pesos. A palo verde is a million US dollars for both Argentina and Chile.
For Puerto Rico, un palo may mean a resounding success: Mi presentación frente El Congreso fue un palo. In a different context, it’s slang for an alcoholic drink: Después de mi reunión salí con mis compadres a darnos un palo. A third meaning is a tree: Papi cortó el palo de aguacate en casa porque bloqueaba el sol.
Also for Puerto Rico if you have someone al palo, this means that you have tight control or pressure over them. Mi jefe me tiene al palo con el presupuesto este mes. This could be dangerous as in Argentina al palo means to be horny or to have a hard-on.
For Peru, palo means a lie.
Spain provides several other meanings. Any variety of flamenco dancing is called a palo. It is also a heist, as in a robbery. It may refer to any suit of cards. A fourth meaning is a beating as in Me llevé un palo cuando me robaron.
There's another meaning for this word in Argentina. We often say: "Me di un palo!", meaning to be hit or to have an accident with your car, bike, motorcycle, etc.
- spam
- offensive
- disagree
- off topic
Like