Every country has a flag, food and symbols that identify them. But what about a single word?
During the 6th International Congress of the Spanish Language (VI Congreso Internacional de la Lengua Española) celebrated in Panama, the blog Papeles Perdidos, created by the newspaper El País, published an atlas of the representative words of Spanish-speaking countries. They asked 20 writers which word they consider “best reflects your country.” The storytellers, poets and essayists responded with what they consider the most authentic words from their country, and this the word from Peru:
Peruvian Spanish Word: HUACHAFO
Peruvian writer Iván Thays chose the word huachafo and explained its meaning. “Although it is considered a synonym of cheesy, its meaning is broader and goes from the grammatical to the sociological. The huachafería is the institution of a person pretending to be something that they are not. It is also related to being ostentatious, which is unforgivable in a country where a low profile is valued.”
Daniel McKay in his dictionary ¿Quién me llama?: Peruvian Spanish Slang, defines huachafo or huachafa as “a person that has very bad or very poor taste.”‘
Check out these other Peru Spanish Slang Word articles.
