pachuco

English

Etymology

From Spanish pachuco.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pəˈt͡ʃuːkəʊ/

Noun

pachuco (plural pachucos)

1. a Mexican-American, especially a juvenile delinquent in the Los Angeles area
   • 1998, Cormac McCarthy, Cities of the Plain:

     They asked him if he was a pachuco. He said all the pachucos he knew of lived in El Paso. He told em he didn’t know any Mexican pachucos.

2. an argot spoken by that group, sometimes known as caló

See also

• pachuco on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• capouch, coach up

---

Spanish

Etymology

Of uncertain etymology. Hypotheses include:

• From a (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Nahuatl word.
• A shortening of pa El Chuco ("to El Paso").
• From Pachuca, Mexico.
• From pocho.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /paˈt͡ʃuko/ [paˈt͡ʃu.ko]

Adjective

pachuco (feminine pachuca, masculine plural pachucos, feminine plural pachucas)

1. (Mexico) flashy, flashily dressed
2. (Costa Rica) slang (often considered low-class)

Noun

pachuco m (plural pachucos, feminine pachuca, feminine plural pachucas)

1. (Costa Rica) uneducated person from the city who uses city slang