Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 September 17

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September 17

Pato

Is it true that the word 'pato' (spanish for 'duck'), when directed at someone as an insult in some of the Spanglophone South/Central American countries means something roughly equivalent to 'faggot'?

I just remember someone semi-famous being mocked on Youtube by (IIRC) Hispanic people for using 'Pato' as a nickname... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 20:43, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Yes, it's offensive. I had it explained to me by a native Spanish speaker as referring to the way a duck's ass waddles. Urban Dictionary is usually reliable in cases like this. μηδείς (talk) 21:03, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

So if you call a duck el pato, that's fine, and if you call a human el pato, that's not so fine. I wonder if there's a Spanish-speaking Jorge Carlin out there somewhere. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:04, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Certainly, English (or any language) is no different about this. Consider that it isn't insulting to Tinkerbell to call her a fairy. --Jayron32 22:22, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Yeh, like if somebody called Hitler a fascist and a nazi, he might say, "Ja, so was ist ihre Punkt?" ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:24, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Nitpick: If you meant for him to say "Yeah, so what's your point?" a somewhat more appropriate translation would be "Ich verstehe nicht, was du meinst." The German word Punkt translates to "point" in the geometrical or typographical sense, not in the idiomatic sense you just used it... :) Gabbe (talk) 07:27, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Also, Punkt is masculine, so anyway it would be "Ihr Punkt". If I wanted to say "What's your point?" to someone in German, I'd say "Was wollen Sie damit sagen?" Angr (talk) 15:38, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

I was thinking, "Was meinst du dabei?" μηδείς (talk) 21:44, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

And speaking of Disney characters, I wonder if their famous ill-tempered fowl is called Pato Donato. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:31, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Go our article on Donald Duck then find the espanol link on the left hand side to find the es.wiki page on Pato Donald. Itsmejudith (talk) 07:36, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

I actually knew that already, but Pato Donato has more of a ring to it, don'cha think? :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:31, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Pato (disambiguation) would suggest that there are several notable Argentinian guys with the nickname "Pato". So I assume that the word doesn't have the same connotations in that country, at least... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 22:51, 17 September 2012 (UTC)

Well, Dick has different connotations depending on use as well. As for soccer players, I am not sure I have ever seen a picture with two of them where one is not grabbing the other's goalpost. μηδείς (talk) 00:40, 18 September 2012 (UTC)