Pajero Pronounced Wrong

Submitted: Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 22:34
ThreadID: 34080 Views:12584 Replies:11 FollowUps:16
This Thread has been Archived
Seems we are pronouncing the name wrong, in Central and South America's the J is sounded as an H as in San Jose [[hozay], So you Mitsubishi owners are driving a "Pajero" [Pahero] http://chameleon-translations.com/Index-Companies-pajero.shtml see photo

For the curious, the Spanish word pajero means "/wanker"0, from paja meaning "/wank"0 (literally, "/straw"0), in the expression hacerse una paja, (literally "/to do oneself a straw"0). These slang expressions come from the fact that both a straw and the bleep are similar in being pipe-like. It is the first meaning to come to mind to Spanish speakers in both Spain and the majority of Latin America.

Pajero has some non-rude agricultural meanings, referring to someone selling or transporting straw or (in the Canary Islands dialect) the barn where it is kept. These are the original meanings of the word, but not common these days. It is also an obscure nickname for people from Santo Domingo de la Calzada in La Rioja, presumably due to historical straw production in the village.

In the dialects of Nicaragua, Colombia and Guatemala, paja is used to mean "/tap"0 (i.e. the end of the "/pipe"0), and so, in Nicaragua at least, a pajero is a plumber, to the mirth of other Spanish-speakers.

However, none of these rude or innocent meanings gave the vehicle its name. There is a feline, scientifically classified as Oncifelis colocolo, which is known in Spanish as the gato pajero ("/grass cat"0) or gato de las pampas ("/Pampas cat"0). It is similiar to the ocelot and hunts small animals in the reeds and grasslands of South America. There are several subspecies, including Oncifelis colocolo colocolo found in central Chile and Oncifelis colocolo pajeros found in central Argentina. In this official press release in Japanese (media.mitsubishi-motors.com/pressrelease/j/products/detail310.html), Mitsubishi explains that they got the name for the vehicle from the latter subspecies, which they call by its short name Felis pajeros. The Pampas cat featured on the emblem on early Pajero SUVs.

Genteel sources such as the BBC claim that pajero means "/masturbator"0, which is incorrect given that it is offensive slang, just like the English term. The pronunciation of Pajero tends to be anglicised to "/puh-JEER-oh"0, but the original Spanish is quite different: very approximately "/pah-HAIR-oh"0. It is the anglicised pronunciation that is used as the basis of Japanese &R&9&(&n (pa je ro) and Chinese FB>]C_ (p)% ji)' lu)/).

The Mitsubishi Pajero was renamed Montero ("/hunter in the mountains"0) in Spain and the Americas, and "+ strangely "+ Shogun ("/Japanese warlord"0) in the UK; but people in other parts of the world, including Australia and continental Europe, drive about cars which proudly proclaim their driver to be a Pajero in lettering along the side.

gift by Daughter

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

Back Expand Un-Read 0 Moderator

Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 22:47

Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 22:47
Well thanks Doug, we'll keep that in mind LOL.....
Patrol 4.2TDi 2003

Retired 2016 and now Out and About!

Somewhere you want to explore ? There is no time like the present.

Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

AnswerID: 173715

Reply By: Member - Marquis - Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 23:07

Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 23:07
I believe we have already beaten this topic to death before on this forum.
AnswerID: 173720

Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 23:19

Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 23:19
SHOW ME
gift by Daughter

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 429693

Follow Up By: Des Lexic - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 21:20

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 21:20
Doug, He's probably a wanker with a Pahero
0
FollowupID: 429806

Reply By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 23:44

Saturday, May 20, 2006 at 23:44
Everything about the name in a nutshell. I dare say some will be dissapointed. Thanks you Doug
AnswerID: 173723

Reply By: Willem - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 00:20

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 00:20
' but people in other parts of the world, including Australia and continental Europe, drive about cars which proudly proclaim their driver to be a Pajero in lettering along the side. '

And bored people who put up posts like this could ascribe to the same name...LOL
AnswerID: 173727

Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 06:55

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 06:55
Willem
I'm far from bored Willem, I have much to keep me from going senile.one does not have to be bored to state a fact, I wonder just how many 4x4 owners actually knew that fact , probably not you.
gift by Daughter

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 429707

Reply By: GaryInOz (Vic) - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 01:37

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 01:37
..........and why the Americans (north, central, and south) call the Monteros.
AnswerID: 173731

Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:13

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:13
Montero is a city in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, about 50 km away from Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Montero has experienced a growth in the last decades becoming an important city in this region.

Montero is elevated 1,050 meters above sea level, and has an average temperature of 23 °C. This city is characterized for its agricultural production of soybean, cotton, corn and rice.

gift by Daughter

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 429717

Reply By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 07:09

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 07:09
The j in the midle of a word is actually pronounced more like the ch in Scottish "loch" A sort of guttural k sound.
AnswerID: 173735

Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:08

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:08
Go back to Scootland David....LOL Yeh mate I know what you mean about loch but does that have anything to do with a J in San Jose Cal. where it becomes an H , and while on the subject of San Jose

[ For the fifth consecutive year, the City of San José has been confirmed as the safest big city in the nation. The announcement, made by Morgan Quitno Press, is based on FBI crime data from 2004. San José ranks safest in the category made up of cities with populations of more than 500,000 ]

Thanks David

Doug
gift by Daughter

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 429716

Follow Up By: David from David and Justine Olsen's 4WD Tag-Along - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:17

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:17
Scotland??? Me??? With the name Olsen (which is supposed to be pronounced UHLZEN by the way ) LOL

As I said the difference is that it appears in the MIDDLE of the word. The K sound is softer if the J appears at the beginning of a word, and thus the J sounds more like an H, though it is an H pronounced in the back of the throat, not the soft western H we use. If the J is in the middle, it sounds more like a guttural K sound.....I worked for a while in Mexico City and Nicaragua.

In any case the bit about pajero being a derogitory term is true

0
FollowupID: 429718

Follow Up By: Member - Doug T (QLD) - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:35

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 08:35
Thanks David
I accept your knowledgable answer which is very well put ,but ...we wont go down the other derogitory track , but if your interested in Suburu's check that one out in ,my other recent post
gift by Daughter

Lifetime Member
My Profile  My Blog  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 429720

Follow Up By: Redback - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 10:46

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 10:46
On the other hand the Irish spell loch, with a gh which is Lough pronounced "lock" in English, but in gaelic there is no K sound more of a clearing your throat sound.

Baz.
0
FollowupID: 429894

Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:10

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:10
But do any of you blokes know the way to San Jose?

Lalalalalalalalalaaah
0
FollowupID: 429900

Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:12

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 11:12
Reminds me of the two mexican firemen.

Jose and Josb
0
FollowupID: 429901

Follow Up By: Redback - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 12:07

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 12:07
NO but i know there's a track leading back to that old familiar shack apon the road to Gundagai ;-))
0
FollowupID: 429904

Follow Up By: V8Diesel - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 12:18

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 12:18
Isn't it somewhere near that pub at the end of Lonely Street?
0
FollowupID: 429910

Reply By: ellmcg - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 07:42

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 07:42
Yes yes, why do you think it took me so long to get over the shame of owning a Pajero???
AnswerID: 173738

Reply By: Scubaroo - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 10:01

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 10:01
Gee Doug, bit late to the party - people figured the alternate translation out back in the eighties!
AnswerID: 173756

Reply By: Members-Neil & Margie-Cairns - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 16:40

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 16:40
Mmmmmm , well , i have been known to pull a rollux , opps , um pusslux, damn , anyway you know what i meen , and a patrol from a bog or 2 ,, haven't need to be towed myself ,, yet ,, so maybe i'm the Pajero , should've left them by the sounds of this one ,,,,, nah , all good fun , we can take it ..

Neil ..

Lifetime Member
My Profile  Send Message

AnswerID: 173802

Follow Up By: Members-Neil & Margie-Cairns - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 17:58

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 17:58
Well , that seemed to quiten you's all down a bit !!

LOL !!

Neil ..

Lifetime Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 429766

Follow Up By: Mad Dog (Australia) - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 18:28

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 18:28
If you haven't been pulled out then you aint trying hard enough.
0
FollowupID: 429773

Follow Up By: Members-Neil & Margie-Cairns - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 18:56

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 18:56
Been trying Ray ,, maybe just not hard enough ,, don't worry , i know me time will come , and when it does ,, yeah , the mate won't let me live it down !!

Neil ..

Lifetime Member
My Profile  Send Message

0
FollowupID: 429776

Reply By: Mav1 - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 19:52

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 19:52
Doug, I reckon you and dusty dog are still looking at each other and giggling about that scoop revelation you found on the pajero meaning translation. As someone said, it's been done to death before on other forums but hey, may be a first for this one. Keep up the research
AnswerID: 173825

Reply By: Jo and Mark - Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 23:01

Sunday, May 21, 2006 at 23:01
Thanks Doug!
Mark had heard what Pajero meant through the grapevine but we didn't know the ins and outs of how the name came about. He will be interested to read it!
Cheers
Jo
AnswerID: 173876

Follow Up By: Redback - Monday, May 22, 2006 at 12:08

Monday, May 22, 2006 at 12:08
Creedance Cearwater Revival ;-)))
0
FollowupID: 429905

Sponsored Links