Monday, February 4, 2008

Camarón

Camarón (cah-mah-DON, lit. shrimp) means money. It comes from the shape that the thumb and the index finger adopt when holding a pack of bills with one hand: the curvy shape of a camarón. Sometimes the gesture of holding such imaginary pack of bills alone is enough to convey the meaning of money. A synonym derived from this word is camarote (cah-mah-DO-teh, lit. stateroom).
Posted by Pablo at 7:03 AM

3 comments:

  1. RicardoJanuary 9, 2009 at 11:47 AM

    Perhaps a more widely used connotation of "camarón" is as a substitute for dick.

    Marcela: Ayyy pelado!! No me arrime el camarón!! (Lit. Marcela: You peeled!!! Don't put the shrimp close to me!!)

    Marcela: You deep shit!! Don't rub yourself against me!!

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  2. AnonymousAugust 29, 2009 at 11:05 AM

    Note: I think a better literal translation for "pelado" is "head-shaven", since the expression comes from Mexico City orphans who would wander around head-shaven so as to hinder lice.

    Also, another use for camarón is as a phonetic variation of "cámara" (lit. camera) which conveys agreement or defying surprise

    Pepe: Sale pues, nos vidrios mañana!
    (all right, see you tomorrow)(vidrio=glass)
    Marcelo: Cámara/Camarón, pues (Allright then!)

    Pepe: Tu hermana está bien buenota! (Your sister is some sexy bitch!)
    Marcelo: Cámara, eh!(I heard that, you motherfucker!) (I think 'camarón' doesn't quite go in here, what do you think?

    qué chingón está este blog! felicidades.

    j.c.

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  3. AlbertoDecember 1, 2009 at 3:08 PM

    As Camarón can be a substitute for penus be mindful of mexican albures in English using shrimp, e.g.

    You like shrimp in bars, don't you?
    Lit. Te gusta el camarón en barras no?
    The albur in this phrase uses the phonetic of "en barras" resembling de verb "embarrar," to rub. The double sensed meaning, therefore, is You like to go rubbing your genitalia, don't you?

    Do you like shrimp in boxes?
    Lit. Te gusta el camarón en cajas?
    Double sense uses the phonetic of "en cajas" to have it confused with the verb "encajar," puncture, penetrate.
    The resulting meaning is Do you like to be penetrated?

    You adore frozen shrimp, don't you?
    Lit. Adoras el camarón congelado ¿no?
    Phonetic also plays in here with "congelado" and instead of meaning frozen, congelado alludes to "con gel" which in the context of using shrimp as substitute for penus, it means 'with semen'.
    It would be then:
    You adore penus with semen, don't you?

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