Gay Dictionary Spanish

Acera

its literal translation to English is pavement (UK) or sidewalk (US). Although in most cases it appears as the idiom “es de la acera de enfrente” (is from the opposite sidewalk), in several dictionaries as the Martin and Leon, it appears as a term to point to homosexual or effeminate man. “Es de la acera de enfrente” is related to the pathologizing idea of sexual inversion, which has produced terms as “Invertido” and “Invertito” in the Spanish and Italian language, or “Konträr” in German language, meaning Invested.

In the English language we find the same meaning with expressions like “bat for the other team”, “play for the other team” and “for the other team”.

Related Invertido.

Afeminado

term used to refer to a man with a feminine gender expression in one or several of its characteristics, either when speaking, when moving, when dressing, ect. The effeminacy in men does not necessarily imply homosexuality, however the expression has been used as a euphemism for homosexual man, as an insult against homosexual men or who could be homosexual, and to criticize the lack of manhood. Afeminado is one of the terms that shows that behind the homophobia is the machismo, since it expresses how negative it is to be like a woman, or show some of its characteristics. The first record of the term Afeminado dates from the 15th century, however the label or stereotype of the effeminate is much earlier, from at least the 4th century BC. when sex with men did not imply effeminacy, as long as the active role was adopted. The masculine and the feminine are categories that change and are exchanged with time and societies, however the feminine is always considered negative or of second order, dought much of those feminine characteristics have been masculine in another epoch.

Synonyms Adamado, Ahembrado, Amadamado (del francés “madam”), Amanerado, Amujerado, Cuasihembra, Femenino, Medio mujer, Medio hembra, Mujerado, Mujercísima, Mujercita, Mujeríl, Mujerona.

Afrancesado

its translation into English language is frenchified. The term appears in Spain from Independence War to name spanish people who supported Napoleon, probably refering that french people were effeminate by the clothes they were wearing at the time. Also it is quite common worldwide express that homosexuality comes from outside. Today the term is used in Argentina and means effeminate man and faggot.

Amanerado

its literal translation to English is mannered. Term for a man who shows manner or/and gait of woman. Is euphemism for effeminate man that can also suggest homosexuality.

Amapolo

term used to refer to the homosexual man both in Spain and in Latin America. Although it is not a well-known word and in principle it seemed a localism (since it seems to be used by the heterosexual men in Andalusia to refer to a homosexual in the closet), the first reference was found in the 50s in Mexico, in the 70s in Colombia and in Spain in the 80s.The use of flower names as a euphemism or as an insult is also found in other languages such as English, with terms like Daisy, Pansy and Buttercup, whereas in Spain the use of generic word “flor” (flower) and its variations is more frequent to point homosexuals. You can also find amapolo with the meaning of transvestite.

Variations Amapola.

Ambidextro

ambidextrous. Though it means a person who uses equally the right hand and the left, is also used to refer to bisexuals. We find the same meaning in Italian language with the word Ambidestro.

Ambiente

the word “ambiente” translated into English is scene, and in Spain is a euphemism for gay scene. To be from scene is to be gay, and go out at scene means go out at gay zone.

Argolla

ring. Word used in Venezuela to refer to gay or effeminate man, probably related to the fact that there they name “Argolla” to hoop earrings, which are often associated with women.

Barbilindo

physical features, controlled by gender vigilance, are also a source of terms used against homosexual or effeminate men. So the absence in the adult man of virile features like hard factions or absence of facial or body hair, is associated with femininity and childhood, that is, lack of manliness. The word Barbilindo is, composed by two parts Barbi + lindo. “Barbi-” comes from barba (beard) and “-lindo” translated into English is pretty. So, the word Barbilindo relates the masculine beard with the adjective pretty, usually used with women. The mixture of these ideas suggests homosexuality or effeminacy.

Related Barbilucio (from Barbilindo), Aniñado (childlike), Garzón (from French Garçon, meaning kid, boy, etc).

Bardaje

Bardaje means passive homosexual man (bottom in anal intercourse), or as DRAE says, the patient sodomite. The term comes from the Arabic term Bardag, meaning slave boy, which in turn comes from the Persian expression Hardah, meaning slave. Keep in mind that in the Roman Empire the Greek homosexual construction system, teacher-pupil, became in the master-slave system, which socially allows men sodomize his slaves, and generally, homosexual behavior whenever it was active (top in anal intercourse). In ancient times it could also mean prostitute. Slavery, prostitution, childhood, and homosexuality united in a word. It has its equivalent in the Italian language with the term Bardassa and in the Valencian language with Bardaix.

Variations Bardaja, Bardajo, Bardajismo (transvestism), Berdaje.

Brisco

Uruguay term used to refer to homosexual man. There are two possible explanations for the origin of the slang, on the one hand there are those who say that comes from the fruit brisco peach or apricot, which is very easy to open, related to the alleged ease with which gay men put their butts to be fucked. On the other side Brisco would be synonymous for confused, wrong, dizzy, lost, etc, characteristics socially attributed to gay men. This latter is what seems most likely explanation for the slang, as this same process is repeated in many other words, such as Pato.

Bufo

in Martin’s dictionary appears as slang for passive (bottom) homosexual man. Although generally it applies to the comic, grotesque, absurd, funny, etc., it relates to homosexuality by the issue we discussed in the term Maricón, about the stereotype of sissy, an effeminate man, harmless and with which make fun at his expense.

See Maricón.

Bujarrón

Bugger. The word derives from Bulgarian gentilic . The origin of the term dates back to the ninth century, when Orthodox Catholics wanted to evangelize Bulgarian territory, where there was a very strong animist stream. To combat this they spread the idea that in the area of Bulgaria was a sect that practiced sodomy. Derogatory intention.

Variations Bujarra, Bugarrón (Cuba, Miami, Rep. Dominicana and Puerto Rico. Sometimes as a synonym for hustler.)

Buses

recent term coined in Peru belonging to the LGBT slang, to refer to a kind of gay that a certain sector considers “more modern”, discreet, masculine, who can be active (top) in anal intercourse, as opposed to the feminine homosexual, transvestite, bordering transsexuality, always passive (bottom) in sex, crazy, and probably looking for mostaceros. They are the buses gays and also used referring to the buses scene.

Tracing the origin of this expression we have met with a gruesome story, quite common unfortunately, focused on internalized homophobia and sexual desire.

The word Buses derives from the surname Busses, of a young male and spoilt brat, who lived in the 80s in Lima. Homophobic and probably with sexual conflicts had fondness for walking by the famous Kenedy Park, place chosen for cruising and lubricious deals for faggots, transvestites and hustlers of the Peruvian capital. Dressed for the occasion the young Busses becomes a muscular and manly claim, posing as male prostitute. When he was sure that was hooked up with a gay man, he beat him up till almost killing. The story goes that he ran out the fun when a group of transvestites gave chase to him and severely beaten.

It was not known more of that guy, but over time it began to use the term “Buses chola” by alerting each other that some homophobic people was coming closer and that, therefore, they should act with discretion to avoid problems. From here, there was a semantic leap by which the word Buses was used to refer to a type of gay men, more discreet, more masculine, and more modern, which we referred at the beginning.

Cabro

Homosexual man. Used in Peru, Bolivia, Rep. Dominicana, Puerto Rico and Chile. The first reference we have found in a study of 1910 about the Coa, the Chilean jargon of delinquents, in which the term Cabro appears with the meaning of sodomite and the term Cabrito (diminutive of cabro) as passive Uranian under 18. We have also found relationship between Cabro and female prostitution, as in other occasions the female prostitution has been the source of many terms and expressions against gay men.

Cacorro

term for gay men used in Ecuador. Also used in Colombia and Venezuela, but to point to homosexual men with active (top) role in anal intercourse. As for the origin of this expression it may be related to “caca” meaning poop in Spanish language. Another origin may be the meaning it has in Mexico, where it is used as synonym for idiot, silly, etc., negative characteristics of men, attributed to homosexuals by the mere fact of been homosexuals.

Variations Cacoman (Venezuela).

Canco

the word Canco appears in the poem by Federico García Lorca “Oda a Walt Whitman” ending with a series of words, or rather insults, we supposed used to point gay men of the time: “Faeries de Norteamérica, pájaros de la Habana, jotos de Méjico, sarasas de Cádiz, apios de Sevilla, cancos de Madrid, floras de Alicante, adelaidas de Portugal”.

Previously we found the term in a text by Pío Baroja, a writer with an interesting biography, of the previous Generation of ‘98. In one of the 8 volumes that compose “Desde la última vuelta del camino” entitled “Final de siglo XIX y principios del XX”, there is a conversation between two characters in the book, the word Canco is used, although of the context can not be deduced exactly its meaning. Scholars of the work of Pío Baroja say that the meaning of Canco in this text is stupid, gullible, etc.

Years later, in the poem of Lorca, it appears as a synonym for faggot. So, the term Canco would be another case in which there has been a semantic leap of the negative characteristics of some men to gay men, by the mere fact of being, as it has happened with other words such as Palomo and Pato.

Caraoquero

term for gay men used in Bolivia, probably related to karaoke bars, but we do not know if it is related with homosexuality for being a less masculine activity for a particular sector of the country, or for the karaoke bars type of audience in Bolivia, full of gay people.

Carroza

its literal translation is carriage. Term used in the 70s and 80s in Spain appearing in several dictionaries of slang of the time. Into one appears as just homosexual man, in another as old homosexual man, but in others, as in Cela or Cardin dictionaries, it appears as a middle-aged gay man with money. It seems the term is associated with another gay slang term, well known, which is Chapero, derived from Chapista, with slang meaning of hustler, and with the literally meaning of person who works with metal sheets, a panel beater.

According to the DRAE, Carroza, in addition to the vehicle, means iron frame, and it is with this sense where the Chapero comes into play since he is working with the metal sheet of the iron frame. The Chapero works with the Carroza, or said of another way, the Chapero is making sex for money.

The term carroza is also used to refer to a old or outdated person without having any sexual connotation, but we do not know which of two slang was the first and the origin.

Related Portaviones (aircraft carrier, bigger than carriage, a superlative for Carroza), Chapero (huster).

Cáscara amarga

its literal translation to English language is bitter skin, peel or shell. Being Cáscara amarga, is a derogatory idiom used to point homosexual or effeminate man, probably because it is generally applied, in familiar form, to people of very advanced ideas or naughty and brave, making a semantic leap to homosexual man especially if he is an activist.

Chacal

Chacal translated to Englis is jackal and is an animal if necessary, is scavenger, that eats what others will not. When you call a man jackal is made reference to the behavior of a heterosexual man who, if necessary, have sex with gays. Used in Peru.

Related Mostacero

Ver Gay Dictionary: Mostacero (Peru)

Chapero

hustler. Pejorative term to refer to men, usually young, exercising male prostitution, in more or less professional and continuously way. Although the DRAE defines it as “homosexual male engages in prostitution,” the Chapero may be homosexual or not, but generally boasts to be straight.

Related to the terms “Carroza” and “Portaviones” is unknown whether ones could be the source of another or vice versa, because it seems they are all slang terms that appear at the end of the 60 in Spain.

As to the etymology of Chapero, Corominas states that derived from the term Chapa (metal sheet) on which establishes several hypotheses, among which stands out its Germanic origin, with the sense of closing or closing of something. In this sense it could refer to anal sex.

Related Carroza (carriage), Portaviones (aircraft carrier), Hacer chapas (do sex for money), Chapear (do sex for money).

Variations Chapi.

Chichifo

term used in Mexico to refer to the man who is related to gay men to take advantage of them, by offering sex, companionship, relationship, etc. The term has its origin in the word “chichisbeo”, which was the service of gallantry that certain handsome knights, the “cicisbei” offered to the ladies in the 18th and 19th centuries in Italy, with the knowledge and consent of the husband, usually elderly, and that it could include sex.

Chongo

the word Chongo in Latin America has many meanings, but the more interesting for us comes from the Argentine Lunfardo, and has the meaning of homosexual men with top/active role in anal intercourse.

The origin of the term lead us to the African region of Angola in the times of slavery, to the same term Chongo, from Kimbundu language, that Africans of this region used to call the “faded race” (white people) containing the hue of useless. The use and abuse of this word by the Africans, caused it was used by slave traders to name the black captives. These Chongos, hardened, corpulent, vital and appealing became part of loving exchanges with their owners (men and women), as was already the case in imperial Rome.

By the time there was a semantic leap and the word Chongo acquired the meaning of lover in Paraguay, brothel in Peru and Ecuador, where it also has the meaning of meeting or funny and scandalous act (as an orgy), as well as the top/active man in homosexual relationship, as we have already said, in Argentina.

Cogedor

in Latin America, “coger” (to take) means fuck, and the term “cogedor” (who takes), used in Honduras, means top/active in anal intercourse.

Related Dante (who gives, who fuck), Tomante (who receives, who is fucked).

Cola

The word cola, translated to the English language is tail. A term used in Chile and Argentina to refer to a very effeminate and flamboyant homosexual man. Apparently, the expression Cola became popular in the 50s and would have its origin in the police jargon used in detective novels and other similar publications for the general public. Cola would be the reverse of Loca (crazy, derogatory way to call effeminate homosexuals), as a way of talking in code, as it occurs in other jargons related to crime, as the French Verlan. In Chile it is considered a very derogatory and hurtful expression because, as we have read, “it alludes to the most discriminated among the discriminated, it is terrible violence”.

In addition, in these two countries and nowadays, Cola is slang for the ass, however, another explanation, such as the relationship of the tail with the penis, should not be discarded since in other languages such as the Danish, the word Svan means tail and it is a slang for the penis and it is also slang for homosexual man.

Variations: Coliguacho (which it is also a type of fly), Colipato, Colisa, Colisón, Coliza, Colizón, Colita.

Coligüe

term used in Chile to refer to homosexual man. Word of Mapuche origin, gives its name to a type of thin reed and which is also used with the sense of fragile, skinny, wimpy, weak, etc., so is possible that there has been the usual semantic leap from negative characteristics of some men to all gay people, by the mere fact of being.

Cucarrón

a term used in Colombia to refer to the heterosexual man who fucks with gay men, a synonym of the Peruvian word Mostacero. The Cucarrón is a beetle, related to the dung beetle, dedicated as everyone knows, to carry shit balls one place to another. It seems that the droppings are the semantic link to the active/top man in anal intercourse, as happens with the Mexican term Mayate. Cucarrón would also swell the set of names of insects to insult or euphemistically refer to gay people. 

See: Mostacero. Gay Dictionary (Peru).

Related: Mostacero, Mayate.

Cueco

Term used in Panama. Some say that the term comes from “Cueca” which is a traditional dance of Chile, which resembles the courtship of the rooster to the hen, however it is likely to have its origin in “Chueco” that means twisted or defective . Derogatory.

Culero

derived from Culo (butt, ass, arse), is used against gay men in Honduras, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador and Venezuela.

Dante

from the verb Dar (to give) is a term used to name homosexuals with an active/top role in anal intercourse, that is, who fucks the other. Literally translated to English is “who gives”.

Related: Tomante.

Entiende

derived from the verb “Entender” translated to English is to understand. A guy who “entiende” is gay guy. This euphemism was used to ask a man if he was gay. As the question could offend heterosexual men, gays used this expresion because only gays known it. If man did not understand the question, the man was not gay. Smart. Isn’t it?

Eunuco

eunuch. As it happens with the lack of hardness in the features or with facial or body hair, the gender vigilance also works on the tone of voice. The sharp tone is related with castration or loss of virility. This is the case of the term Eunuco, defined in the DRAE as a synonym for homosexual or effeminate man.

Related: Palabrimujer.

Flete

Homosexual male, prostitute, hustler synonymous. Probably because its relation to commercial transactions. In Cuba, the word fletera in slang, means prostitute woman. Used in Peru.

Related: Chapero

Flora

Perhaps the most famous reference of this contemptuous slang of homosexual man is that of Federico García Lorca in his “Ode to Walt Whitman” (1929) with his “Floras de Alicante“. But without neglecting the traditional relationship of flowers with the feminine and the use of flower names as slang for homosexual men, such as “Amapolo” in Spanish or “Pansy” in the English language, it is possible that this slang had its origin in meanings and uses of the word flora that go back, at least, to the previous century.

Flora, besides referring to the plant world and the poetic work of a writer, has also been synonymous with tender, soft, etc., and so we find it in a publication of 1868-1869 entitled “Los Borbones en Pelota” (Naked Bourbons) a satirical and pornographic work signed by the pseudonym SEM and attributed, not without discussion, to the Bécquer brothers, in which was included a popular song that insinuated the homosexuality of the King consort Francisco Asís de Borbón that said thus:

Paquito natillas
es de pasta flora
y orina en cuclillas
como las señoras.

(Custard Paquito / is made of “pasta flora”/ and squatting urine / like the ladies).

To refer to the “pasta” that someone is made of is to refer to the type of temperament or essential character that defines that person.

In addition, in the play by Roberto Arlt “Trescientos millones” (Three Hundred Million) (1932), we find a scene in which a man, to show his feelings towards a woman, speaks her of his “heart of pasta flora” and his “tender heart”.

Tenderness, softness, smoothness, in general, are characteristics socially attributed to women since ancient times and that turn into insults directed against the men we would today call homosexuals, against those who could be for their effeminacy or against any man you want to insult highlighting his little manhood. 

Variations: Floro, Mariflora.

Gay

it is the most universal and internationally way to appoint homosexual men, that is, men who show inclination towards erotic and emotional relationship with individuals of the same sex. It is an English loan that has its origin in the Provencal word “gai” that means happy and rascal, and related to homosexuality, began to used to appoint male prostitutes. Over time and in response to the term “homosexual”, turned into pathology, the word gay was chosen by the LGBT community to refer to themselves, stripped of its negative connotations.

Homosexual

It is a type of sexual orientation. Man or woman whose physical and emotional attraction is directed towards people of the same gender. The term appears, at the same time than heterosexual term, in the late 19th century from the pen of a Hungarian poet and writer named Karl-Maria Kertbeny in a public letter urging the authorities to decriminalize homosexual behavior. Before that date there was no heterosexual or homosexual, there were normal people on the one hand, and sinners – criminals on the other. Although the term was created with good intentions, in the end it was very successful in the world of medicine and psychiatry and thus began the stage of pathologizing, where homosexuality ceased to be a crime, to become a mental illness. That is why the LGBT collective replaced it by the word gay, to remove the smell of electro-convulsive hospital. Today it is used normally without the negative charge.

Variations: Homo.

Invertido

as in other languages such as German or Italian, the use of this term comes from the English word “invert”, used in psychiatric field since the publication in 1897 of the work of Havelock Ellis, “Sexual Inversion”. Paradigmatic term of pathologizing era in which, from a biased and heteronormative view, was trying to explain homosexuality as abnormal and diverted behavior respect to heterosexuality, correct, natural and majority. The term “Invertido” is included in the DRAE for the first time in 1936 as acceptation of sodomite, and today continues appearing as a euphemism for homosexual. Is still considered an insult.

Related Acera, Ser de la acera de enfrente, Del bando contrario (bat for the other team, play for the other team).

Read also: What is homosexual?

Jibia

synonym for cuttlefish, which is used as slang or euphemism for homosexual or effeminate man.

Joto

Joto is a derogatory term used in Mexico, Honduras, and Chile to insult gay men, being one of the best known and used. However, indeed, it is also used by those involved to name themselves, following this world movement reappropriation of insults. The origin of this expression is not clear at the moment, but there are several theories among which the following stand out.

· On one hand, some say it comes from “Sota” a figure of Spanish deck of cards because someone sees in the illustration effeminate attributes.

· Others say that “Joto” is the breastfed baby goat and might be related to blowjobs.

· The most common theory is that which refers to the Mexican prison in the city of Lecumberry, according to which homosexuals were locked in the “J” section, although there are also those who say that it was because in that section were locked the imprisoned by the famous “Dance of the 41”.

· And the most surprising theory is that “Joto” would come from the Aragonese Jota (famous Spanish dance and song) through the semantic leap dance – woman – homosexual.

The only thing we know for sure is that the first reference of the word Joto is found in an article by the Colombian Federico Aguilar, dated in 1883, which lists a number of used terms in Puebla and the central states of Mexico, in which “Joto” is defined as “maricón” (faggot). This places the appearance of the term 7 years before the construction of the prison of Lecumberri (1900), therefore the theory of the origin of this slang that relates it to the Jota section of the Lecumberri prison, as well as its relationship with the “Baile de los 41” (1901), loses all validity.

Over time, in Moscas de Colores we have developed a certain sense for separate the wheat from the chaff, however with “Joto” although we have no doubt to rebut the myth of the jota section of the prison, the rest of the theories seems silly explanations. We will see in the future, where words will lead us.

The origin of Joto could be in Sota de Oros, card of the Spanish Deck. Fragment of “Cartas del juego Tute” By Tupeorpesadilla.com718 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

Variants: Jotito, Jota.

See: Forty-One

Julai

Julai is a term used against gay men with the top sexual role in anal intercourse or in general for homosexual men. Probably related to that this expression also had the meaning of stupid, imbecile, unwary, despicable man or victim of theft or fraud. As on other occasions, to homosexual man is supposed all sorts of defects so it is possible that there has been a semantic leap and has ended up being used as derogative slang for gay people, as happens for example with the word Duck.

Variations: Jula, Julay, Julandra, Julandras, Julandrón.
Related: Pato.
Read more: Pato. Gay Dictionary: (Latin America).

K’ewsa

K’ewsa is a term of Quechua / Aymara origin used in Bolivia today with the pejorative meaning of homosexual or effeminate man, although we have found translated as a coward, coward who beats women, chueco (twisted) and other items that indicate inappropriate behavior.

It is a term that has become the center of the debate on homosexual behavior in pre-Columbian societies, between those who argue that homosexuality is imported and therefore deny that the word meant something like “homosexual” in origin, and those who see in the existence of this term, a clear evidence to the contrary.

Beyond the absurd and outdated that it seems the debate, the first reference we have found is from 1612, in which the term K’ewsa or K’iwsa is related to homosexual behavior. In the vocabulary of the Aymara Language of Ludovico Bertonio, K’iwsa is translated as “patient in the nefarious sin” that is, who is fucked, the bottom in anal intercourse, and K’iwsa Jucha, as nefarious sin (sodomy), being the term jucha the Aymara term for sin.

Loca

Loca is a Spanish term widely used, even within the LGBT community, to refer to a very effeminate homosexual man.

On the origin of this expression, we can comment on a couple of hypotheses that complement each other.

In this expression, we find the phenomenon that we have talked about on many occasions: that of transferring to masculine homosexuality, a slang used previously for female prostitution, as is the case with the word gay. Loca also has/had the meaning of “mujer alegre” (happy woman), prostitute, etc.

On the other hand, loca, and its masculine form, loco, are words widely used in Spanish to refer to a person with a mental illness, just as homosexuality was considered in the pathologizing era.

Variations: Locaza, Loquita, Locaza desatada, Loquero (Venezuela), Loquísima (Cuba), Loca de atar (Peru), Loca desbaratada (Colombia), Loca desplumada (Cuba), Loca fuerte (Miami, Chile), Loca sucia (Miami, Rep. Dominicana, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela), Loca desmetecada (Mexico).
Related: Reina
Read more: Khing. Gay Dictionary (Thailand).

Macha

feminine for Macho. Macho is a Spanish expression with several meanings. One of them is to name a typical male, a manly man, etc. So Macha is an expression of 70’s, belonging to the gay slang, to ironically refer to homosexual man who boasts of excessively virile attitudes, or during sex, takes a role of straight man (“suck my cock, give me your ass, nothing more”).

Mamona

That sucks, that breast, referring to fellatio. Expresed in feminine by patriarchal feminization to gay men.

Related Cocksucker.

Marica

Its translation into the English language would be a fag. Marica is one of the most commonly used terms for insulting the gay man, with its variations maricón and mariquita. Has its origins in the name of a woman, María, being its pet or family version. It is related to male homosexuality by twofold.

The first comes from the 15th century in which Marica was slang of easy or libidinous woman, this is tart, floozy or prostitute. The relationship established between male homosexuality and prostitution also occurs in other languages, such as English, in which many terms like “gay” or “faggot” before used to insult gay men were used to insult women or refer prostitutes.

The second comes from the 17th century when is used to insult the effeminate man because calling him as a woman, his little masculinity highlights.

Later, it will be used to insult the gay man, and more specifically to bottoms or with the passive role in anal intercourse, equating to women for sharing the same sexual role. Is interesting to note the existing misogyny behind that word, because it highlights the negativity involved femininity, both women, considered submissive and passive, as for gay men who are considered as women. Behind homophobia is hiding machismo.

Marica is also the name given to a type of magpie, Urraca in the Spanish language, being Urraca also a name of the woman. The term Marica today is also widely used in the LGBT scene replacing the word gay.

T-shirt with the Marica drawing. You can purchase it in our online stores.

Variations: Mariquita, Maricón, Marieta, Mariquitilla, Mariíca, Mariconada, Mariconazo, Maricona, Mariconcete, Marimarica, Maruso, Marusa, Marico (Venezuela), Maricona dramática (Colombia, Miami, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico), Mariquilla (Bolivia), Mariquito (Miami, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Perú, Puerto Rico, Venezuela).

Read more: Marica. Gay Dictionary (Spain).

Maricón

The word Maricón is augmentative of Marica, which is also a kind of magpie.

We could translate the Spanish word Maricón into the English term faggot. It is an expression that appeared in the 16th century, and it seems to refer more to the homosexual man with an attitude and masculine appearance, although throughout the centuries, its application has been changing. Being augmentative for Marica, the negative connotation is higher than in the terms Marica and Mariquita, a fact that draws attention due to the profound contempt for femininity that existed at the time, as we have already explained in this dictionary in the entry Marica.

It was not only used against homosexual men but also used as an insult for men who did not exercise domination and violence against women and to insult any man. Despite the manly nuance of the term, the Maricón became popular by becoming an archetype of the theater of the Spanish Golden Age, being the mannered and feminine aesthetics character to tease of, and to have fun at his expense and with which, therefore, should be avoided any comparison. For this reason, often appear in expressions like “te van a tomar por maricón” (they will see you as faggot).

Since the Spanish dictatorship Maricón also was used, to a greater extent, to refer to homosexual men with masculine attitude, and this greater invisibility was precisely that makes the Maricón had less social acceptance that the Mariquita, more feminine, with whom make fun (including sex) and therefore less dangerous. In this sense, the maricón aroused fear among heterosexual men because they had their same gender expression (not feminine) and, were supposed active (top) in sex, and also for being socially linked with pederasty.

Today, the term Maricón no longer has the hue of masculinity and, its use is general for any gay, to insult any heterosexual man and, even to name amicably between friends, either gay or straight.

Variants: Mariquita, Marica, Marieta, Mariquitilla, Mariíca, Mariconada, Mariconez, Mariconazo, Maricona, Mariconcete, Marimarica, Maruso, Marusa, Marico (Venezuela), Maricona dramática (Colombia, Miami, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico), Mariquilla (Bolivia), Mariquito (Miami, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Perú, Puerto Rico, Venezuela).

Read more: Marica. Gay Dictionary (Spain)

Mariposón

augmentative for Mariposa (Butterfly) used euphemistically to refer to homosexual or effeminate man. This term highlights stereotypical characteristics of gay men, such as exhibitionism, mannered, the color of clothing, as well as promiscuity or little constancy in love because they flit from flower to flower.

Curiously, the first written reference of butterfly related to male homosexuality is the 16th century, done by Pedro de León, Jesuit confessor to the prison of Seville, in the book “El apéndice de los ajusticiados” (Appendix of executed). Pedro de León compared the men who practiced sodomy with the “mariposillas” (little butterflys), that tempted by the light of the flame get too close and ended up burning, as well it happens to the sodomites, who just burned at the stake.

Variations Mariposa, mariposilla.

Mariquita

Could be translated into the English language as a sissy, pansy. Initially, both Marica as Mariquita were pet forms for the name María (Mary). Thus this term is recorded in the DRAE of 1869 as diminutive of María, and in 1884 as diminutive of Marica. It is not until 1925 when it is included for the first time the meaning of effeminate man. Despite used interchangeably, it seems that the difference between Mariquita and Maricón is the degree of effeminacy of the person against whom it is used. Although currently the DRAE retains the meaning of effeminate man and does not include the meaning of insult to homosexual men, it is a fairly common insult used against any man, gay or not, effeminate or not, and even as an affectionate joke between macho-man friends.

It is also the name given to the popular insect, the ladybug.

T-shirt with the Mariquita drawing. You can purchase it in our online stores.

Variations: Marica, Maricón, Marieta, Mariquitilla, Mariíca, Mariconada, Mariconazo, Maricona, Mariconcete, Marimarica, Maruso, Marusa, Marico (Venezuela), Maricona dramática (Colombia, Miami, Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Rico), Mariquilla (Bolivia), Mariquito (Miami, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela).

Read more:  Mariquita. Gay Dictionary (Spain).

Mayate

We love the Do not kill the mayate! Please, please!
Picture by CC News

Mayate is a term that has its origin in the word mayatl, from the Mexican Nahuatl language, used to denominate a beetle. People also use it to insult homosexual men, although more specifically, to name those men who define themselves as heterosexual, but who have sex with men. Mayate would be the equivalent of the Peruvian Mostacero and the Colombian Cucarrón. In both cases, the exclusively top role of these men in anal intercourse is highlighted by the rest of the feces that the penis can show after anal sex.

In Mayate, the relationship with feces may be that the larvae of this beetle feed on other animal feces, as is the case with the term Cucarrón, which is a beetle that is dedicated to transport balls of excrement from side to side to feed himself. There are those who affirm that the relationship with the beetle is that it makes perforations (penetrations) in the cornfields, even that it has to do with the bright colors of the insect in relation to the bright and strident colors of homosexual men, a relationship that we discard since this slang is clearly used to refer to masculine men.

The first written reference we have found of the word mayate related to homosexuality is found in 1904 in a text by Carlos Roumagnac “Criminals in Mexico: essay of criminal psychology” which talks about mayates and horses as slang expressions of the prison environment, being Mayate the men who perform the top role and the horses the men who played the bottom role. Bearing in mind the ability of “heterosexual” men to have sex with other men in the absence of women, we find in this origin the markedly masculine and top role of the word mayate that has come nowadays.

It should be noted that in the Pachuco’s Caló jargon, young people of Mexican origin residing in the southern United States, mayate is used to disparagingly refer to African-American men. Another meaning we have found of the slang mayate is that of a drunkard. And you only need to stroll about Twitter to realize that today, Mayate, Chacal, and Mostacero are anyone.

Synonyms: Mostacero, Cucarrón. See: Mostacero. Gay Dictionary (Peru)

Mondrigón

term used in Western Andalusia, especially in Cadiz (Spain), to point to homosexual man. It seems to have originated by phonetic similarity to the term Maricón (faggot), and that could have been used as a euphemism, for example, in the couplets of Chirigotas of the carnivals in the area, motivated by can not use the word really meant. Thus, had passed to popular speech also as a euphemism, and finally would have acquired a very pejorative and derogatory nuance, as we have read in several pages, because means the worst of the worst.

Variations Mondri.

Mostacero

The Mostacero is a heterosexual man and beyond, is the male, rough looking, virile, manual worker, sailor, soldier, welder, agro-man, etc, who gets horny with the butt of the apprentice. We can complete the profile with the essence of patriarchy: male chauvinism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc. This type of man also is in great demand among fags seeking “real real men”.  The origin of this slang expression, as well as its synonyms, is quite scatological, read our Gay Slang Series post to learn more about this slang and about this curious masculine behavior.

T-shirt with the Mostacero drawing. You can purchase it in our online stores. 

Synonyms: Chacal, Cucarrón, Mayate

Read more: Mostacero. Gay Dictionary (Peru).

Read also: Homosexual behavior and homosexuality in our blog.

Muerde Almohadas

pillow biter. Is a graphical expression of one of the positions for anal sex, who is penetrated bites the pillow, supposedly to endure the pain, and also refers to the different social perception that historically has been attributed to person who is penetrated different from who penetrates. Derogatory.

Related Sopla nucas (napes blower)

Musculoca

Term used among gays to describe a very effeminate man with great muscular development. The word is composed by two parts Musculo+loca, meaning muscle+madwoman.

Nenaza

Nenaza is the augmentative of Nena, which is a colloquialism to refer to a young girl or a woman affectionately. It used against the effeminate or homosexual man, want to insult highlighting the lack of manliness in two ways, with childhood (unfinished man) and with femininity.

Related: Moña.

Palabrimujer

as it happens with the lack of hardness in features or lack of facial or body hair, gender vigilance also occurs with the tone of voice, as high-pitched tone is related to women. Palabrimujer is one of the expressions, which appears in the DRAE as a synonym for homosexual or effeminate man.

Related eunuch.

Palomo

Pigeon. Although the term is best known for the idiom “más maricón que un palomo cojo”, this expression is slang for a homosexual or effeminate man, and Palomar (dovecote) was the name given to the place of prisons destined to homosexuals. There are several hypotheses for the origin or reason of the slang, that are complementary. The term Palomo is also slang for a fool or simple man, negative characteristics of men that, as on other occasions, are attributed to gays by the simple fact of being. Examples of this are the terms Pato and Julai. On the other hand, this term also has the meaning of a quiet and mild person, features that do not meet the male stereotype. And finally, we have the traditional association established between birds, feathers and certain insects with male homosexuality.

Related: Pato, Julai.

See: Palomo Cojo. Gay Dictionary (Spain)

Palomo Cojo

Translated into English as lame pigeon is, with tortillera, one of the most searched LGBT expressions on the Internet. Is an expression that has starred in books, films, festivals, radio debates, social networks, and language specialized forums. It’s often used in the idiom “Es más maricón que un palomo cojo” (He is more faggot than a lame pigeon), that gives us the clue about the origin of the expression.  Apparently, the issue is that the poor lame pigeons can’t reproduce because they need two legs to tread (mount) the dove, with only one leg cannot hold up on the dove nor perform the characteristic prior courtship of the species. However, the sexual life of pigeons is more complex than this. Check out our Gay Slang Series post for more details.

T-shirt with the Palomo Cojo drawing. You can purchase it in our online stores.

Read more: Palomo Cojo. Gay Dictionary (Spain).

Parcha

term used in Venezuela to refer disparagingly to homosexual man. Parcha is the name given to the passion fruit. In relation to male homosexuality we find the saying “sembramos mango y salió parchita” (we planted mango and grew up passion fruit).

Variations Parchita (diminutive for Parcha).

Pato

A term used in Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and Cuba to insult gay men. As in other terms, to explain the origin of this use of the word alludes to gait duck or more eschatological animal issues. However, the explanation is much simpler: duck is a word with several meanings, basically two. In addition to the animal, duck also means a clumsy person, without grace, that not learns, dumb and teased, and as happens in so many insults, the negative characteristics of some men are transferred to homosexual men simply because they are so. You can find more information in our Gay Slang Series post.

The Pato drawing printed on a white t-shirt. You can purchase it in our online stores.

Read more: Pato. Gay Dictionary (Latin America).

Pederasta

pederast. In ancient Greece, the pederast was the adult man who maintained a consensual physical relationship with a teenage boy in a ritual of conventions, socially accepted, that constitute the system of homosexual relationship teacher-pupil. After the rediscovery of classical culture with medieval eyes, the word pederast begins to acquire negative nuances.

The term pederast is recovered in the 19th century such as shown in the Dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (DRAE) from 1899 with the meaning of “who commits sexual abuse against children”. In this way, the nuances that separate Greek pederasty and platonic love of crime and abuse, are eliminated. Popularly, homosexuality with Greek pederasty is related, so also, in this 1899 edition, the DRAE includes sodomite (who commits sodomy) as meaning of pederast, and defines sodomy as “concúbito between same sex, or against the natural order”, to add in 2001 “practice of anal intercourse “. In this way the criminalization of homosexual was reinforced, because according to the dictionary, a pederast is a sodomite and sodomite is a homosexual. Fortunately, the 23th edition of the DRAE no longer sets with their definitions the link between the criminal pederast and homosexual man, important issue if we consider that in many countries the word pederast, any variant and any word that sounds phonetically similar, are used to insult and criminalize homosexual men.

Pierde Aceite

Literaly leaks oil. Is a euphemism to say that someone is homosexual. Some say it refers to the “consequences” of anal sex, but more likely it is for the sense of spoiled, damaged or defective.

Plumera

plumera is the feminine form for plumero, which translated to English language is a feather duster, or anything with feathers. The term was used in Spain in the 70s, belonging to the gay jargon to refer to homosexual man who “has feather” or “spent feather”, way to express that someone is effeminate.

According Cardín someone could be Plumera by excess, so effeminate that approach to transgender, or by default, in cases of cripto-homosexuals (homosexuals in the closet) showing gestures, attitudes or expressions that denote femininity and betray them.

According to Cela, feather also means prostitute, loose woman and even penis.

In any case, the relationship established among birds, female prostitution and male homosexuality has led to a multitude of words and expressions in many languages, as Palomo, Palomo Cojo and Marica in the case of Spanish language, Petuh in the case of Russian and Feygele in Yiddish.

Variations Plumífero, Plumero (Venezuela), Plumoso (Colombia).

Plumífero

Pluma translated to English is feather. Plumifero refers to having feathers. Term used in Puerto Rico. We do not know if it refers to the term Pato, animal with feathers, or refers to the expresion “Tener pluma” (to have feather) used to point effeminate or camp men.

Variations Plumera, Plumero (Venezuela), Plumoso (Colombia).

See Gay Dictionary: Pato (Latin America)

Portaviones

aircraft carrier. Gay jargon term used in Spain in the 70s and 80s, to refer disparagingly to very old homosexual men that, according to the glossary of Cardin, are still active. We understand still active as, to go out in gay scene, flirting, cruising, etc. It is proposed as a synonym for Carroza and, it may be, given the size of aircraft carriers, as superlative.

Related Carroza, Chapero.

Puñal

Puñal, translated to English language is dagger, is a term used in Mexico to point gay men.

Variations  Puñalín (diminutive for puñal), Puñalón (augmentative for puñal).

Puto

Means male prostitute. Widely used in Spain during the Middle Ages relating gay people with prostitution, was later replaced by the word “Maricón” (faggot). Currently widespread in Latin America, as shows the unfortunate example of the song “Puto” of the Mexican band, Molotov. Derogatory.

Rarito

diminutive form for Raro, meaning weird, crank, etc. Depending on the context, may be a euphemism for a homosexual man.

Variaciones Raro.

Reina

term used to describe an effeminate gay man, haughty and contemptuous, which is hardly accessible both in manner and for sex

Variations Reinona

Related Loca

See  Gay Dictionary: Khing (Thailand)

Rosquete

derived from the word Rosquilla, meaning doughnut, fried ring-shaped cake, Rosquete is bigger than Rosquilla. The relationship with male homosexuality comes from the hole of the cake related to the anus. Rosquete is used in Peru to point homosexual men.

Sarasa

Means sissy. It comes from the patriarchal identification homosexual = prostitute, because Sarasa means pest, woman of ill repute. Derogatory.

Related  Puto

Serie

Serie or also “D Series”, are expressions used in the 70s and 80s to name homosexual or effeminate man, that appear in Martin and Leon dictionaries of slang, but we could not find an explanation of the origin or motives. The relation with homosexuality could be an issue of quality, as A series could be better than D series, considering homosexuality as something defective. We have also found “B Series” which reminds us of the expression of Finnish language B-Rapun Poika or boy of B stairs.

Sodomita

Sodomita was, initially, the name given to the people living in Sodom, the mythical city of Palestine, that according to the Bible, was destroyed by the divine fire because of the lack of hospitality of its inhabitants. However, as we explained in our blog article “Word of God”, the word sodomita was changing it meaning with the successive and biased translations of the Bible.

First, the word sodomita was used to condemn any sexual practice that had no reproductive purposes, but with successive translations of the Bible, finally used to condemn only anal sex between men. However, in the beginning, the word sodomita was not used primarily to describe the person but was used to a greater extent to condemn their actions, ie sodomy, which in many texts also included sex with animals.

The first reference of the word sodomita appears in 1254 on a text by Alfonso X entitled “Judizios de las estrellas” and also appears in some regional code of laws of the 14th century, by its condition of being an insult that must to be avoided, with its variations like “sodomético”, “sodómico”, “sodomista”, “sodomítico”, “sodomitoso”, “solomico” and “somético”.

It is in this medieval times when sodomy becomes a crime severely punished by the Inquisition and in the great sin among sins, which until the 17th century was reducing its scope of application to finally mean anal sex between men.

Thus the DRAE, in 1739, defines sodomy as “concúbito between persons of the same sex or improper glass” and in 1854, “against the natural order.”

In the 19th century, the Napoleonic Code decriminalizes sodomy to understand it as a private but repulsive act, and this legal change has resulted in the inclusion in the DRAE in 1884 as a definition of sodomita “native of the city of Sodom; belonging to the city of Palestine”.

The last change in the DRAE about the meaning of sodomita has occurred recently, changing “committing sodomy” by “practicing sodomy”.

The word sodomita among of being used as an insult and religious and legal texts has been used too in medicine, natural sciences, and anthropology. Today it is virtually obsolete.

I Survived Sodom drawing printed on a t-shirt. You can purchase it in our online stores.

Read more: I Survived Sodom and I Love Sodom from Funny and Protest collections.

Read also: The word of god. Post from our blog.

Tabla

its literal translation to English language is plank, board, etc. Term of the 70s and 80s used in Spain, to point to homosexual man, that appears in Martin and Leon dictionaries of slang. We have not found any explanation about its relation with gay men.

Tomante

from the verb Tomar (to take), the Tomante is the person who takes, who receives. It is a term used to name gay people with passive (bottom) role in anal intercourse, that is, who is fucked.

Related Dante.

Trolo

Trolo is a slang term created in Argentina which is used to insult gays. Its most likely origin is the masculinization of the slang trola, term used to insult “easy women” and also to refer to prostitutes. This is the same process used by words such as puto and gay, whose origin as slang for homosexual men is in the prostitution of women. This would be the most basic explanation because an Argentinian author told us that people don’t use trolo in itself. In order for it to be insulting, it must be used along with some complement such as trolo de mierda.

Now we are going to talk about which is not the origin of trolo, despite it being the most widespread version on the web (even in Instituto Cervantes). According to this version, trolo would have its origin in the trolleybus, a means of urban transportation inaugurated in Argentina in 1913. Why? Because the people accessed the trolleybus from behind, in a clear reference to anal intercourse. The investigation of this slang is not finished yet because we need dates and references. However, intuition tells us that this origin is one more of the simplistic and morbid explanations given to words refering to gay and lesbian people, the clearest example of this being the word tortillera.

See:  Trola. Lesbian Dictionary: Spain.

Trucha

This Spanish word, translated to the English language as Trout, besides the name of the fish, is a slang term with a large variety of meanings depending on the time and place to consider. This is why trying to find out the origin of Trucha as a slang term for homosexual man, faggot, etc., is tremendously complicated and slippery, as is the fish, especially in this case, where several explanations seem reasonable. Even compared to other slang expressions, as we do many times, the result is not conclusive. Do not miss our Gay Slang Series post if you want more information about this word, its possible meanings and some interesting facts.

The Trucha drawing printed on a t-shirt. You can purchase it in our online stores.

Read more: Trucha. Gay Dictionary (Spain).

Vaquerobia

gay slang expression used in Mexico to refer to gay men with cowboy hat. It comes from the term Obvia (obvious) used to refer to effeminate homosexual.

Variations Vaquerobvia.

Vena

streak (personality trait). Term used in Western Andalusia, especially in Cadiz (Spain), to point to homosexual man. As the term Venazo, it is used to describe a congenital, intimate and non-obvious characteristic of a person, which at a given moment gains protagonism, as for example “tiene vena de emprendedor” (he has entrepreneur streak) or “cuando baila le sale la vena marica” (when he dance comes out his fag streak). Following this last example, the origin of the slang would be the change from “vena marica” (fag streak” to “vena” (streak) metonymy quite common in slang.

Variations Venazo (augmentative for Vena).