This one’s dedicated to a very special friend. Ya sabes who you are! ¡Tarado! How many times have you not wished you would have remembered this very especial Mexi-Vocabulario term in the heat of an argument. If you’re like me, anytime you’re de pelionero you just can’t think of the right zingers to spit out. You know what you want to say in your mind, but the words just won’t come out… at least not at the precise moment when you need them. So for you friends, please commit this palabra to your memorias right now!
Our friends over at the Urban Dictionary offer two definitions for tarado: First, in Argentinian Spanish they say it’s the equivalent of “moron.” I’d say that’s pretty accurate. The other definition states Spanish word for dumb-ass or idiot, brainless person. It is not really offensive. This one is pretty accurate as well, because as we all know language – especially Spanish – is all about context. How you use any particular word makes all the difference in the world. Here are the non offensive uses of the word according to the online dictionary website:
¡Eres un tarado! = You are a dumb-ass!
¡Qué tarado! = What a dumb-ass!
Now keep in mind, the attitude of the person you are referring to with these “non offensive” usages will probably have a lot to do with whether you get slapped, or worse, after uttering them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said something like this with “non offensive” intentions and had my head bitten off… and vice versa for that matter. I’m just as bad as anyone else when it comes to just not being in the mood sometimes. Other English words offered as synonymous to ¡tarado! include defective, imperfect, stupid, crazy and nuts.
I’ll let you be the judge of how, when and if you use this word.
I’m always on the hunt for new mexi-vocabulario.
What other words would you like me to include in the mexi-vocabulario? If you have one that you would recommend please share it with me here.
Writer’s Disclaimer: When I say mexi-vocabulario I don’t necessarily mean these words are exclusively Mexican, or only used by Mexicans. This is simply an expression of how they were introduced to me in our Mexican Spanish.
More Mexi-Vocabulario
4 thoughts on “Mexi-Vocabulario: ¡Tarado!”
So, it can’t be used as an adjective, just a noun?
Tarado is one of those one-word insults. Perfect on its own.
It truly is! There’s only one way you can take such a word 🙂
The word tarado can also be applied when an object is weighed. For example if you way a sack of potatoes you can then say the specific sack is now tarado.