Pellejo.
It’s one of those words I’ve heard all of my life. Although until one of our recent road trips, I had all but forgotten about it to be quite honest. We were driving to California, past New Mexico somewhere, when all of the sudden the deejay on the radio started saying pellejo over and over again.
It really took me back to all of those times I’d heard my parents, my uncles, my aunts, their friends, and so many others use this palabra in Spanish.
Back then all it would make me think about was the papada on a turkey. You know, the turkey neck. Because after all pellejo in it of itself is basically referencing one’s skin.
I told Anjelica about it and we had a little conversation about what the word actually means when it’s used in references like: me salve por el puro pellejo; sali, pero con el puro pellejo.
We both agreed on the meaning in the end. Basically that you avoided something “by the seam of your pants” or “just barely.” The idea being that you just avoided or completed something, but pretty much just by a stroke of good luck or something.
Now if you’re looking for a more technical definition, here’s some of what WordReference has to offer:
– Piel quitada del cuerpo del animal.
– Piel de los animales.
– Toda la lana que se esquila de un animal.
UrbanDictionay does not yet have a definition in their database for this word.
Should I go in an add one?
