Concept in Definition ABC

It is said that someone is a jerk when he has a rude, rude and uncouth behavior. It is a clearly pejorative adjective, since it indicates that a person is ignorant, ordinary and with little education.

A tour of Latin America and Spain

In all languages ​​there are words to indicate that someone is a jerk. In Spain, the most common is redneck and is usually used to express that an individual has a training very scarce and comes from an environment rural. You could say that the redneck is a mixture of ignorant and rude.

Among Colombians patán is equivalent to mountaineer or caleno. In Argentina the term paisano or chuncano is more common. In Venezuela, a hick or jerk is a capocho or a wilcho. In Peru the word cholo is more common. Mexicans say chundo, peladito or naco and in Coast Rich someone ordinary is a pole. This variety of terms is equivalent to jerk and are used to disqualify someone in relation to their vulgar manners.

A human stereotype

There are very diverse human stereotypes: the intellectual, the naughty child, the silly blonde, the flute, the milf, the nerd and a long etcetera of denominations that serve to pigeonhole people by some of their features. The lout is equally another stereotype or

category Social.

Cantinflas and Sancho Panza

In Mexico and in most Spanish-speaking countries the character of Cantinflas is very popular. This is a jerk nice and that inspires tenderness, because he is a man of very humble origin, poorly dressed, who expresses himself incorrectly and, at the same time, with good heart. In some way, Cantinflas was a typically Mexican peladito adapted to the gender of the comedy.

The character of Sancho Panza, Don Quixote's faithful squire, is also a jerk. Cervantes describes Sancho as a gluttonous, simple, naive and kind man. Culturally he is someone limited and usually resorts to popular sayings and proverbs.

The redneck of deep America

In America a jerk is a redneck. The redneck or American redneck is a normally white and poor man, careless in clothing, with little training, racist and obese.

Photos: Fotolia - Oxana Grivina / Peter Albrektsen

Themes in Patan