what is the translation for "coon"
I have a friend whose nickname is "Coon" - (short for raccoon). What is the spanish word for "coon"? Or maybe it would be easier to translate, "we took the coon dogs hunting last Thursday". Any help would be appreciated if someone could tell me what the spanish word is for "coon".
9 Answers
As far as I can tell, "pache" has no meaning in Spanish. The closest thing I can think of is "parche" (patch).
But don't just take my word for it; wait a couple days to see if anyone else posts anything about "pache."
It is interesting that I had thought of the same nickname the other day when I first read your question. I thought it was kind of cute and neat, providing it has no hidden connotations.
I would warn, though, that Latinos are somewhat sensitive about referring to humans with animal terms. For the boy's sake, I would be careful using this nickname around Latinos until you're sure they understand the culture and background behind it. I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that that is what the family thinks of him as a person. Typically, though, Hispanics that have adapted somewhat to the American culture/mindset understand that these are "terms of endearment," no different from their practice of addressing their mates with such loving terms as "Gorda," "Vieja," "Flaco," "Negro," etc., terms we would cringe at.
I should think that Coon's grandson would be proud to be called "Pache."
The word is still used in rural areas and among hunters. It is just a shortened form, like rhino/rhinoceros. I have known several people with the nickname, and it has nothing to do with a racial insult, although the term has been used for that, as well.
However, if we start avoiding all words that urbandictionary.com gives a derogatory or vulgar connotation to, then half of the English dictionary is out of bounds, and 75% or more of the Spanish one.
What's insulting to me is that we have to subscribe to this "splintered nation" terminology for every ethnic and sub-ethnic group in this country. Why can't we all just be "Americans"? Why can't we refer to a person's race or color in a mature manner without people scandalizing it?
Does any other country do this to its people? Have you ever heard of an "African-Canadian"? Or a "Hispanic-Brit"? Or a "Caucasian-Japanese"? If I move/emigrate to South America, will I be called an "American-South American," or an "American-Bolivian"? If a white American has a child born in Africa, will the child be called a "Caucasian-African"? If a black man from the United States emigrates to Africa, will he be called an "African-American African"? I could go on, but this business gets sillier by the day.
I think it is absurd to call someone an "African-American" if neither he nor any of his ancestors for the past four generations have ever been to Africa. Do we call all white people "European-Americans"? Or "British-Americans"? Or "German-Americans"? The real ignorance of this madness comes out when people call someone from the Caribbean (Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Antigua, etc.) with dark skin "African-American"!
In my opinion, all American citizens are "Americans," and to add a classifier to some groups and not to others is equivalent to relegating them to a lower class of citizenship. It is like saying that white people are "Americans" (the "Real Americans") while black people are "African-Americans" (only half "American," and therefore not as "American" as the white people). The same is true for "Asian-Americans," "Hispanic-Americans," etc.
Another silly designation ... am I not a "Native-American"? I was born here, as were my parents and grandparents and great-grandparents, etc. If I'm not a native American, then what country or continent am I a native of? Are the white people in South Africa the (real) "South Africans," while the black people are "Native-South Africans" (implying that a "native" is part of a lower class, uncivilized group)?
I think our efforts to be politically correct actually serve to instill a hypersensitivity in people, and teach them that they should be offended if people don't refer to them by the politically correct "term of the week." Why can't we all just be "Americans"? And when it's necessary to distinguish for identification or description purposes, we can be tall ones, short ones, black ones, white ones, Jewish ones, Oriental ones, Hispanic ones, skinny ones, overweight ones, bald ones, etc., and as mature people, not take offense at that.
Sorry you are on the receiving end of my rant, Edward. I'm sure you were well-meaning with your comment. I just get tired of the division and tension furthered among our countrymen by the "politically correct" crowd that claims they are the sensitive ones. They seem to me to be quite the opposite, and in fact, less accepting of people that are different from them.
I totally agree with you hhmdirocco ? you definitely have a passion about the subject and a unique way of describing it. 'Caucasian-African? . . . that does sound ridiculous. 
The numerous categories for groups of people are exhausting. I live in a rural area in southwest Missouri and 'coon? is used frequently. We have several friends who hunt with coon dogs. Anyway, my husband's close friend (nicknamed Coon) passed away and his grandson is just like him, so we are going to nickname him 'Coon? in Spanish. Since there is not a comparable word in Spanish ? I wonder if it would be feasible to call him 'pache? (short for mapache)? We don't want to call him that if 'pache? has another meaning. Does anyone know if pache is a word or has a meaning? If not, we will probably call him that since there is not a translation for 'coon'.
(FYI ? we don't call our friend 'Coon? because of his skin color ? he is Caucasian, but he was an avid hunter).
Thanks - Holly
Hola holly, the word coon is one that I have not heard since the seventies, at that time it was used to insult african americans,I think your boyfriend may want to change his nickname if you show him the definition at URBAN DICTIONARY.COM
"Mapache" is the word used in México. "Pachitl" is "rodent" in Nahuatl. "Ma", or a derivative is "mother" in many languages. Could "Mapache" be "mapachitl", or "mother of rodents"? I don't think a raccoon is a rodent, though. I'm going to check this out. Interesting, it is.
Robert
Certainly you are not saying that "Ma" is a derivative of "mapache."
Interesting theory about "mapachitl," but it is doubtful.
Raccoons are not rodents, at least not the ones I or my encyclopedia is familiar with. Varmints, but not rodents. 
"Mapache" is the word used in México. "Pachitl" is "rodent" in Nauhuat. "Ma", or a derivatie is "mother" in many languages. Could "Mapache" be "mapachitl", or "mother of rodents"? I don't think a raccoon is a rodent, though. I'm going to check this out. Interesting, it is.
Robert
In Spanish is "mapache", it doesn't have a shorter version that I know of, and I've never heard anyone called like that.
Welcome to the forums, Holly.
That is the only word I know for it. As far as I know, there is no short name for it, or a related nickname for a person. You could make your own short version for a nickname, I guess.
Wait until tomorrow when some native speakers can let us know for sure.
Hi Holly,
It is pretty easy even for me, also learning Spanish, to post a reply because the start of the answer to your query is just a 'tab? away right here on the dictionary page at SpanishDict.com. http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/raccoon
and
http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/coon
Of course definitions don't tell us whether or not there might be a similar nickname (apodo) for someone that one would use in Spanish. We'll have to wait for a native speaker to answer that. But I hope this post offers you a beginning.
