Perro, perra, and politeness

Question

Hola,

This is a kind of an arcane question, but I'm very curious. Spanish has gender based nouns, so far so good, and perro is a male dog and perra is a female. Now in English, "****" is the correct word for female dog, but it's perjorative meaning as a mean-spirited woman has caused it to be somewhat impolite outside of discussions of dog breeding and the like. So I could say in English to a breeder, "I want to breed my Golden Retriever ****", but if a three year old wanted to pet it, I wouldn't say, "This is my ****, Mollie". Instead I would say "dog", which in English is generic.

Now I notice Spanish also has that perjorative meaning for "perra", but my question is, is "Esta es mi perra" not the kind of thing you'd say to a Mexican three year old in front of mom, or is it correct?

Muchos gracias for a tremendous resource!

Cheers,

John

Intersting, I tried to post the word ****, which I can use on the chat, for example, but not here. - 00494d19, Dec 12, 2009

Answer 1

Hey John,

That is a really good question. I asked some people I know and they said that, saying, "Esta es mi perra" Would not be offensive to a woman. Now if you are saying "Esta es mi perra." And a woman would come, then there is a problem! lol Its just really the way you address the meaning.

I hope I made it rather clear to you!

Thanks Angel

Answer 2

"Esta es mi perra" not the kind of thing you'd say to a Mexican three year old in front of mom, or is it correct?

HI John, I don't know about Mexico, but I would find this attitude rather silly. In Spanish perra is used very commonly and normally, and if you say:

Esta es mi perra.

Nobody will think you are talking about a woman in the context given.

Answer 3

Neither would I hesitate to use the word "****" to refer to a female dog in front of a 3 year old. They are unlikely to know the derogatory connotation and it's a good time to teach them the correct use of the word. If Mom seems to not understand your usage then it's never to late "to teach an old dog a new trick".

I'm a little insulted the the editor blanked out the word. Maybe it's time to educate the editor - 0074b507, Dec 12, 2009

Answer 4

I grew up with a mother who raised and showed dogs. Breeding was common and I have always known the word***** to be a female dog.

Funny story: I was in high school many moons ago and I worked in a day care after school and full time during the summers. I always worked with the three-year old class. One day this little girl named Kendra ran up and threw her arms around me. Now this little girl was cute; she had light blonde pigtails and blue eyes that were enormous. After throwing her arms around me and giving me a bear hug she proceeded to exclaim loudly, " You are such a *****!!"

I had to try my hardest not to laugh and put her in time out.

Answer 5

Such is the inevitable result of prudery/"over-niceness". Words with long accepted meaning (and precise designation) are branded "impolite"/"unacceptable" by people (who, for the most part, are ignorant of a language and its history). This exemplifies the ultimate rule of the "lowest common denominator" in speech. Those that know better (and actually understand the meaning of a word) should bow to the preferences/prejudices/misunderstandings of those who are ignorant of (or do not wish to acknowledge) the traditional meanings.

Answer 6

I'm a little insulted the the editor blanked out the word. Maybe it's time to educate the editor - qfreed

What is really surprising, is the lack of consistency in this sense, Quen. Make a search for this word on the flashcards...I don't want to include one here but there are a lot of sets, and used the insulting way.

so either you block this word or you don't.