Pellejo VS piel

Question

From the dictionary

salvar el pellejo -> to save one's skin

estar/ponerse en el pellejo de otro -> to be/put oneself in someone else's shoes

I heard it used this same way,

Es solo que quieres salvar tu propio pellejo. Is it only used figuratively for skin?

Answer 1

pellejo:

Concise Oxford Spanish Dictionary © 2009 Oxford University Press:

pellejo sustantivo masculino

(piel — de animal) skin, hide;

(— de persona) (fam) skin (colloq);

estar/ponerse en el ~ de algn (fam) to be/put oneself in sb's shoes;

no ser or no tener más que ~ (fam) to be all skin and bone (colloq)

(fam) (vida) neck (colloq);

jugarse or arriesgar el ~ to risk one's neck (colloq)

(odre) wineskin

Diccionario Espasa concise inglés-español © 2000 Espasa Calpe:

pellejo m (piel) skin

(padrastro) hangnail

? Locuciones: arriesgar/jugarse el pellejo, to risk one's neck

estar en el pellejo de alguien, to be in sb's shoes

salvar el pellejo, to save one's skin

Well, I can look at dictionaries all day, but real world experience is what I'm really after, dictionaries don't tell the whole story of how something is used. No offense, I appreciate your contributions. - jeezzle, Dec 25, 2011

lol no worries, unfortunately here in NZ I have more dictionaries at my disposal than I do Spanish speakers lol :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 25, 2011

I was just highlighting that both dictionaries list pellejo as skin but as you wondered it seems like generally it refers more to animals but can be used to refer to humans colloquially :) - Kiwi-Girl, Dec 25, 2011

Yeah, it seems mostly figurative but I'm not sure. - jeezzle, Dec 25, 2011

This is a good way to put it. I'd agree that "pellejo" could be best understood as meaning "hide". You'd not normally use it to mean "my skin", as in "I got this wonderfully soft skin thanks to this lamb placenta cream" - Gekkosan, Dec 25, 2011

In that context you'd use skin / piel, never hide / pellejo. Pellejo is also used to mean gristle, as what you can't chew in a piece of steak. - Gekkosan, Dec 25, 2011