paja

straw

la paja(

pah

hah

)

A feminine noun is almost always used with feminine articles and adjectives (e.g., la mujer bonita, la luna llena).

feminine noun

1. (dried grass)

a. straw

El cerdito hizo su casa de paja, pero el lobo la derribó.The little pig made his house out of straw, but the wolf blew it down.

b. hay

Nuestro caballo tiene una dieta constante de paja y verduras frescas.Our horse has a regular diet of hay and fresh vegetables.

2. (tube for drinking)

a. straw

Ella prefiere beber con una paja para evitar que el hielo entre en su boca.She prefers to drink through a straw to prevent ice from going into her mouth.

3. (padding)

a. filler

La mayoría del diario gratis es solo paja.Most of the free newspaper is just filler.

A word or phrase that is crude, indecent, and generally rejected by society.

(vulgar)

(act of masturbation)

a. hand job

A word or phrase that is commonly used in conversational speech (e.g., skinny, grandma).

(colloquial)

Su novia le hizo una paja.His girlfriend gave him a hand job.

b. wank

A word or phrase that is crude, indecent, and generally rejected by society.

(vulgar)

Regionalism used in the United Kingdom

(United Kingdom)

Pepe se hizo una paja en el parque.Pepe had a wank in the park.

This refers to an idiomatic word or phrase for which there is no word-for-word translation.

no direct translation

¿Te acabas de hacer una paja?Did you just jerk off?

Rodolfo está arriba haciéndose una paja.Rodolfo's upstairs jerking off.

A word or phrase that is commonly used in conversational speech (e.g., skinny, grandma).

(colloquial)

(bore) (River Plate)

a. drag

A word or phrase that is commonly used in conversational speech (e.g., skinny, grandma).

(colloquial)

El lunes empiezan las clases. ¡Qué paja!School starts next Monday. What a drag!

This refers to an idiomatic word or phrase for which there is no word-for-word translation.

no direct translation

Llovía tanto que nos dio paja ir a la fiesta y nos quedamos en casa.It was raining so hard we didn't feel like going to the party so we stayed home.

¿Quién puede sacar a pasear al perro? A mí me da paja.Who can take the dog out for a walk? I can't be bothered.

6. (nonsense)

Regionalism used in Central America: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama

(Central America)

Regionalism used in Mexico

(Mexico)

a. junk

No le hagas caso. Habla mucha paja.Don't pay attention to him. He talks a lot of junk.

Examples

Phrases

de paja	straw
color paja	straw straw-colored
hablar paja	to bullshit
eso es paja	bullshit
lecho de paja	litter
meter paja	to pad out
Es fácil ver la paja en el ojo ajeno y no la viga en el propio.	It's easy to see the mote in your brother's eyes, but fail to see the beam in one's own.