Piropos in Nicaragua

By Ivan Suazo

Definition:Namely shouting out compliments or flirtatious remarks to a passing girl.It may involve crude metaphors referring to certain body parts, or all sorts of double entendres.

It also involves skills such as creativity.http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=PB2aMtHbCiU

Piropeando: “piropoing”

Setting

Must be in public with a crowd. Most commonly in the streets.Always in day time.

Participants

Decir un piropo: to say a piropo

A man

A woman

A crowd

Expirential Piropoing #1Chelita, si tus piernas fueran los rieles, no me imagino como será la terminal.

Chelita, If your legs were the train tracks, I can’t imagine the train station.

#2Muñeca, cantarito de arroz, si me das un beso, me caso con vos.

Muñeca, little bowl of rice, if you gave me a kiss, I will marry you.

Act Sequence

Tirarse un piropo: throw a piropo at her

A man spots a womanHe performs cues

He would approach her

He delivers the piropo when they cross paths

The crowd observes

Act Sequence (cont.)

Accept Reject No Respon

seSmile orAcknowledge him

Turn around Keep walking

Keep walking Cross the street

Ignore him

Yell/try to hit him

Act Sequence (cont.)

Crowd ReactsApprove, positive commentsDisapprove, laugh/ instruct him/ look away

Participants return to what they were doing

interaction and

interpretations

Andar piropeando: to go saying piropos

to married or unmarried women

delivered as close to her as possible

Acceptance v. rejection behavior said it loud enough for the crowd he sneaks up on her must be said when side by side

Interpretations

Norms (cont.)

touching might be involved non-standard Spanish exclamations as an introduction foreign women could be targeted the perception of offensiveness varies by social class

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXfczqCioyI

it can be said to a group of women

Ends: outcomes/goalsMan: outcomes approval from crowd prove his macho status show off his creativity

Man: goal get his piropo accepted

Ends (cont.)

Woman: goal accept or reject the piropo

Woman: outcome

No outcome

Ends (cont.)Crowd: outcome judge the outcome of the speech act

Crowd: goal promote macho behavior

Key

Hacerle caso a un piropo: listen to a piropo

romantic

loud and clear

sexy

singing or poetic tone

Ignorar un piropo: ignore a piropo

Instrumentalities orally

most frequent chunks with some rhyming

whistling / exclamation as an introduction

Quasi piropo

Piropo clásico: a classic piropo

the goal is to impress a woman said to a friend or a girlfriend in private, never in public

romantic and classic, no vulgar speech

Piropo failure

Challenging womanhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uc_65dy7-I&feature=related