Comments on: What is a "perpendadore"?

Question: What is a "perpendadore"?

mattbucher — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:04:17 -0800

What's this Spanish word? In the first bit of "The Ghost Map," Steven Johnson says: "Where wages remain depressed, scavenging remains a vital occupation; witness the perpendadores of Mexico City." I can find no record of "perpendadores." What word is he talking about here? Is it a misspelling?

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:14:36 -0800

Looks like a misspelling: the word is pepenador(es), "scavenger(s)."

By: mattbucher

mattbucher — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:18:41 -0800

OK, great. Thanks.

By: clearlydemon

clearlydemon — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:35:48 -0800

Just to expand a bit, the verb pepenar comes from the nahuatl word pepena: "to choose". The modern use means to grab or pick up.

It's a Mexican word, I don't think you'd hear it in other countries.

By: signal

signal — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:16:38 -0800

Datapoint: chilean, never heard it before.