Why Are People Searching For The Meaning Of 'Pico Grande?' The Viral Video And Meaning Behind The Spanish Slang Term
There are plenty of words that trip up anyone who's learning Spanish. For instance, an American traveling through Latin America posted a video on TikTok trying to order food in a local restaurant in Chile, but he asked for the wrong thing while talking in Spanish, saying "¿tienes pico grande?"
The video went viral on the platform, leading to an increase in searches on Google for the meaning of "pico grande." If you're planning to visit a Spanish-speaking country soon, save yourself the embarrassment and read this article to understand what that phrase means.
Where Did The 'Pico Grande' Video Come From?
TikTok user @gringo_ql is an American currently living in Chile with his son and partner, and he uses social media to share his point of view on Latin American culture and his experiences dealing with new situations in a foreign country.
One situation in special caught the attention of Spanish speakers in which he is trying to order food in a local restaurant, but ends up saying the wrong name of a dish called "pico de gallo," instead he saying "pico grande." The video garnered over 5.6 million plays in three weeks.
So What's The Actual Meaning Of 'Pico Grande' And Why Is It So Humorous?
Without the context, "pico grande" can be translated as "big peak," in reference to a large field or mountain-like terrain. However, the word pico in the "pico de gallo" food, means rooster's beak in Spanish. In Chile, also, pico is a local slang term for something else entirely, meaning that the American asked the waiter for a "big p*nis."
Some people in the video's comment section (seen below) shared their thoughts on the American's unfortunate mistake.
Another user praised the waiter for not laughing at the man.
For the full details on TikTok, be sure to check out our entry here for even more information.
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Cannedlaughter
From what I gathered the “pico de gallo” is called as such because of the spiciness of the dish. It’s supposed to be this extra pizzaz added to your meal that has a kick to it. Kinda like being stung by the beak of a rooster, hence the term. So when the pico de gallo isn’t spicy it becomes a point of mockery or ridicule because the rooster has no bite/ the beak is softened, etc.
El__Sanx
Chilean/mexican/many other latin american countries citizen here. Allow me to explain:
First, "pico de gallo" is a mexican type of salsa, made of dices tomatoes, onions serrano chiles and lemon juice. While it's consumed in many other latin american countries, it's mostly sold in mexican restaurants as part of mexican cuisine.
Second, in this case "pico" means beak, like the ones birds have; "pico de gallo" means rooster's beak. In other contexts "pico" can mean peak, like a mountain, but this is not the case.
Third, ONLY IN CHILE "pico" is slang for penis, it is not in other spanish speaking countries. There are many other slang words for the ol' ding dong across said countries, like polla, verga, carajo, pinga, güevo, poronga… but pico only works for Chile.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Mateus
Super thanks for all the extra info, much appreciated <3
Excitebot theLEGO
So the Hispanic side of KYM can probably explain it better, but from my research, "pico" in the context of "pico de gallo" actually means "beak" instead of "peak".
I was surprised to find that "pico de gallo" has nothing to do with tomatoes or salsa, but instead means "beak of rooster" , referring to the shape your fingers make when eating it by hand.
Anyways, that's just one gringo's take out of this. I think it would benefit this news article to explain "pico de gallo" itself, and what that means.
Mateus
For sure! Will add the info about "pico de gallo" in the article :)