Juan of Words

Mexi-Vocabulario: ¡Pipirisnais!

De la high… o sea de la alta sociedad.

The word pipirisnais is not in the dictionary.  That’s what you’ll get if you search the Real Academia Española’s website for a definition of this Mexican term.  Like many of our palabras, which one way or another have somehow gained popularity and an unofficial universal acceptance within our cultura for what they mean, pipirisnais is one of those words that cannot be very easily defined.

Therefore, probably the best way to express what pipirisnais means is to explain how or when it would likely be used.

Who better than Paris Hilton to demonstrate for us?

If you’re attempting to say something is a bit much, extra lavish, exaggeratedly expensive, or simply over the top, you might say ¡hay que pipirisnais! 

The Kardashians are pros at turning on the 'pipirisnais'.

If a certain somebody is acting extra snobbish or showing off more than they should, rubbing in your face how fancy or expensive their material possessions  might be, you might say no pues La Chela ya anda bien pipirisnais.  

From rags to riches. Marimar goes 'pipirisnais.'

Or in the case of telenovelas, when the dirt poor protagonist moves from the vecindad to the mansión, completely changes their wardrobe, and takes on a fleet of staff to do everything for them from now on, then all of the sudden the vecinos at the vecindario might simply refer to them as being pipirisnais.

Anything can be pipirisnais!  Yourself, your belongings, your parties, your pets, your thoughts, etc., etc., etc.  It’s quite the versatile adjective!

Though, sadly to be pipirisnais is not necessarily a compliment.

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