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pachuco

[ puh-choo-koh; Spanish pah-choo-kaw ]

noun

plural pachucos [p, uh, -, choo, -kohz, pah-, choo, -kaws].
  1. a Mexican American member of a young street gang subculture popular during the first half of the 20th century and known for its flamboyant style and fashion, similar in many ways to the zoot-suit subculture.


Pachuco

/ pəˈtʃuːkəʊ /

noun

  1. a young Mexican living in the US, esp one of low social status who belongs to a street gang
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of pachuco1

First recorded in 1940–45; from Spanish (Mexico, southwestern U.S.) : probably originally a resident of El Paso, Texas, equivalent to (El) Pas(o) + -uco pejorative noun suffix, with expressive replacement of s by ch; compare Mexican Spanish pachuco “worthless card hand,” derivative of paso “pass”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of pachuco1

C20: from Mexican Spanish
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Example Sentences

A video of Vietnamese men dressed in pachuco style has gone viral on social media, sparking conversations about appropriation and who gets to partake in the culture.

You can track the evolution of these shapes back to the 1940s and ’50s pachuco down to the cholos of the present day.

To be clear: Not all pachucos were gang members, nor did all gang members dress like pachucos.

But other pachucos saw that CC had gotten away with something.

The Mexican immigrant was familiar with zoot suits through the films of the Mexican comedian Tin-Tan, who satirized pachuco culture in a series of films in the 1940s and 1950s.

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