When used by a girl, at least in Mexico, it means that you’re a hottie. Papi is a slang word that means literally “daddy”. What does it mean when a Spanish girl calls you papa? yes, el papá is father la papa is potato. The English “baby,” used as a term of endearment for spouses and children alike, is similar.Ĩ Answers. Papi is a colloquial term for “daddy” in Spanish, but in many Spanish-speaking cultures, particularly in the Caribbean, it is often used as a general term of affection for any man, whether it’s a relative, friend, or lover. Zayn Malik, previously of One Direction, is a popular zaddy. It appears that it has less to do with age. While a daddy is an attractive older man, a zaddy is a man “with swag” who is attractive and also fashionable. Use it to compliment a part of someone’s outfit or to tell someone you think they look cute today. In Mexican Spanish, chulo/chula is the word you’re looking to use if you find something (or someone, but in a kind, non-sexual nor romantic way) really pretty. Its male counterpart is papi chulo, for a “ladies’ man.” What is the female version of Papi Chulo?Ĭhula is often seen in the phrase mami chula, a Spanish form of “hot mama” for a sexy woman. By the 1990s, this term was used to refer to low-income gangsters, low-income immigrant laborers and Mexican-Americans. It was used to refer to an effeminate man or pimp in the 1980s. A direct translation of papi chulo from Spanish is “pimp daddy,” with papi being a diminutive form of “father” (and used like “baby”) and chulo meaning “pimp” but also “attractive,” “cocky,” or “cool” in colloquial settings. Plus, her version is probably better.Getty. She rarely knows the actual lyricsto songs, but is good at faking it until she makes it. Isha Damle is a junior television, radio, film major. That may be why Sean Paul is on the English track in the first place, but in an increasingly diverse United States, where an enormous percentage of the country speaks and appreciates Spanish, perhaps it is time for the American music industry to promote opening itself up to Spanish music rather than adapting it for its own satisfaction. The Spanish version’s lack of representation on the part of Sean Paul allows for further appreciation of the music in itself, which possibly may be too slow for an American audience. This is quite unlike Enrique’s English version of “Bailando,” where Sean Paul’s heavy infringements on the song punctuate most of it and take away from the otherwise smooth mix of vocals, instrumentals and percussion found in both versions. Prince Royce’s two versions are one of the few times where both have the same effect- they want to make you dance and just have a general good time. This is possibly because the chorus of both versions is nearly the same, involving Prince Royce saying “baby, back, back, back, it up,” followed by J Lo stating, “damelo, Papi Chulo”, which, if you want, you can look up the meaning of on your own. In “Back It Up,” which features Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez, both the English and Spanish versions are fun - not something that always happens.
When artists do this, not only do they lose the original charismatic flavor of the song, but the meanings of the lyrics often don’t match up in the same way rhythmically, requiring for an entirely different meaning to be written in English. Two of his more recent hits, “Bailando”, and “El Perdón” (cornily known in the English version as “The Forgiveness”) have been released first as the original Spanish version and later as an English version. Shakira has done it in the past with songs like “Suerte” and “Loca,” and Enrique Iglesias has been known to do so as well. While the rhythm and vocals are essentially the same, somehow, the character of the song isn’t. When translating originally Spanish lyrics to their English version, the quality usually becomes lost in translation and are simply not as good as the original. With the recent release of his song “Back It Up,” New York City born singer-songwriter Prince Royce has gained popularity with English-only speaking audiences, as the artist, who is known for his Spanish-only tracks, released the hit in both languages.