The word "garrotero" is a widely used word in Spanish and comes from "garrote", a thick stick generally used to hit or, to a lesser extent, as a cane. For this reason, the concept of "garrotero" is understood as a hitter.
However, it is also used in metaphorical or figurative terms to indicate that a person or business sells its very expensive items for the value that is really due.
Garrotero in Mexico comes to be a restaurant waiter. Source Pixabay.com
Meaning
According to the RAE
The Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE) has three possible definitions for "garrotero". In the first place, it indicates that it comes from the word "garrote" and that in Honduras it is an adjective that is synonymous with "nerd", a word that defines a student who puts a lot of effort into his activity. Similar to this, the concept is extended to any subject who puts a lot of effort into what he does.
The second meaning of the RAE for "garrotero" indicates that in Cuba it is used to call the individual who lends money, short-term money but with high interest.
Finally, the RAE has another localism to define “garrotero”, which is located in Murcia, Spain, where each of the stakes that form the sidewalls of a car that transports merchandise is called that. In all cases, its feminine version "garrotera" can also be used.
In Chile
However, these are not the only regionalisms of "garrotero". In Chile, it is used to call this the person who charges very high prices in his business, although the "bully" is also called that, being understood as the person who is a hitter or quarrelsome.
In Mexico
In addition, in Mexico a "garrotero" is the waiter or even an assistant of this. It is about the waiter who works in a restaurant and who serves diners, taking orders, serving food or cleaning the leftovers that are left on the table.
In any case, these tasks can be extended, so that a "garrotero" can give general help in the restaurant, such as giving his point of view in the preparation of the menu or giving support to the local team, either waiters or in the box, as in the kitchen.
In that country, the person in charge of handling the brakes of a railway is also called "garrotero", since the "garrote" is the stick that acts as a brake in them.
Finally, it should be noted that "garrotero" is also used to indicate that one person gives "clubs" to another, that is, that he beats or beats him.
Usage examples
- "After searching many places, I finally found work as a garrotero in the new neighborhood restaurant."
- "She really is a garrotera. She puts so much effort into what she does that she deserves to do well ”.
- "Of the 10% they only give us 5%, and we share that with the garrotero and cleaning staff."
- "She finally denounced her husband's garrotero, who every night beats her when he comes back drunk from the bar."
- "He plays the garrotero, but it's pure gossip."
- "When my grandfather arrived in the country, he got a job as a garrotero on the railroad."
- "Do not go to the shops on the avenue, they are pure garroteros who sell very expensive things."
- “I am so bad financially that no bank gives me a loan. That is why I had to resort to a "garrotero" despite the very high interest he charges me ".
- "I had a problem with the garrotero of the still life, so I called the manager of the premises to fix the situation."
- "The garrotero of the car broke because I put more weight than it supported."
- "Although the dollar influences products, the garroteros merchants have their share of the blame for the inflation we suffer."
- "Do you know a garrotero? I need money urgently and I can't go to the bank ”.
References
- Garrotero. (2019). Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy. Recovered from: dle.rae.es
- Garrotero. (2019). Brief Dictionary of Mexicanisms by Guido Gómez de Silva. Recovered from: academia.org.mx