Meaning
In Puerto Rican slang, pichear means to ignore someone or something, pay it no attention, or dismiss a matter; the imperative pichea can mean roughly 'never mind it' or 'forget about it'.
How it is used
Puerto Rico's official tourism organization glosses pichear as ignoring someone or something and uses pichea for a dismissive 'never mind' meaning. This sense must be kept separate from the baseball verb pichear, which is widespread in the Caribbean and beyond.
Examples
- “Pichea eso y seguimos con el plan.”
- “Me escribió ayer, pero lo picheé porque estaba trabajando.”
Pronunciation
/pitʃeˈaɾ/ · pee-cheh-AR
Tone and register
Casual and dismissive. It can be playful among friends or sound rude when it describes deliberately ignoring a person, message, request, or obligation.
Visitor guidance
Visitors should recognize pichea as an informal 'forget it / never mind' cue but avoid using it in formal interactions. Context determines whether the speaker is lightly dropping a topic or pointedly ignoring somebody.
Cultural context
The modern Puerto Rican sense is highly visible in music and informal speech. Maperla keeps that sense separate from baseball vocabulary rather than using baseball etymology as proof for the later social meaning.
Places represented
Open the reviewed place guide for each regional sense carried by this canonical entry.