There's been lots of chatting about the name Pajero and why Mitsubishi picked that name for the wonderful little SUV we have grown to love and hate :-)

We have been chatting about it in a few other threads over the years but I thought I would post in a seperate thread what I have found in regards to the name.

Here's an excerpt from an article I found on-line:

For the curious, the Spanish word pajero means æwankerÆ, from paja meaning æwankÆ (literally, æstrawÆ), in the expression hacerse una paja, (literally æto do oneself a strawÆ). These slang expressions come from the fact that both a straw and the penis are similar in being pipe-like. It is the first meaning to come to mind to Spanish speakers in both Spain and the majority of Latin America.

Pajero has some non-rude agricultural meanings, referring to someone selling or transporting straw or (in the Canary Islands dialect) the barn where it is kept. These are the original meanings of the word, but not common these days. It is also an obscure nickname for people from Santo Domingo de la Calzada in La Rioja, presumably due to historical straw production in the village.

In the dialects of Nicaragua, Colombia and Guatemala, paja is used to mean ætapÆ (i.e. the end of the æpipeÆ), and so, in Nicaragua at least, a pajero is a plumber, to the mirth of other Spanish-speakers.

However, none of these rude or innocent meanings gave the vehicle its name. There is a feline, scientifically classified as Oncifelis colocolo, which is known in Spanish as the gato pajero (ægrass catÆ) or gato de las pampas (æPampas catÆ). It is similiar to the ocelot and hunts small animals in the reeds and grasslands of South America. There are several subspecies, including Oncifelis colocolo colocolo found in central Chile and Oncifelis colocolo pajeros found in central Argentina. In this official press release in Japanese (media.mitsubishi-motors.com/pressrelease/j/products/detail310.html), Mitsubishi explains that they got the name for the vehicle from the latter subspecies, which they call by its short name Felis pajeros. The Pampas cat featured on the emblem on early Pajero SUVs.

Genteel sources such as the BBC claim that pajero means æmasturbatorÆ, which is incorrect given that it is offensive slang, just like the English term. The pronunciation of Pajero tends to be anglicised to æpuh-JEER-ohÆ, but the original Spanish is quite different: very approximately æpah-HAIR-ohÆ. It is the anglicised pronunciation that is used as the basis of Japanese (pa je ro) and Chinese (pÓ jiÚ lu¾).

The Mitsubishi Pajero was renamed Montero (æhunter in the mountainsÆ) in Spain and the Americas, and ù strangely ù Shogun (æJapanese warlordÆ) in the UK; but people in other parts of the world, including Australia and continental Europe, drive about cars which proudly proclaim their driver to be a Pajero in lettering along the side.