paila

What it means

1. 1.

   Done for; no good; too bad. 'Quedé paila' means I'm in trouble or I've had it, and a bare '¡Paila!' is the verdict that something has failed and nothing can be done.

2. 2.

   Used as a flat refusal or a shrug at someone else's misfortune, in which case it is distinctly unsympathetic — closer to 'tough luck' than to 'what a shame'.

Literally: A shallow cooking pan.

Examples with translations

• Se acabaron las boletas. — ¡Paila!

  The tickets sold out. — Well, that's that then.

• Si no entregas hoy, quedas paila.

  If you don't hand it in today, you're done for.

Where it comes from

From paila, a wide shallow pan. The route to 'ruined' is not documented and the connection may be sound rather than sense. It rose sharply among under-thirties from the 2000s onwards and still reads as young; a sixty-year-old using it is being playful.

First attested: 2000s in its current sense

Other forms

Similar terms:

jodido, chao