In
Puerto Rico, the meaning of
pendejo is much stronger. It refers to a guy who is "
pussy-whipped" to use the
crude expression, or to a guy whose
wife whores around in front of him; or to a
husband who puts his wife out on the
street to earn a little
extra money. I've never heard it used in a
jocular way, although it is relatively common as an
expletive, like
carajo ( = hell).
More than likely, the use of the word starts a fight where one man is
defending his
honor and the other is just trying to get away. I once saw two very
elderly men attempting to fight in the park after one of them called the other a
pendejo. They were so
infirmed that they both were holding onto the park bench to remain upright and swinging with the other hand. It was hardly likely that the "pendejo" had a living wife and, if she were alive, it would be highly unlikely she'd take on a lover for any reason. But the word is so
emotionally charged that its use was reason enough to start an
altercation.
I have it on fairly
good authority that the word originally meant
pubic hair, but I've never been able to confirm that in a
dictionary.