pincha

What it means

1. 1.

   A job, work, the place you go in the morning. Voy pa' la pincha — I'm off to work.

2. 2.

   The verb pinchar, to work. Pincho en un hospital — I work in a hospital. Nothing to do with the state salary being worth working for, which is a separate conversation Cubans will happily have with you.

Examples with translations

• Mañana no tengo pincha, es domingo.

  I'm not working tomorrow, it's Sunday.

• Lleva veinte años pinchando en la misma empresa.

  He's been working at the same place for twenty years.

Where it comes from

From pinchar, literally 'to prick or puncture'. The route to 'work' is not documented; the most plausible reading is the clocking-in card being punched. The word is Cuban and Canarian, and is not the same as Spain's pinchar, 'to DJ'.

Other forms

Spellings and variants:

pinchar