jamonear

What it means

1. 1.

   To grope someone in a crowd — on a packed bus, in a queue, at a concert — exploiting the press of bodies. The noun jamonero names the man who does it.

2. 2.

   Also used, much more mildly, of intense close dancing between a couple, which is where Cubans' jokes about the word come from.

Literally: To ham; from jamón, ham.

Examples with translations

• En la guagua hay que tener cuidado con los jamoneros.

  On the bus you have to watch out for gropers.

  Note: Said as practical advice, most often by women to younger women.

• Se pasaron la noche jamoneando en la pista.

  They spent the whole night grinding on the dance floor.

Where it comes from

From jamón, 'ham' — the image is of squeezing and handling meat. The dance sense and the assault sense have coexisted for decades, and the humour attached to the first has historically softened public reaction to the second, which Cuban feminists have pointed out at length.