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In many Spanish-speaking countries, the word burro has many uses. It can mean donkey, it can mean a big burrito, or even a stubborn person. But in the school context, to ser burro / ser burra for female students, means something very specific: the least smart or the laziest student in the classroom. In other words, the student who does not study, does not answer the teacher’s questions, and always gets the lowest grades.
This meaning of burro is very common in Mexico. Teachers used it, students repeated it, and parents understood it. In some classrooms, there was even the expression el burro del salón, almost like a title given to the student who was the weakest academically. Of course, today teachers are more careful with this kind of word, but for generations, this was part of the Mexican school vocabulary.
Now, is this only in Mexico? Not at all. The truth is that in most Spanish-speaking countries people will understand what ser un burro means, but it was especially strong in Mexico, almost part of the educational culture. In other countries, people may prefer words like tonto, torpe, or perezoso. Still, the image of the donkey as a symbol of stubbornness or lack of intelligence exists in many places.
In English, the closest equivalent in the classroom is dunce. This word was used in the United States and England for the weakest or dumbest student. A long time ago, some schools even used the dunce cap, a tall paper cone hat that the student had to wear in the corner as a punishment and humiliation. In Mexico, el burro or la burra had to wear a crown with donkey’s ears attached to it. Today, of course, this practice is considered unacceptable, but it shows the similarity with the Mexican burro.
So, burro and dunce are cultural cousins. Both represent the same figure: the student who does not learn, does not pay attention, or cannot keep up with the class. Both words also show how education systems in the past often used shame and labels as part of discipline. Today, teachers prefer other methods, but the expressions are still alive in the popular language.
If someone in a Spanish-speaking country says eres un burro, it usually means “you are dumb” or “you don’t study.” But in the context of the classroom, it has a very clear image: A bad student.
In fact, the image of the donkey as the “dunce” is not only Mexican or Spanish. In French they say âne with the same meaning, and in Italy asino is used in schools to call someone who is not very smart. In Portuguese burro works just like in Spanish, and in Romanian the word măgar (donkey) is also used for an ignorant or rude person. So across many Romance languages, the donkey became the classic symbol of the bad student.
El Burro, French illustration of the 1800s.
Spanish: burro is the classic insult for a bad student or dunce. “Ser burro en la escuela” means being the least smart.
French: âne (donkey) has long been used the same way. Even in the 19th century, “tête d’âne” or just âne meant “dunce.”
Italian: asino (donkey) works like Spanish burro. In schools, “fare l’asino” = “act like a dunce.”
Portuguese: burro also means donkey and is used for someone stupid or ignorant, just like in Spanish.
Romanian: the word is măgar (donkey), and it also has a figurative meaning for someone rude, ignorant, or dumb.
