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/Sounds like "ah" (as in "art") + "SEHR" (as in "set") + "seh" (as in "set") + "EHL" (as in "egg") + "dee" (as in "deep") + "FEE" (as in "feet") + "seel" (as in "see")/

Meaning

In Spanish-speaking cultures, to unnecessarily complicate things or play hard to get, putting up obstacles that don't need to exist and making everyone else work harder for a simple yes.

Examples

Stop playing hard to get and just tell me what you want.

He always makes everything complicated, total prima donna.

Regional synonyms

To die, to kick the bucket. In Mexico, petatear comes from petate, the woven mat on which the poor were laid to die or were buried on. It's darkly poetic slang, blunt and black-humored about death.