A loose, diaper-like garment or piece of cloth worn by gauchos and other peoples of the South American pampas, wrapped around the waist and between the legs.
From Spanish chiripa, derived from indigenous South American languages, particularly from Guaraní or Quechua roots referring to this traditional garment. The word entered English through accounts of South American colonial cultures.
The chiripa shows how colonizers got fashion all wrong at first—gauchos wore what looked to European eyes like a diaper but was actually perfectly practical for horseback riding in the hot pampas, and we literally took the local word for it!
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