Chilango - 10 phrases you use but you don't know where they come from

July 15, 2014

By: Contributor

Every day we use phrases that are part of our popular language and have become so naturalized that we hardly ever stop to think: And where the hell does this come from? Some time ago we brought you the origin of phrases such as "one eye to the cat and another to the scribble" or "the fat has already been armed" [read that article here]. Now we bring you a second batch of these phrases, because language is a world and we are very idle.

“Andar hecho mocha”

Let's go back to the time when the railways had just arrived in Mexico. The locomotives were huge and imposing, but whoever says that size doesn't matter is very wrong. Their weight was their Achilles heel, making them slow and impractical for certain tasks. A short time later, smaller locomotives arrived, destined to carry out local tasks within the stations. They didn't have the huge lines of wagons like the others, so they were much faster. These “mochas” locomotives gave rise to the phrase “go hecho la mocha”, that is, go quickly.

“École cua!”

You know you're barrio and retro when instead of saying “exactly!” you say “école cua!”. To think that this expression sounds quite strange, it has a cultured origin. This interjection that denotes that we have hit the nail on the head has Italian origin, and is the Mexicanization of the expression “eccolo qua”, which could be translated as “here it is”. Which means that we finally found the solution to a big problem, expressing surprise and delight.

“Eres un culero”

The word “culero” has different meanings depending on the geographical latitude. While in Spain it is an adjective given to the assholes who leave everything to the last, in Mexico we use it to designate a malicious person. Being a culero is being bad like pork with cysticerci. But where does the word come from? In Cuba, culero is a synonym for diaper. In other words, what you put in the baby's ass. When we adopted the term in Mexico, we did it in the most literal sense: a culero is a person full of wed…e. Now everything makes sense.

“Give flight to the lint”

This phrase was used by our grandmothers to say that someone was in the wrong steps. The word "hilacha" literally means "piece of thread that comes off the cloth." The RAE also points it out as "residue or vestige". Thus, giving flight to the thread means committing acts that will end up destroying or wearing down the fabric without measuring the consequences. A more current equivalent would be "go as a stocking thread." Or let yourself go like a goat in glassware. Or as a fat woman in a slide. Not if for phrases, Mexicans are fine.

“Putting a pig in a poke”

chilango - 10 phrases you use but don't you know where they come from

Although Tepito paints itself only for piracy, this phenomenon was not born in Barrio Bravo nor is it exclusive to our times. The phrase "taking a poke" is a constant reference in the literary works of the Golden Age in Spain, Quevedo being one of the authors who used it the most. This phrase was used because in hospederías or inns, in order to save a little money, sometimes meat of dubious origin was used, even replacing rabbit or kid with cat meat.

To reassure their diners, the owners of the establishments recited the following incantation at the table: “if you are a kid, stay fried; if you are a cat, jump to the plate”. And since the meat never jumped, it was assumed that it was not cat meat. How do you see it from there?

“There's a cat locked up here!”

Since we're cats, the phrase “here's a cat locked up” has a curious origin. Although we imagine a nice feline being a victim of confinement, the word "cat" in that saying refers to a bag where money is kept, the classic little bag of coins that we see in movies that portray the Middle Ages. When people wanted to travel with a little money without being robbed on the roads, they sewed these little bags with money somewhere hidden in their clothes. When this secret bag was discovered, it was said "there is a cat locked up here" and the poor owner was stripped of his little coins.

“Dot the i's”

When we want to be thorough and insist that something must be clear and without a doubt, we say “dot the i's”. This phrase dates from the 16th century, when Gothic characters were still used to write the Spanish language. In those days, the letter "i" did not yet have the dot it has today and when two "i" were written in a row, it was very easy for it to be confused with the letter "u". So that this confusion did not exist, a tilde or “virgulilla” was placed over the letters i. Over time, that tilde became a simple and plain point. For this reason, so that no one comes out with the fact that Chuchita was bagged, it is always good to put the dots on the i's and thus avoid confusion.

[Also read the women's-Spanish dictionary]

“You are a bird of bad omen!”

The bird of bad omen (cousin of the meaplacas bird and the bird with soles) has an origin that dates back to ancient Rome. Although the Romanites seemed very civilized, they were actually very superstitious and made all their important decisions by consulting oracles. One of the most common divination rites was to predict events based on the flight of vultures or ravens. If the bird was the bearer of bad news, it was said to be a bird of bad omen. From then until now, this phrase is used to designate people who are salty.

The supporter, the one who makes you “la valona”.

Everyone in Chilangolandia knows that a supporter is the one who makes you stop, a true and authentic carnal. Although it sounds like a relatively recent phrase, he already appeared in the 1726 dictionary as a person who "supports, protects or sponsors". By extension, a trusteeship is a favor that gets you out of a bind. So a stop.

As Mexicans we are experts in deforming words by others that sound similar like “what passion?” or "what's up?" to say “what happened?”, making a validation became “making the walloon”. Curious fact: the walloon is a rhythm from Wallonia, a region in the south of Belgium and which, thanks to migrants, is now part of Michoacan folklore. It has nothing to do with the balls, even if you are missing the World Cup.

[read about the definition of “Mexican” here]

“In a heartbeat”

We have all (or almost) all been to a mass and felt the urge to get bitten eyes over and over again out of boredom. This is nothing new. Since the masses were officiated in Latin, people waited for the father's blessing to flee the premises. The expression “in a jiffy” refers to saying the last part of the expression “In nomine Patris,et Filii,et Spiritus Sancti, Amen” in a hurry, all in order to flee as quickly as possible from the church.

What's up chilangos, which of these did they know? What other phrases and their origins do you know or would like to know? In one of those, we threw the third part.

With information from: Collaborator