Thread: Madrear

Maria, if you merely say "Chicano". the meaning should be clear.

It can be argued that even "Chicano" has variants. Years ago I visited some cousins in Southern Colorado. ("Chicano", by the way, is merely slang for "Mexicano". For non-believers reading this, how else would you explain that the Caló/Chicano word for Mexicali is "Chicali"?) Anyway, I was amazed at the difference in terminology for animals and plants between California and Colorado. The only one that comes to mind at the moment is "guajalote". In Mexico, a guajalote is a turkey, but that's what my cousins were calling a water snake. Around here (I live in Costa Rica), a turkey is a "chompipe". Oh, let me add something else. Caló here (I've heard Costa Ricans pronounce it "Calo") is called "Pachuco". And a pachuco here is someone of limited education, more or less what is also called a "polo". In Chicano Caló, a pachuco is someone from El Pachuco (also called El Pasiente), better known to most as El Paso. Many associate the work "pachuco" with "batos locos".

Sometime around 1970-1980, I believe Natonal Geographic had a piece on Hispanics in New Mexico/Colorado. A Spanish priest said that the Spanish spoken in Northern New Mexico had changed little from the language of Spain of about 1600. Remember, that area was populated by the Spanish before the Pilgrims decided to land near that big rock. Should this surprise us? I believe pockets of Irish dialects have been found in the South of the USA that have changed little over the past two hundred years or so.

Do you know East Los Angeles? Prior to World War II, it seems to have been home to large Jewish and Japanese communities. Remnants can still be found in the Boyle Heights area. In the 1970s I took kempo and kendo (Japanese martial arts) classes at the Rafu Chuo Gakuen, a Japanese language school in that area. The aunt of a friend taught koto (Japanese harp) in the same area. And I recall seeing a Jewish retirement home on South Boyle, near the International Institute. I wonder if the book you are reading goes into that. Today you can get along quite well there without knowing one word of English, if you speak Spanish.

Get your hands on a DVD of "Born in East L.A." You'll find several snapshots of East L.A. in the film. You'll cringe at some of the stereotypes, but, when the DVD ends and you turn the lights back on, I bet you're going to tell your friends to watch it too. Great film!

Originally Posted by mariaklec

A proposito: En españa, compré una playera para mi hijo que dice "Qué caló." Creía (me lo dijeron) que tiene algo que ver con el tiempo, el calor. Es un juego de palabras? ¿Tiene algo que ver con el significado de caló que nos explicó Thomas?

Hola María, ¿a qué te refieres con una playera? Zapatillas?

Mis estudiantes usan "playera" para camiseta (T-shirt).

Originally Posted by mariaklec

Mis estudiantes usan "playera" para camiseta (T-shirt).

Hola Maria: Pues no lo entendía y a que por aquí se dice camiseta.

Playeras son zapatillas por aquí.



Y en efecto, "qué caló" es qué calor, eso se pronuncia así en la zona de Andalucia.

Gracias por la informacíon, Exxcéntrica.
Espero que estés bien (y tambien todos los miembros del foro por supuesto), con lo de la gripe y todo eso.
Maria