Tag Archives: spanish

La Yegua de Moca

Context
LV is my grandmother, who was born in Moca, Puerto Rico. Her father was from Aguadila, Puerto Rico. Her mother was from Moca, Puerto Rico. Moca is a small town that’s 50 miles away from the major cities. It’s known for its landscapes and agriculture. LV lived there until she was 17 years old and now resides in Chicago, Illinois. She only speaks Spanish, but the following is translated into English in literal form.

Text

DO: When you were a little girl, do you remember any stories specific to your town that you loved.

LV: Yes. La Yegua de Moca (The Mare of Moca). It was my favorite. Mother told me it when I was a small girl. 

DO: What do you remember about it?

LV: It was about a girl. The girl was named Ramona and she was in love with a man who worked a finca (slang that translates into property or farm). She was rich and had beautiful things but he was poor. You know how these things go. She wanted to run away, and far. But her dad caught her and she was locked away. To escape and be with her love, to the devil she sold her soul. He turned her into the most beautiful white horse, but of course the devil is a trickster. She had to live forever like that. A white horse. You know how my town is all mountains and green, she had to wander as a horse in those mountains forever. 

DO: Wow. It’s a sad story, why do you like it so much?

LV: I don’t know, to tell you the truth. I like the idea of her being free at least in the way that she was free from her father. 

Analysis

This is a famous myth in Moca sometimes literally just being called “La Moca.” It’s part of the town’s cultural identity and connects with something important to them: agriculture and land. Both characters were tied to a farm in some way, Ramona was the daughter of a wealthy farm owner and her lover was a farm worker. This story shows the cultural beliefs about wealth and social status. Ramona’s father would rather have her locked away than be with someone in a lower class, showing how important status can be to this town. It also demonstrates how important religion is to Puerto Rico’s culture. Ramona sells her soul to the devil and thus is punished for the rest of her life. In Puerto Rican culture, God is everything. Having the character speak to the devil and then be punished for all eternity illustrates what they believe happens when you stray from God. 

No One is So Young…Nor So Old

Nadie es tan joven que no se pueda morir mañana, ni tan viejo que no pueda vivir un día más. (“No one is so young that they cannot die tomorrow, nor so old that they cannot live another day.”)

Context

MD is my roommate’s friend here at USC. She is originally from Miami Beach, Florida and has lived there her whole life. She was raised by Argentinian parents who immigrated to Florida when they were in their teenage years. She describes her parents as both free spirited and herself in the same fashion. 

Text

MD: I think my parents both always had these really poetic and pretty sounding sayings growing up just because of the type of people that they are. If I had to pick one I’d say, “Nadie es tan joven que no se pueda morir mañana, ni tan viejo que no pueda vivir un día más.”

DO (Interviewer): Can you explain more about that?

MD: Well a literal translation of it is “No one is too old that they can’t live another day, nor too young that they cannot die tomorrow.” My mom always says it to me. 

DO: What do you think the significance is to her? Or even what does it mean to you?

MD: My mom is a free spirit, live in the moment type of woman for sure. So I think this is her way of saying two things actually. The first part is saying you’re never too old to go after what you want. Never too old for adventure. The second part is more of a warning I guess. I think a lot of people, especially in our generation, have a “live fast, die young” mentality. To me this phrase is like a balance thing. Go after what you want because it’s never too late, but also remember that what you do can have consequences. 

Analysis

Even though the saying is in Spanish it has more of a lifestyle type of folklore than a cultural one. Societal norms may place certain restrictions or even uphold certain ideals based on age and common perceptions of certain age groups. This phrase can serve as a statement to break these ideas of what age means and go against the grain of what expectations are placed on you based on your age. Western culture has a notion of the youth being reckless and free and the older generations being wise and sometimes even sort of stagnant in their lifestyle. With phrases like these, it’s an encouragement to break these norms. Additionally, this phrase can stand to represent the importance of life itself, encouraging others to enjoy it while it’s here but also live in a way that lets you enjoy it as much as possible. It can also stand to talk about time and how we all have these ideas about it. Some believe they have a set amount of time here and others feel, in a sense, immortal. This phrase works to explore that. 

Joke/Riddle:How do you say pollo in English? And how do you say repollo in English?

Context: D also introduced me to this Spanish joke that they had learned from her childhood friends. D explained that “pollo” is chicken in Spanish, and “repollo” is cabbage in Spanish, so the joke is that people would answer chicken for the first question, and then rechicken for the second question. They told me that the joke would only make sense to people who were bilingual in both English and Spanish since it plays off of the similarities of both Spanish words and their English translations.

Analysis: After D explained the joke to me, I found it quite funny even though they thought it was silly since it was just a stupid joke they played on each other in grade school. It’s interesting how language works with jokes because they sometimes don’t work when translated. This actually reminded me of a joke that I heard from a family friend of mine that only bilingual people who speak both Mandarin and English would understand. You put up four fingers and ask the person what word you are putting up and they will usually respond with “four”. Then you bend your four fingers down and ask them again what word you are putting up and they usually get stumped, so you tell them that it’s “won-der-ful” putting emphasis on the “won” and pronouncing the “ful” similar to four. This is because the “won” sounds a lot like the mandarin word for bend is “弯”, so together it’s roughly translated to “bent four”. 

Que te pasa calabaza? Nada nada limonada

  1. Original Text: “Que te pasa calabaza? Nada nada limonada” (Spanish)
  2. Transliteration: “What is happening to you pumpkin? Nothing nothing lemonade”
  3. English translation: What’s up pumpkin? Nothing nothing lemonade”

Context: The informant is 18 and grew up in Barrington, Illinois. They are a freshman at USC, studying Theater and Anthropology. They learned this saying on the playground from friends in elementary school while involved in a dual language program in Spanish and English. “It’s ‘sort of like a greeting’”, the informant says, “similar to the popular English saying ‘see you later alligator, in a while crocodile’”. The informant describes that one person says “Que te pasa calabaza”, while another responds to the greeting by saying “Nada nada limonada”. 

Analysis: The informant is white, not Hispanic/Latino, but learned this saying from native Spanish-speaking children on the playground. There is a large percentage of Hispanic/Latino identifying individuals in the Chicago area (which includes Barrington), specifically those of Mexican descent. Therefore, the saying may be common in Mexican culture specifically, as well as in other Spanish-speaking countries. This saying reflects the playful nature of elementary-age children, taking delight in fun rhymes and games with their friends. Greetings are a way to indicate your relationship with another individual. Having a special saying in a shared language to exchange with your friends indicates closeness and shared culture. 

“El que se enoja no prospera”: Spanish proverb

  1. Original Text: “El que se enoja no prospera” (Spanish)
  2. Transliteration: “He who gets angry doesn’t prosper”
  3. English translation: “He who gets angry doesn’t prosper”

Context: The informant’s family is from Mexico, but her family currently resides in Concord, California. She is am 18-year-old freshman at USC studying Political Science. She says that this saying is a Mexican saying, and it is “all over Mexico, not just specific to one region”. She explains that it means “if you get angry, you’re just going to be stuck in it, and you can’t get ahead”. Her mother taught this phrase to her and her siblings when they were younger, and it stuck with her through all these years. The informant comes from a bilingual household, where Spanish and English are spoken.

Analysis: Per the informant, this saying is specific to Mexican culture. The fact that this saying was taught to the informant by a parent at a young age suggests that rejecting hate and keeping your peace is a value of Mexican society and culture. The message is instilled in children so they carry it through into adulthood — hopefully contributing this philosophy to their community. The saying is told by an adult to children, giving it more legitimacy and truth than if it were to be children saying it to other children. On another note, this particular saying uses the masculine pronoun “el”, which is indicative of Mexican (and overall Hispanic) patriarchal culture.