Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  When she was young, Rosalba’s brothers picked on her.  She wanted to fight with them but her mother always told her this proverb so that she would calm down.

Text:

Meyor un loco y no dos.

Transliteration: Better to have one crazy person and not two.

Translation: It’s better to have one crazy than two.

Analysis:

This proverb suggests that someone who fights back is as crazy as the person who picks on them.

Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  Rosalba’s mother would use this proverb whenever two persons were talking, but each one only spoke about what interested themselves instead of the other person’s interest.

Text:

Cada loco con su tema.

Transliteration: Every crazy person with his theme.

Translation: They are talking past each other.

Analysis:

This proverb likens obsession with an interest, to the point of being able to engage in someone else’s interests, to insanity.

Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  Rosalba’s father uses this proverb to describe her.  She tends to be quiet during the day but is energetic at night.  It is generally used to describe a person who is very quiet and inactive during the day, at school or at work, but has a lot of energy and is ready to go for excitement at night.

Text:

Eres como la linterna, nomás de noche brillas.

Transliteration: You are like the lantern that sparkles at night only.

Translation: You are a night owl.

Analysis:

This proverb actually paints being energetic at night, though at the cost of productivity during the day, as a good quality that “sparkles.”

Informant:

I had a conversation about proverbs they had learned from their families with three female employees at a local taco shop during one of the less busy times of the day.  Mercedes Rodriguez, 42, Maria Lopez, 23, and Rosalba Valdez, 18 each consider themselves Mexican.  Rosalba was the only one born in the United States, though she is a second generation immigrant.  Mercedes’ mother would use this proverb regarding her father whenever he got angry about something or began talking big.

Text:

No es tan fiero el león como lo pintan

Transliteration: The lion is not as fierce as he is described

Translation: His bark is worse than his bite.

Analysis:

What I find most notable about this proverb is that it talks about lions, though (as far as I can tell) there are no lions in Mexico.  Consequently, this is probably a more modern proverb.