Mexican Lifestyles

What the devil happened to the world’s best climate? 

Logging on to Facebook early this week, I was greeted with a personalized “Happy Friends Day” message, posted to mark the 12th birthday of the acknowledged leader in social media.

1966

January 6, The Colony Reporter completed two full years of publication. Editor Bob Thurston remembered some of the accomplishments and gains made. 

Chucho. Pancho. Nacho. Lupe. Cuca. If you live in Mexico, chances are you know at least one of these people. 

Have you ever wondered where their nicknames come from? “Many abbreviated names have their origin in infantile language,” explains Professor Jose Luis Iturrios, an applied linguistics specialist at the Universidad de Guadalajara. “The child pronounces an abbreviated name like Nacho [from Ignacio] and the family ends up saying Nacho too ... and finally as adults, everyone remembers Nacho ... [These nicknames] are already standardized and aren’t going to change.”

Forget the dictionary definition, the most precise translation of mañana is “not today.” The term al rato means “in a while,” al ratito, “in a little while.” The word ahorita can signify right now, a few minutes from now, or any time in the foreseeable future. 

I sometimes joke that driving around lakeside is a lot like testing one’s skills in those old arcade auto play stations or a new-fangled video game, only the hazards here are real and points count on a life-or-death scale.