In English, when we fast forward part of a story, we use “Blah blah blah” (and a few other fun phrases).
However, I kinda like the Mexican version: Sha la la, Sha la la
Example:
Much more sing-songy, doncha think?
I dunno if these kids have become at all popular in the US yet, but for the last few months the Vazquez Sounds have been taking Mexico by storm. This family of 3 kids became famous with their cover songs on YouTube, and they are really good! (and adorable)
The one thing that bothers me, as my hermosa amiga Jessica from Mexican At Heart pointed out, is that all their cover songs thus far have been English songs… and the lead girl seriously needs to improve her accent. I’m not saying all Mexicans should speak English, but if you want to make a living off of doing cover songs in English… learn English! You can tell she just memorizes the sounds and doesn’t really know what she’s singing.
Accent pickiness aside, they’re really good, especially because they sing a lot of my favorite songs. Check out the Vazquez Sounds:
What do you think? Amazing? Sickeningly cute? Annoying accent? Charming accent?
Found this last night while Christmas shopping, courtesy of the ladies’ room at Sears in Plaza Las Americas, Cancun.
Enjoy!
In yet another one of the fascinating mysteries of Mexican slang, I bring you… the -azo.
This phenomenon is quite possibly my favorite part of learning Mexican Spanish. It’s not something they’ll teach you in school, even though it’s part of everyday language. I think the reason I love the -azo so much is because it’s so incredibly convenient, yet we have nothing like it in English.
Here’s the gist of it: Add the ending -azo onto any tangible noun, and it will translate to something like “a punch/hit/slap with a …”
I’ll give you some examples.
Mi hermano me dio un codazo = “My brother hit me with his elbow.”
Le dio un cabezazo al balón. = “He gave the ball a hit with his head.” (Often used in soccer, it’s the equivalent to the English term for heading the ball.)
A "cabezazo" by Chicharito (the David Beckham of Mexico)
My favorite is chancletazo, from the Mexican slang word chancleta, meaning “flip flop”. Jorge uses this one A LOT when killing cockroaches. Le voy a dar un chancletazo! = “I’m going to smash him with my flip-flop.”
A few other examples:
sartenazo = a blow with a frying pan
rodillazo = a hit from the knee
toallazo = a towel snap
puñetazo = a punch (from the word puño, meaning “fist”)
avionazo = an airplane crash
There are other more specific uses for this ending, but I won’t confuse you with the subleties quite yet. 🙂
Bottom Line: Add the -azo ending onto ANY TANGIBLE THING and it will make sense. Anything that could possibly come into physical contact with you. Seriously.
When I moved to Mexico 6 years ago, I had a pretty good grasp on the language after 7 years of Spanish classes. I would soon find out that in Mexico, there were thousands of local words and phrases that I had yet to learn.
One word that perplexes me to this day is ahorita. Most of you have probably heard the Spanish word ahora, meaning “now”. In Spanish, there are also diminutive words ending in -ito, -ita, -itos and -itas (depending on plurality and word gender). When adding these endings onto a word, it implies that something is small. So the word “ahorita” would directly translate to something along the lines of “little now”.
I first learned that ahorita means “right now”. Ahorita lo hago would translate to “I’ll do it right now.” Easy, right? It’s just a matter of quick memorization of one commonly-used phrase!
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
For months, a Mexican might tell me “ahorita lo hago” and I would be confident it was being done right away. Sometimes, however, nothing happened for hours or even days, causing this gringa to get pretty encabronada. Eventually I was told that ahorita actually has two meanings… it can mean “right now”, but it can also mean “in a little while”. WHAT?
Six years later, I’m still bothering Jorge every time he says “ahorita lo hago“. My response is always, “ahorita, ahorita? O ahorita al rato?” (Ahorita right now? Or ahorita later?) Luckily Jorge’s ahorita usually means “within the next half hour”. I guess I still haven’t figured out the subtle nuances of the Mexican people.
"No te preocupes, amor... ahorita lo hago!"
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