cuacholote

[Gabriel Castelan]

Hi..

I am Mexican from the center (nahuatl zone) of the country... Here we use
"cuachalote"  and just like Frye says: "Cuachalote, cuachalota. Individuo,
persona descuidada en el vestido y en el aseo corporal."
I think cuacholote is just the same word but with a little fonetic change
because of regionalism. I know some one who says "librillo" instead of
"lebrillo" but he refers to the same thing: a little container to get water
in order to wash your hands.

 Cuacha is the hen's excrement.

Axcan quema: Usualy we use the word as an adjective for describing careless
dressed people just like "fachoso", "pandroso", "desgargolado", "cochino",
"andrajoso", etc..



----- Original Message -----
From: "Juan Alvarez Cuauhtemoc" <tonantzn at CHORUS.NET>
To: <NAHUAT-L at LISTS.UMN.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 2:14 PM
Subject: Re: cuacholote


> As a Chicano growing up in a bordertown I oftentimes heard the word
> cua-cha-lote, not cua-cho-lote.  But the context and meaning was different
> than what Robert proposes.  Perhaps this has to do with regional
variations
> as he said.  In any case, cua-cha-lote was a "bad" word.  For example, the
> word, "cua-cha" in cua-cha-lote meant "caca" (shit).  So, if someone said
> "no vales cuacha."  It was the equivalent of saying "you are not worth
> shit."  So, if someone called another "cua-cha-lote" it was, depending on
> the context, either an insult or a cariñito.  Insult: "piece of shit."
> Cariñito: "Este cago todo a su padre, mi cua-cha-lotito."  ("He completely
> took after his father, my little piece of shit.")  In the nahuatlized
> mestizo background where I come from we inherited the use of inverted
> speech.  We, for example, used "papacito" to refer to its opposite -a
little
> boy.  Or hombre grande to refer to a small son.  When used with cariño
even
> the word "caca" meant its opposite -beauty.  So, to call someone with
> cariño -mi cua-cha-lotito was, in essence, to call him the opposite, a
> handsome boy.
>
>
> Juan Alvarez Cuauhtemoc
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "robert barkaloff" <robert at COATLI.COM>
> To: <NAHUAT-L at LISTS.UMN.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 1:26 PM
> Subject: Re: cuacholote
>
>
> > Joanna M. Sanchez wrote:
> >
> > > I am analyzing the Mexican Spanish slang term /cuacholote/, which
> > > refers to a clumsy or untalented person, for its Nahuatl root.  Would
> > > it be /cuauh-xeloa/, or should /cua-xolotl/ be considered /?/
> >
> > Just a note:  I grew-up hearing this word at me -- thank's mom.   I do
> > remember the pronounciation as "cua-cha-lote."  This may be a regional
> > variation, though  I have never heard the word pronounced as
> > "cua-cho-lote."   I also assumed it to be "cuah-xolotl," though I'm not
> > sure of it's derivation.  In the context which I understood the word, it
> > refers to someone who is sloppy or unkempt in appearance or in their
> doings.
> >
> > Robert
>