¡Ay, Jalisco, no te rajes! (Jalisco, don’t back down!) is a 1941 film directed by Joselito Rodríguez and starring Jorge Negrete. The film site Sensacine México calls the title “una frase nacional” (a national phrase) and “una declaración de carácter” (a declaration of character).
Rajarse is one of the Mexicanisms recognized by the Academia Mexicana de la Lengua. It means “retractarse, o faltar a una promesa” (to back down, or to break a promise).
In Mexican politics, a chapulín, a grasshopper, is a politician who jumps from one post or party to another. Uno TV cites the historical dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy for the verb chapulinear: “abandonar un puesto por otro” (to leave one post for another). It describes chapulines as politicians who “cambian su militancia de un partido a otro” (change their membership from one party to another).
Café becomes cafecito. Cerca, “near,” becomes cerquita. Pronto, “soon,” becomes prontito. Nada, “nothing,” becomes nadita. In 2005, a language column in El Siglo de Torreón noted how readily Mexicans use the diminutive, even on adverbs. The columnist wrote that cafecito “suena mucho más cordial” (sounds much more cordial).
Con la pena, “with embarrassment,” said before asking something of someone. Con permiso, “with permission,” said when passing or leaving. A la orden, “at your order.” ¿Mande?, said when someone calls. In 2011, the linguist Concepción Company Company listed these in Letras Libres as examples of “atenuación cortés” (courteous softening). She named it as one of the patterns recorded in the Diccionario de mexicanismos of the Mexican Academy of the Language.
In Mexico, a coyote de trámites is “el intermediario informal que se ofrece a resolver gestiones ante oficinas de gobierno” (the informal middleman who offers to sort out procedures at government offices), according to Cultura Colectiva. The coyote does this for money. In formal language, the same person is a gestor informal.
Aguacate, avocado, from the Nahuatl ahuacatl.
Chocolate, from xocolātl.
Tianguis, an open-air market, from tiyānquiztli, “market.”
Papalote, a kite, from papalotl, “butterfly.”
Popote, a drinking straw, from popotli, “dry and hollow stem.”
Cuate, a close friend, from coatl, “snake” and “twin.”
Confianza means trust. It also means familiarity between people.
De confianza, a person one can rely on, or a close and intimate one.
En confianza, in private, between people who trust each other.
Agarrar confianza, to grow at ease with someone over time.
Pásale, con confianza, “come in, make yourself at home,” said to a guest.
Tomarse confianzas, to take liberties, to act with more familiarity than the relationship allows.
Cantinflear is a Spanish verb made from the name of Cantinflas, the Mexican comic actor Mario Moreno. The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines it as “hablar o actuar de forma disparatada e incongruente,” to speak or act in a nonsensical and incongruous way.
According to Excélsior, the Academy recognized the word in 1992. The newspaper quotes the definition with a further phrase, y sin decir nada, “and without saying anything.”
La cargada, “the charge,” is the rush of politicians to declare support for whoever has been chosen as the next leader. The Diccionario del español de México of El Colegio de México defines it as a “congregación de oportunistas, sobre todo en el ámbito político,” a gathering of opportunists, above all in politics.
Everyday Spanish has a common way to report a mishap. The speaker does not say “I dropped the glass.” The speaker says se me cayó el vaso, literally “the glass fell, to me.” The same form gives se me olvidó (it slipped my mind), se me rompió (it broke on me) and se descompuso (it broke down).
In this construction the object is the subject of the sentence. The person appears only as the one it happened to. The form is common in everyday Spanish, in Mexico as elsewhere.