Echar lámina

Driving in the streets of Mexico City requires being aggressive. More often than not, there are no proper traffic signals, and when there are, drivers ignore them. So if you want to take Viaducto, Periférico, Circuito Interior or any other (allegedly) express way, you have to let your car go against other drivers. Their fear for a taste of your vehicle's metal sheet will force them to yield. This act is known as echar lámina (eh-CHAR LAH-mee-nah, lit. to throw metal sheet).

Echar lámina is also used metaphorically to mean a blunt courthip is taking place, letting oneself go in a collision course expecting the other person to yield to one's intentions. Synonyms of echar lámina are echar los perros (lit. throw the dogs), tirar el calzón (throw the panties, briefs, boxers) and tirar la onda (lit. throw the vibe).

The short film below starts with a microbusero (a micro-bus driver) echando lámina. Test your command of the contents of this blog by deciphering the meaning of the dialogues. The name of the short film is La Furia de un Microbusero.

Un kilo

A thousand grams, a thousand times.

While in other latitudes a kilo (a key) might have a strong drug trafficking connotation,  D.F. is on the metric system (like most of the  civilized world) which results in diverse and colorful uses of kilo.

¿A cómo el kilo de aguayón torneado?: What's the spot price per kilo for beef.

El mejor luchador kilo por kilo: Best lucha libre wrestler  kilo by kilo.

Échale los kilos: Make a serious effort, get down to it.

Me debes un kilo güey: You owe me a million  pesos güey (a thousand thousands)

Un kilo de verdes: A million US.

Un kilo de verga: complete disregard.

Un kilo ochocientos de verga: complete disregard with a vengeance.

Zape

A zape (SAH-peh) is a slap on the back of the head that more than inflicting pain intends to convey intelectual disaproval or physical dominance. Zapear or dar sus zapes is the action of giving someone one or several zapes. A person who is teased constantly by his or her peers and receives frequent doses of zapes, either actual or metaphorical, is called a zapeado. Nobody wants to be a zapeado but there is always one.

Kaliman

(ka-lee-man)

Not the most romantic way to express one's need of an intimate affair. Nevertheless, it's casual, effective and not too vulgar. Plain and simple, kaliman stands for horny. It is a nice folkloric substitute for the term caliente, which in Mexico sounds too seedy to be used colloquially.

El Puas: Ando tan Kaliman que si le vengo dando hasta a Ti-nieblas!
(Beware of me and run for your life: I'm horny!)


Synonyms:

* Filoso/Filosofo (with a sharp edge/philosopher)
* Ganoso (readily available)
* Caldufo (grotesquely in need of intercourse)
* Traer la espada desenvainada (to have the sword at hand)
* Andar con todo (to be determined)

This picture depicts the the animated hero Kaliman taking a break from his duty to save the world to play with the joyful Pepito (God forbid he's kaliman!).

Gordibuena

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Por Detroit

From behind, taking the back door

It is not uncommon in modern-effective D.F. Spanish to find words taken from English just because they kind of sound like something in spanish. Detroit is a classic in this category. Swapping for an English word dwindles the explicit nature of a sentence in a fun "creative" way güey.

Por detras: Por detroit

de a José-José

Well before Prince became famous with hits such as "Purple Rain" and "1999", Mexicans had their own Prince of Song, José José. For years the ballads popularized by this artist have inspired decadent parties, where people sing about the drama of not wanting to live anymore when one's not loved in return. José José is also well known for his taste for liquor and the term de a José José means that a cocktail contains by far more liquor than mixers and ice.



If you do the math, having a few drinks de a José José will get you a peda of paletero (popsicle vendor), albañil recién rayado (construction worker on payday), or apache mariguano (stoned Native American).

Note: generic terms for cocktails are alcoles (from alcohol), drincs (from Eng. drinks), alipuses (old fashion for drinks), quiebres (breaks), copas (cups) and chupes (sucks).