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- PARTY TIME
-
- You mean BIRRIA really is Spanish for "beer"?
-
- PARTY
- FIESTAS are parties, all right, but the term more
- often used for partying down is PACHANGA, and "to
- party" is PACHANGUEAR. PACHANGUERO is like "party
- hearty" or "party animal." Also used are REVENTóN
- (literally, a "blowout") or REVE for short.
-
- A BORRACHERA is a drunken bash, and when combined
- with BODA (wedding) yields the popular pun
- "BODACHERA" to mean a very wet wedding.
-
- EATING
- Slang terms for COMER include: FILIAR, very
- big in the capital, and EMPACAR (pack). Ways of
- saying, "Tie on the feed bag" include: MENEAR LA
- QUIJADA (wiggle the jaw), MOVER EL BIGOTE (move
- the mustache). HAMBRE (hunger) can also be
- AMBROSIA, FILO or FILOMENO. "I'm hungry," is TENGO
- AMBROSIA on the streets.
-
- DRINKING
- A drink, as in "Lets have a drink," is UN TRAGO
- from TRAGAR, to swallow or gulp. VAMOS A CHUPAR
- UNAS CHELAS means "Let's go suck some suds."
- Drinks are also referred to as COPAS, technically
- stemmed glasses. Oddly, while JALóN (a pull) means
- a "snort," EMPUJAR (push) means to drink steadily.
- "Shots" or "belts" of booze are also termed
- FAROLAZOS (beams from searchlights) and FAJOS
- (fistfuls).
-
- A bit of drinking folklore in Mexico, by the way,
- is that one never orders a "last" drink--the "one
- for the road" is LA PENúLTIMA or, as in the old
- movies, LA DEL ESTRIBO, literally "one for the
- running board" or "one for the stirrup."
-
-
- BEER
- CHEVE, CHEVECHA, and CHELA are slang for CERVEZA
- like "suds" or "brewski." One also hears BIRRIA,
- (actually a goat stew) for "beer," a joking
- "Spanishization" of American pronunciation. In
- Guadalajara there are T-shirts that say CHEVES,
- CHAVAS, Y CHIVAS--Beer, chicks, and the famous
- Chivas soccer team.
-
- DRUNK
- BORRACHO is the common term, directly equivalent,
- although EBRIO is more proper and BRIAGO is heard.
- In Mexico, as the saying goes, MáS VALE SER UN
- BORRACHO CONOCIDO QUE UN ALCOHóLICO ANóNIMO,
- better a well-known drunk than an anonymous
- alcoholic.
-
- TEPOROCHO also means drunk. ALUMBRADO and
- ALUMBRARSE are, literally, "lit" and "to get lit."
- You also hear AHOGADO (drowned) and AL COLOR
- (stewed) for "bombed." BIEN PEDO means "really
- smashed," but is a crude term, since PEDO means
- "fart."
-
- The Spanish term for hangover," should you get
- that far, is one of the most picturesque in the
- language--LA CRUDA. No wonder it eclipses the
- proper term, LA RESACA. Next time you crude out,
- try to remember the Mexican proverb, EVITE LA
- CRUDA, PERMANEZCA BORRACHO (avoid hangovers, stay
- drunk). "Sober" and "sobriety," for those
- interested, are "SOBRIO" and "LA SOBRIEDAD."
-
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