Un Mexicanismo

Question

I'm not really sure whether this is the right category for this question. Administrators please feel free to change it you think another one fits better.

It is a bit of a game, a bit vocabulary, and a bit culture.

I have this Mexican friend with whom I frequently chat. She often throws in fantastic expressions that I have never heard before (I am a native Spanish speaker from a different country), and sometimes I find them truly hilarious.

I wish to share with the Forum the latest one I just got today.

It's a good expression to go on the Phrasebook. But before I post it, I want to see how many people know or can guess the meaning - and see if anyone can provide a better definition than the one I have for it.

The expression is:

"Echar comal y metate"

A word of warning: don't even try a literal translation. It has nothing to do with the original meaning of the words!

Curious, what country are you from? - cheeseisyummy, Apr 6, 2010

im curious too what country are you from - Baseball47, Apr 6, 2010

Ja, ja! I've been cornered! :-) Begging your collective pardons, my work has taught me to be very paranoid about posting specific personal information - so I tend to keep it a bit vague. I can share that I have either lived in, or have close affinity... - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

...with Venezuela, the USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Chile, England, Brasil, and Colombia. :-) - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Wow, that is extremely vague Gekkosan, but we can appreciate your need to be careful. :) - Nicole-B, Apr 6, 2010

If it makes any difference, I have lived long enough in 4 of those countries that I really don't consider myself a typical representative of any! .-D - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Gekko a small lizard with sticky feet ,very cute! San a Japanese suffix adding formality to a name . So any where in South East Asia, but could be California good luck to you ilike your style.a - ray76, Apr 7, 2010

Your deduction is flawless, Ray, and exactly right. Except that there are also gekkos in Latin America! I love lizards in general, and I grew particularly fond of Gekkos in Venezuela, where they are called "tuqueques". - Gekkosan, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 1

Chismear (Gossiping)

¡Al fin, una ganadora!! ¡Exactamente correcto! "Echar Comal y Metate" significa "Chismear" ¡Apuntate una estrella de honor! :-) - Gekkosan, Apr 7, 2010

Get's my vote...awesome guess! - --Mariana--, Apr 7, 2010

crazy! new to me, thanks for expanding my vocabulary horizons, Gekko and Sylyon! :) - nuxita, Apr 7, 2010

vientos! :) - bomberapolaca, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 2

I confess, I Googled both words and came up with the likes of these:

 

Comal ---->

 

Metate ---->

 

These made me wonder if your phrase "Echar comal y metate" means to throw the pan and rolling pin (at someone) or perhaps to rant and rave.

I'll watch with interest for your later reply.

Actually, you're closer than you suspect! Nice deductive work! - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Ohh interesting.. I like this guess. - nuxita, Apr 6, 2010

Answer 3

Sylyon got it right for us! I'm so happy I didn't have to give the answer myself! This was a surprisingly fun thread - everyone came up with really original guesses!

Now this is what I love about language (and translation). How did we get from "Throwing grill and grinding stone" to "Gossip"? Isn't that amazing?

The most interesting thing is that "Echamos comal y metate" is longer and more complicated than just say ""Chismeamos" - however, I suppose, the former is more colorful and fun than the latter.

I suppose that the origin of the expression has to do with hard and tedious work of making tortillas, where you use a metate to grind the corn, and the comal to cook the tortillas. Probably women working in groups to make tortillas spent their time gossiping and catching up with stories in order to defeat boredom.

Of course, there's no way that translator software can possibly deal with a phrase like that. There is no syntactic correlation at all! However, even though I had never heard the expression before, I knew right away what my friend meant when she tossed it in the context of what she was telling me.

Isn't the human mind marvellous!?

Ah, si Heidita: contexto.

"Me encontré con Heidita el fin de semana, y pasamos unas cuantas horas echando comal y metate sobre su viaje a Tenerife"

Also, people say"molcajetear", "echando el chal". You are kind of "grinding" the other people through the gossiping. - 00e46f15, Apr 7, 2010

De verdad que el español mexicano se lleva el premio por la cantidad y variedad de expresiones folclóricas que no se dan en ninguna otra parte! :-) - Gekkosan, Apr 7, 2010

¿Puedes añadir esas otras versiones en el Phrasebook? Ya yo puse Echar Comal y Metate. - Gekkosan, Apr 7, 2010

No sé como se añaden versiones en el phrsebook... :( - 00e46f15, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 4

Let me try again please.

Through further Google searching I think I found that "tener comal y metate" seems to mean to be familiar (friendly) and frequent or common friends.

 

If that is so, then perhaps "Echar comal y metate" means to throw away (as in "trash" or end) an old friendship relationship. If so, what a shame.

You're still on the right track in that is has social and friendly connotations. It has nothing to do with throwing anything away, though, so you can rest a ease about that! - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Excellent research. Looking forward to the solution of this riddle :) - bomberapolaca, Apr 6, 2010

When I look in the dictionary, I think "echar" is a verb from hell. Too many meanings! - Moe, Apr 6, 2010

"Verb from hell" hahaha - --Mariana--, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 5

gossip

Answer 6

Hehe, that's somehow logical! Why didn't the asnwer cross my mind before? My Spanish teacher (who spent some time in Mexico) didn't know what the phrase meant. Congrats for Sylyon

Thanks bombera! - 00e46f15, Apr 8, 2010

I wonder if perhaps it's a regional idiom? My friend is from Guadalajara.... - Gekkosan, Apr 8, 2010

I'm from Coahuila. It is common in Mexico (that idiom)... - 00e46f15, Apr 8, 2010

Answer 7

Gracias!!! I changed my phone into Spanish texted EVERY mexican in my contact and no one knew.

Asked all the Mexican kids I know at school today and they didn't know the expression.

I told everyone I would let them know when I found out. I'm going to try and come up with a sentence to use it in at church tonight, my friends will be surprised.

thank you for a fun exercise. Sharon aka Señora

Answer 8

Me gustaría verlo usado en una frase, en contexto.

Así a secas,,,,gekko, es como decirte, qué quiere decir

"mear y no echar gota"

en fin, es un poco vulgar...jeje, pero me recuerda esto.

Otra que no había escuchado. ¿Y qué quiere decir "mear y no echar gota"? ¿Trabajar sin resultados? - Gekkosan, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 9

Okay, Gekkosan, you've got enough guesses....it's time for you to tell us what it means.

Answer 10

Solo puedo decir que tanto comal como metate....ni idea.

Answer 11

¿Lo mismo que echar la casa por la ventana?

Answer 12

I've heard "tener comal y metate" but not this version. I can only imagine they might be related, but you never know! I'll be interested to find out!

Ah! And what does that mean? - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

To be popular with people, get along well with.. my guess, however, is that this phrase has something to do with "give it your all, put everything into it" - nuxita, Apr 6, 2010

Hm... Well, this expression is somewhat related, but does not mean the same thing. - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Perhaps, then, it's about "attempting to get along with people"..? Trying very hard to get in with the right groups? - nuxita, Apr 6, 2010

No, no. It's an activity. A social activity! - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Answer 13

For Mexican Spanish (I think this language is magnificently awesome) lovers, check it out: http://www.briansteel.net/articsylibros/bdemsamp2c.htm

Yes. I enjoy my exchanges with my Mexican friends, because they have a great variety of colorful idioms and awesome indigenous words! - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Answer 14

My stupid guess: hacer tortillas??

Nice try, but I did warn to stay away from the literal. :-) Although that's what the implements are used for, the expression has nothing to do with food. - Gekkosan, Apr 6, 2010

Answer 15

i think it means to throw something but i dont know for sure