In case you haven't caught on, the Valley is a beautiful culmination of the United States and Mexico; both nations collide and form what we call a border town. Border Towns have their own rules and the community is united under commonality.
I understand the Valley is different and it has its quirks and to outsiders, these quirks can come across as inconvenient and frustrating, at times. However, my attempt is not to persuade you to accept the Valley or Border Towns, but to help you understand the culture. I want to begin with one central message: dialects.
While it sounds like something made up, I can assure you, "Tex-Mex" is a legitimate dialect. Below are brief examples of dialects that many have a misunderstanding of and here is my attempt to help bring it all together.
CHICANO ENGLISH
It's not uncommon to travel to southern California and hear Mexican-Americans (or people of Mexican heritage) refer to themselves as Chicanos. Similar to the Valley, California's border towns provide a unique sense of culture and language. While we have a lot in common, the choice of words for certain things are different.
Tacos are burritos while in Texas a burrito is fried or an enormous tortilla filled with meat, rice, beans, and cheese; a taco is a soft tortilla wrapped in a delicious delicacy. Additionally, in SoCal, fajitas is carne asada, but in Texas carne asada refers to meat that is grilled over fire; fajitas is a type of meat.
My wife is from California and we have this argument often.
In any case, California and Texas share common interests, but it's simply communicated differently- this includes slang.
POCHO
"Pocho" refers to broken Spanish. It's taking words from the English language and making them sound Spanish. It can be hilarious. It can be insulting. But at the end of the day, if you walk into a barrio and do not speak Pocho, but formal Spanish, you might as well be a rich white boy from Harvard- you're not welcomed.
Words in Pocho include "lonche" which means "lunch," "chorts" which mean "shorts (yes, the kind you wear," or "tochar" meaning "to touch." Get it? Pocho.
I could give this large sociological excerpt on Pocho, but this is a blog, not a journal.
SPANGLISH
This is a serious debate for many because often it can be confused for Tex-Mex or Chicano English, but quite frankly, it isn't.
Spanglish is its own dialect and it refers to the unity of two languages in order to paint one picture. In short, starting a sentence in English is the beginning of a thought and what brings color and life to that thought, idea, or conversation is finishing it in proper Spanish.
"The people needed to be led; they needed orgullo, animo."
TEX-MEX
Tex-Mex is very similar to Pocho, much like many forms of Chicano English. In fact, the separation in both dialects is geographical location. If Pocho is broken Spanish, then Tex-Mex is broken Spanglish.
For example:
"I'm going to the store." | "Voy a ir a la tienda." | "Voy 'pa la store."
"Why?" | "¿Porque?" | "Por why?"
"Stop." | "Alto." | "Estop."
Additionally, whistling is a form of communication. How one whistles will determine their feelings or thoughts. If one whistles before finishing their sentence, it is because the whistle conveys the remainder of the thought or feeling. Whistling is also used to grab one's attention (No you're not a dog, get over yourself. If you think that, then you take yourself way to seriously).
CONCLUSION
I wish to end by saying that this brief introduction into border language is an attempt to help you (or make you laugh) understand border culture. Please, do not be offended when you step on border soil and the majority population doesn't speak English, it's an insult when you speak louder or display irritation.
Remember, this is a country of immigrants with a ridiculous amount of cultures, dialects, and beliefs. And, no where in the constitution or declaration does it state that English is the official language of the United States. It's the most common, estuped.
