BajaNomad

Jesse, can you help

villadelfin - 5-11-2006 at 07:44 AM

Skeet used a word in another thread that he can't define clearly and he thought you would be able to give a better meaning than he could. The word is Metache. He says there is a hand gesture involved and implies speaking with forked tongue.
The closest I can find to the word, which we are unclear on the spelling as well, is Metiche which implies busybody or someone poking one's nose where it doesn't belong. But that doesn't fit the context. Can you shed any light on the word for us?


hepmepleezIdon'unerstan

JESSE - 5-11-2006 at 04:12 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by villadelfin
Skeet used a word in another thread that he can't define clearly and he thought you would be able to give a better meaning than he could. The word is Metache. He says there is a hand gesture involved and implies speaking with forked tongue.
The closest I can find to the word, which we are unclear on the spelling as well, is Metiche which implies busybody or someone poking one's nose where it doesn't belong. But that doesn't fit the context. Can you shed any light on the word for us?


hepmepleezIdon'unerstan


Metache is probably a local word, i personally have never heard that word being used in spanish, Metiche on the other hand, is someone who sticks his nose into other peoples business.

Bruce R Leech - 5-11-2006 at 04:27 PM

Metiche is the correct spelling and that word is vary common in everyday language here in Mulege. it means just what Skeet wrote. kind of a smooth talking liar. or it is the perfect word to use when you want to describe a Lawyer




[Edited on 5-11-2006 by Bruce R Leech]

TacoFeliz - 5-11-2006 at 04:31 PM

Often used to refer to a busybody or a gossip. It's flexible -- inflection and context will determine if it is used in jest or meant as an insult.

Oso - 5-11-2006 at 04:34 PM

Relying on Skeet's spelling to navigate English or Spanish is like using a Game Boy for a GPS.:lol::lol::lol:

Bruce R Leech - 5-11-2006 at 04:40 PM

I spell better in Spanish than English.:tumble:

Oso - 5-11-2006 at 05:03 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
I spell better in Spanish than English.:tumble:


Not that surprising. The "rules" are more logical.

Oso - 5-11-2006 at 09:29 PM

That ain't Spanish. It's Nahuatl.

No confundes la magnesia con el gimnasio.:lol:

bancoduo - 5-15-2006 at 10:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lencho
Quote:
Originally posted by Oso
Quote:
Originally posted by Bruce R Leech
I spell better in Spanish than English.:tumble:


Not that surprising. The "rules" are more logical.


With some interesting quirks in Mexico, of course. I once lived in a town named "Yolomecatl de Tlaxiaco". ;>

--Larry
Ilived there too if it is Oaxaca.

Bruce R Leech - 5-16-2006 at 06:54 AM

those are mostly Indian words and names not Spanish

woody with a view - 5-20-2006 at 09:59 AM

Quote:

When I was a kid studying spanish I remember studying about Malitzin (Cortez's helper/interpreter)


i'm getting near the end of a fantastic book called, "Aztec" by gary jennings. i'm at the part where malitzin is squirming her way towards tenochtitlan and bringing cortes closer to the destruction of the aztec empire. here's a review from the authors site:

Aztec - The extraordinary story of the last and greatest native civilization of North America, at the very height of its magnificence, told by a novelist working at the very height of his powers. It is a story told in the words of one of the most robust and memorable characters of recent fiction. His name is Mixtli - Dark Cloud. Born the son of a provincial quarrier, Mixtli rises far above his station. He becomes, first, a scribe; he goes on to distinguish himself as a warrior, earns a fortune as a traveling merchant and explores every part of what the Aztecs called The One World - the far lands of mountains, jungles, deserts, seacoasts. His courage and resourcefulness earn him a knighthood and, eventually, elevation to the nobility. Aztec is a novel of heroic dimension in every respect. Twelve years in the making, it is compelling in story, in its feel of history happening and in its tumult of events. It is rich with memorable characters and brilliantly colorful exoticism. It is an epic tale, full of power and surprise that will leave its readers wishing it would never end.

it is a brilliant book! i'm on my second read. the binding is coming loose and the pages are falling out. man, i'd love to get my hands on a 1st ed.

comitan - 5-20-2006 at 10:24 AM

X-Rated?:lol::lol::lol:

Oso - 5-20-2006 at 11:58 AM

The name was Malintzin, wey. She was called "La Malinche" by the gachupines and later re-named Do?a Marina in the first wave of the continuing process of aculturization.

There was also another Malintzin, the wife of Cuatlacuatzin who was later re-named Juan Diego.

A lot of Nahuatl words ending in tzin were adapted into Spanish with "che" endings. (and of course the "tzin" is an approximation since the Aztecs didn't use Roman letters.)

Oso - 5-20-2006 at 01:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Braulio
As a matter of fact either spelling is accepted.

By whom?

Sooo - you're pretty sure that the suffix -che on metiche comes from Nahuatl?

Not necessarily, the "che" already existed in Spanish. They just found it to be the closest thing they had to "tzin" when they were trying to pronounce a Nahuatl word with that ending. I don't think "metiche" comes from Nahuatl. It's rather obviously from the verb "meter" for one who likes to "meterse en asuntos ajenos".

Related note: A "pedinche" is a free-loader or sponge- from pedir,i.e.; one who is always asking for stuff.

inche metiche tu.


Oh, was this a private conversation? I thought it was an open forum. Well, exxcuuuuse me!:moon:

Oso/Braulio

Baja Bernie - 5-20-2006 at 04:05 PM

I really love it when you guys get to throwing Mexican/Spanish/Indian words around. I just sorta duck because I have enough trouble with the English language. Kinda fun to see how smart I are not.

Woody, Aztec was an interesting book--I have it in my library--I do agree it should be X-Rated--but most interesting.

While I am at it-- do any of you guys know of a Mexican Comic Pair who work in La Paz? " Los Huizapoles" Mexican friends in Cabo say there just great.

lencho

Baja Bernie - 5-20-2006 at 09:32 PM

Funny! You hit it right on the head--because my Baja born friends liked them so much because they could understand everything they said.

Oso - 5-20-2006 at 10:54 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lencho
Quote:
Originally posted by Oso
Quote:
Originally posted by Braulio
Related note: A "pedinche" is a free-loader or sponge- from pedir,i.e.; one who is always asking for stuff.



Meh-- I though it was someone with a methane problem...

--Larry


You're thinking of "pedoro".

As for "Malitzin", I'll concede it's existence as an alternative spelling as it's in print and everyone knows if it's in print it has to be right...:rolleyes: I just never heard heard of it before I gave my daughter that name. (after Cuatlacuatzin's wife, not Cortez' mistress.)

As for the "che" suffix, I think it's too widely found to have any one particular connotation.