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RonnieRockCod
Junior Nomad
Posts: 48
Registered: 6-28-2004
Location: San Doego
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P-nche, what it mans to me
I am not a Baja historian. What I am about to write came to me many, many, years ago while anchored at La Paz.
I was told "P-nche" is what is found on the floor of a hen house.
Thomas Cromwell was an English pirate and would occassionally visit La Paz. The approach to La Paz from the Sea of Cort?s is both shallow and
narrow. Cromwell could only sail when the wind was from the south. Thus, when the south wind blew the natives could expect a visit from Cromwell. His
name was bastardized to Coromuel which describes the wind that blows from the south to the south west.
Cromwell and his crew spoke English. The Mexicans did not favor the language and called it "piche lengua". Lengua meaning tongue and thus
language.
La Paz was difficult to enter so Cromwell anchored further north at a place now call Pichilingue. The ferry landing is located there.
Cromwell=Coromuel. Piche lengua=Pichilingue.
You can do a Google search on Cromwell and come up with another version of Pichilingue, but I like this one.
That's my tale Kiddies. I will now put my helmet on and climb into my fighting hole and wait for the Incoming. I am ready to accept broadsides or
accolades, orchids or onions. RRC
[Edited on 12-29-2004 by RonnieRockCod]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65247
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Well done Ronnie! That's the way I heard the story about the wind, too.
Welcome to Nomad... long time no see!
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elgatoloco
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4344
Registered: 11-19-2002
Location: Yes
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Thank you for that explanation and history lesson. It will provide some additional talking points while enjoying some adult beverages and tasty
seafood treats while sitting at our favorite P-nche Lingue restaurant!
Keep it coming!
MAGA
Making Attorneys Get Attorneys
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BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 5006
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
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Mood: INTP-A
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My understanding is that Cromwell took advantage of the afternoon winds blowing into the bay to attack and plunder ships not familiar with this
situation.
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
https://www.regionalinternet.com
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting - since 1999 |
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Tio Rocky
Nomad
Posts: 176
Registered: 6-30-2004
Location: La Paz
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P-nche to me
P-nche to me is anything that is not easy?? not being able to loosen a jar top?. P-nche tapadera?. A car that won?t start?. P-nche carro?.. a female
that won?t give me the time of day?.. P-nche chica?.. ect. ect. 
Tio Out!
www.BAJAEVENTS.com
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
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Mood: wait and see
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Actually, in its original noun form a P-nche was a kitchen scullion, the lowest position among the servants of the castle, usually assigned to
scrubbing pots & pans and other grimy, unpleasant tasks.
There's an old joke about this, wherein a broke and unemployed Mexican from the D.F. asks for work at a restaurant owned by a Spaniard. The
gachupin says, "Well, if you don't mind trabajando de P-nche, I'll pay you five pesos a day." The chilango replies, "Give
me ten y trabajo de la !."
Nowadays, it's almost always an adjective. Often meaning "stingy" (No seas P-nche, cantinero, echale un poco mas.), it has expanded to
include almost any negative or derogative connotation. I would place "P-nche gringo" on a level maybe a wee bit stronger than "Damn Yankee" and react
to it according to whether said by a stranger or a friend and whether or not they were smiling when they said it.
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BajaVida
Senior Nomad
Posts: 541
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Motown, Califas
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Mood: muy cool
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solamente se que yo no soy P-nche
No se apure y dure.
Don\'t hurry and you\'ll last longer.
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thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3735
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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spanishdict.com sez
it means "bloody"
so, there you have it.
as to Baja Vida, as usual he is circumspect but rational.... no, no, circumspect does not mean he is Jewish...
Baja Arriba!!
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
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Mood: wait and see
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"Bloody"?? I've never seen that and am fairly certain it is not literally related to blood. But, I can see it in relation to the way the Brits use
the term; bloody this, bloody that, an over-generalization. For gringos, it's the equivalent of "fawking".
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BajaVida
Senior Nomad
Posts: 541
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Motown, Califas
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy cool
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thebajarunner hails from the Cowboy Capitol of the World, so he speaks a different kind of Spanish
another good word is "pendejo" which means pubic hair, but is more commonly used to refer to someone as being stupid
"no seas pendejo" -- don't be or act stupid
No se apure y dure.
Don\'t hurry and you\'ll last longer.
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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Soy unA P-nche Gringa, y que?
I wound up being La P-nche Gringa helping in the kitchen making pOzole for New Years Eve supper. Both the owner of the kitchen and my friend who had
invitied me to help and learn his mother's pazole recipe are very well read educated Men from here in Oaxaca. As such I will respect their knowledge
of the language, they agreed with the theroy that P-nche is derived from kitchen scullion, so it was most appropriate in the moment that I be called
La P-nche Gringa, because that is exatally what I was, we had a great time with it, mucho yucks and all.
Still, I loved RonnieRockCods story, what a classic.........
[Edited on 1-3-2005 by Eli]
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
Member Is Offline
Mood: wait and see
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Acting as Baja Spell Checker, pro tem:
UNA P-nche gringa.
pOzole.
panochA.
The last one is a proper noun, interchangeable with piloncillo, i.e.; brown sugar, usually in the form of a compressed cone and yes, Sr. Pompano, its
doble sentido refers to female anatomy.
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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Ay Oso, pues, mata garcias!
Really. I do no better, and to think I am even a worse speller in English, don't suppose while you are at it, you would help me clean that up too?
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Gypsy Jan
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4275
Registered: 1-27-2004
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Mood: Depends on which way the wind is blowing
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Eli,
Don't become discouraged or feel that Oso is correcting you out of a mean spirit, he is a man that loves language and correctness of expression.
Regardless, your stories come from your heart and the meanings are transparent, however the spelling comes out on the P-nche computer keyboard 
Mata gracias = you kill me with kindness? What a wonderful phrase to learn.
Gracias a usted.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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Mike Humfreville
Super Nomad
Posts: 1148
Registered: 8-26-2003
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I think the spelling errors add to the character of the poster and the insight the rest of us get to that individual. Even though sometimes it takes
a little longer to interpret what another is saying, it adds to the post in some subtle ways.
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
Member Is Offline
Mood: wait and see
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I used to belong to something called the National Association of Professional Bureaucrats. The logo included two crossed pencils with erasers at both
ends. To join, one had to submit a one page memorandum. If anyone could understand what the memo was about, membership was rejected.
I misspell all the time, in both languages, but when we are talking about words, we should try to get those particular ones right. I hope no one is
offended. I usually let Guerro Negro and Portocitos slide, if it's not "germaine" to the subject matter.
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BajaVida
Senior Nomad
Posts: 541
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Motown, Califas
Member Is Offline
Mood: muy cool
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and don't forget Tiajuana
No se apure y dure.
Don\'t hurry and you\'ll last longer.
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fdt
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4059
Registered: 9-7-2003
Location: Tijuana, Baja California
Member Is Offline
Mood: Yeah, what if it all goes right
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mata garcias?
I don't think Oso would be killing people with the last name Garcia, my last name is Garcia, Oso is my Amigo, I hope he does'nt want to kill me.
Maybe you mean to say Gracias?
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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O.K., let's not matar los Garcias
I am the first to admit that I am not the most literete soul on this board. Most of my spelling errors occur due to trying to get something out to
fast, racing against the clock at these internet cafe's with unfimilar keyboards. Undoubtly, I am a little poor, or at least, certainly cheap, and
without a doubt among the left brain functioning folks, much more creative that acadimic. If you note my post's from home, I had access to a spell
check, a key board that I knew blindfolded and seldom errored in the spelling of my post.
My Mother had her Master's in English and was a high school english prof., she never paid any attention to the context of what I wrote, only the
grammer and spelling, I use to get my heart poured out letters returned "red penciled". On the other hand my father never commented on my spelling and
always praised the context of what I was trying to say. As an adult, I wrote him often, I have not bothered to send my mother a letter in a forgotton
amount of years.
I never judge the grammer or spelling of another person's writing, it really doesn't matter to me, what matters to me is what they say.
Still, as part of my "Ano Nuevo Meta", I promise that as soon as I can afford it, I will buy a small Eng.-Span. dic., and carry it with me every where
I go, just like my drawing pad and pens, I can handle the little extra weight in my pack. Ah but, priorities first, I got my heart set on some new
jel-pens and than there is this painting by an artist friend that I have been saving my centavos for weeks to buy, I am just 100 peso short and
this kid with his messy face smiling in a watermelon is mine, and I have just enough shampoo for one more hair washing annnnnnnnnnnnd,
sigh...............
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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Eli
Always remember the Chinga factor.
Loved your comment about all the letters you have sent to your mother over the years.
As always you expressions are priceless and paint so much more meaning and understanding into your thoughts than the mere words that you string
together. Guess that comes from being the brat of an old slinger of ink among other things.
MATA GRACIAS por Garcia (will that work--and if not who cares????)
Another Sunday meal without any substance for a small time sinner!
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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