abrazo embrace, or hug.
acequia an irrigation ditch.
¡Adíos! Goodbye!
adobe large bricks made of mud and straw.
Agua Negra Black Water.
¡Ah la veca! code, or slang, referring to the penis.
Ah la verga — a reference to the penis.
álamos cottonwood trees, which bloom in late May and early June rather than in late summer.
¡Amigo! Friend!
¡Andale, hombre, andale! Come on, man, come on!
Arrímense vivos y difuntos / Aquí estamos todos juntos . . . Gather round living and deceased / Here we are all together.
arroyo a gully.
atole cornmeal.
Ave María Purisima a religious exclamation referring to the Blessed Virgin Mary; it is sometimes uttered when hoping to ward off evil spirits.
¡Ay Dios! Oh God!
¡Ay Dios, otro día! Oh God, another day!
¡Ay que diablo! Oh, what a devil!
Benditos sean los dulces nombres. Holy be the sweet names.
big rancheros ranchers with large haciendas.
bizcochito homemade cookies sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.
bosque a cottonwood grove; a wooded area near water.
Buenos días le de Dios. God grant you good days; a greeting among New Mexican Chicano/as.
bulto a wood carving of a holy person; also, a ghost.
cabritos, cabroncitos kids, small goats.
cabrón a pimp, pander, cuckold; someone who takes advantage of the weaknesses of others.
Cabronas putas. Pimped whores.
chapas chaps, as in cowboy chaps.
chicos dried corn, usually cooked with beans.
¡Chinga tu madre! Screw your mother!
chingada the screwed one; the reference is to Doña Marina, the Indian girl who served as mistress and translator to the conqueror of Mexíco, Hernán Cortes.
comancheros Indian traders.
crudo hung over from drinking alcoholic beverages.
cuentos stories told as part of folklore.
curandera a folk healer.
