Madame Butterfly a character in the opera Madama Butterfly, by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924).
Malinche (also Malinalli, Malintzin, "Doña Marina") historically, an Aztec woman, sold by her people as a slave to the Maya and later given as a gift to the conquistador Hernando Cortés; as Cortés' mistress, she played a huge role in the defeat of the Aztec empire by the Spanish, acting as interpreter and convincing the ruler Moteczoma (Montezuma II) to surrender. Malinche has been regarded as a traitor to her own people, although it is suggested that she acted out of revenge for their having sold her into slavery and also that by persuading the emperor to surrender she saved many lives; here (in "Never Marry a Mexican") Clemencia and her lover use her name playfully apparently in reference to their different skin colors, but the name has a cutting edge when one recalls that Malinalli's other name, Malinche, is used to mean a betrayer of her people.
"Mamasota" "Big mama," emphasizing the woman's obesity.
marimbas plural of marimba, a musical instrument resembling the xylophone.
Marlon Brando an American movie actor, first popular in the 1950s.
"Me abandonaste, . . . el amor de Dios" "You abandoned me, woman, because I'm very poor, / And for having the disgrace of being married. / What am I to do if I am the Abandoned One, / Abandoned I shall be, for the love of God." (From "El Abandonado" [by Jesus Martínez].)
"Me estoy muriendo/ y tú, como si nada . . . " (epigram to the section) "I'm dying / and you don't even care el"; from "Puñalada Trapera" by Tomás Méndez Sosa, sung by Lola Beltrán.
"Me importas tú, y tú, y tú/ y nadie más que tú" (epigram to the section) Only you matter to me, you, you / and no one else but you.
"Meme" Meme Ortiz's nickname seems to be derived from a Spanish word — "memo" — meaning a stupid person or a fool, or perhaps from "memez," stupidity.
merengue a fast dance that originated in the Dominican Republic.
metate grinding stone.
mi doradita my little brown girl.
Mi pedacito de alma desnuda My little piece of naked soul.
mi trigueño, . . . chulito . . . my dark one, . . . cute one . . . .
mi'jita affectionate term, shortening of mi hijita — my daughter.
milpas cornfields.
mujeriego womanizer.
mundo sin fin, amen world without end, amen.
nixtamal a mixture of ground corn and lime for making tortillas.
"Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente" Literally, "Eyes that don't see, heart that doesn't feel"; i.e., better not to know.
"One night a dog cried . . . ." a traditional harbinger of death; a bird flying into a house, too, is supposed to foretell a death in the house.
