Caló (Chicano)

Cant language that originated during the early 20th century in the United States

This article is about the Chicano idiom. For the dialect spoken by Spanish Roma, see Caló (Spanish Romani).

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

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Part of a series on

Chicanos and Mexican Americans

Terms

|  Identity

* Chola/o
* La Raza
* Pachuca
* Pachuco
* Pinta/o
* Xicanx

Concepts

* Anti-Mexican sentiment

History

|  Early-American Period

* Josefa Segovia
* Las Gorras Blancas
* Mexican–American War
* Mutualista
* San Elizario Salt War
* Sonoratown
* Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Pre-Chicano Movement

* 1917 Bath riots
* Bisbee Deportation
* Bloody Christmas
* Bracero program
* California agricultural strikes
* Cantaloupe strike of 1928
* Citrus Strike of 1936
* La Matanza
* Mexican Repatriation
* Operation Wetback
* Plan de San Diego
* Porvenir Massacre
* Sleepy Lagoon trial
* Zoot Suit Riots

Chicano Movement

* Aztlán
* Black-brown unity
* Brown Berets
* Católicos por La Raza
* Tulare labor camps rent strike
* Delano grape strike
* Centro Cultural
* Chicanismo
* Chicano Moratorium
* Colegio César Chávez
* CFMN
* Conferencia de Mujeres
* CRP
* East L.A. walkouts
* Hijas de Cuauhtémoc
* Huelga schools
* Land grant struggle
* Las Adelitas de Aztlán
* Los Siete de la Raza
* Los Seis de Boulder
* MANA
* MAYO
* MEChA
* Occupation of Catalina Island
* PCUN
* Plan Espiritual de Aztlán
* Plan de Santa Bárbara
* Quinto Sol
* Raza Unida Party
* United Farm Workers

Post-Chicano Period

* 1985–1987 cannery strike
* 1992 Drywall Strike
* 2019 El Paso shooting
* Abolish ICE
* Arizona SB 1070
* Castro 2020
* Chicano Art Exhibit
* DACA
* Great American Boycott
* IRCA
* Farah strike
* Justice for Janitors
* Murder of Selena
* Proposition 187
* South Central Farm

Culture

|  Language

* Abrazos, no balazos
* Caló
* Chicano English
* Chicano names
* Órale

Food

* New Mexican cuisine
* Tex-Mex cuisine
* Mexican-American cuisine

Music

* Chicano rap
* Chicano rock
* Chicano soul
* Tejano music

Symbols

* Cal-Style VW
* Homies
* Lowrider
* Lowrider bicycle
* Mexican-American folklore
* Pancho Claus
* Zoot suit

Literature

|  Literature

* Chicana literature
* Chicano literature
* Chicano poetry

Autobiographical

* Always Running
* Living Up the Street
* Who Would Have Thought It?

Novels

* Bless Me, Ultima
* Caballero
* Desert Blood
* From This Wicked Patch of Dust
* Mexican WhiteBoy
* The Dirty Girls Social Club
* The House on Mango Street
* The Rain God
* The Revolt of the Cockroach People
* So Far from God
* Under the Feet of Jesus
* ...y no se lo tragó la tierra

Poetry and Short Stories

* Emplumada
* I Am Joaquin
* Moment of Silence
* Pensamiento Serpentino
* The Moths

Chicano studies

|  Fields

* Chicana feminism
* Chicanafuturism

Organizations

* MAS Programs, Tucson
* NACCS
* UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center

Texts

* Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
* Brown, Not White
* The Church in the Barrio
* This Bridge Called My Back

Theory

* Barrioization
* Coyolxauhqui imperative
* Gringo justice
* Nahui Ollin
* Nepantla
* New tribalism
* Rasquachismo
* Spiritual activism
* Vergüenza
* Youth control complex

Visual art

|  Visual Art

* Chicana art
* Chicano art
* Chicano cinema
* Paño
* Tortilla art

Art Collectives

* Asco
* Culture Clash
* East Los Streetscapers
* Los Four
* Mujeres Muralistas
* Teatro Campesino
* Royal Chicano Air Force

Art organizations

* Centro de Arte Público
* Galería de la Raza
* Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
* Precita Eyes
* Self Help Graphics & Art

Locations

* Balmy Alley
* Chicano Park
* Estrada Courts
* Great Wall of Los Angeles

Law

|  Supreme Court cases

* Botiller v. Dominguez
* Hernandez v. Texas
* San Antonio I.S.D. v. Rodriguez
* Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Co.
* U.S. v. Brignoni-Ponce
* Plyler v. Doe
* Medellín v. Texas
* Flores-Figueroa v. U.S.
* Leal Garcia v. Texas
* Mendez v. Westminster
* Bernal v. Fainter
* Perez v. Brownell
* DHS v. Regents of the Univ. of Cal.

Federal Court cases

* Madrigal v. Quilligan

Population

|  Population by City

* Arizona (Tucson)
* California (Los Angeles)
* Illinois (Chicago)
* Michigan (Detroit)
* Nebraska (Omaha)
* Texas
* Dallas–Fort Worth
* Houston

Multiethnic

* Blaxicans
* Californios
* Nuevomexicanos
* Tejanos
* Indigenous Mexican Americans
* Punjabi Mexican Americans

Lists

* Chicano films
* Chicano poets
* Chicano rappers
* Mexican Americans
* Writers
* Bibliography

* United States portal
* Category
* Index

* v
* t
* e

Caló (also known as Pachuco) is an argot or slang of Mexican Spanish that originated during the first half of the 20th century in the Southwestern United States. It is the product of zoot-suit pachuco culture that developed in the 1930s and 1940s in cities along the US-Mexico border.

## Origin

[edit]

According to Chicano artist and writer José Antonio Burciaga:

> Caló originally defined the Spanish gypsy dialect. But Chicano Caló is the combination of a few basic influences: Hispanicized English; Anglicized Spanish; and the use of archaic 15th-century Spanish words such as truje for traje (brought, past tense of verb 'to bring'), or haiga, for haya (from haber, to have). These words were left in isolated pockets of Northern New Mexico and the Southwest, especially New Mexico, by conquistadores españoles.

He goes on to describe the speech of his father, a native of El Paso, Texas:

> My father had a vocabulary of Spanish words that to this day are not found in popular Spanish language dictionaries. He was born into a poor, migrant farm working family in a community of people that still used ancient words that some found improper and backwards but are to be found in Miguel Cervantez's [sic] classic Don Quixote. My father commonly used words such as minjurne for mixture, or cachibaches (also used in Cuban Spanish) for junk. I would hear them without knowing their definition but I knew exactly what he meant when talking within a specific context. Some words were archaic, others were a combination of English and Spanish. And though he knew "standard" Spanish of "educated" people, he also worked, lived, laughed and cried with words that were more expressive and indigenous to the border than standard Spanish.

The Caló of El Paso was probably influenced by the wordplay common to the speech of residents of the Tepito barrio of Mexico City. One such resident was the comic film actor Germán Valdés, a native of Mexico City who grew up in Ciudad Juárez (just across the US-Mexico border from El Paso). His films did much to popularize the language in Mexico and the United States.

## Development

[edit]

Caló has evolved in every decade since the 1940-1950s. It underwent much change during the Chicano Movement of the 1960s as Chicanos began to enter US universities and become exposed to counterculture and psychedelia. Chicano Spanish, as Gloria Anzaldúa calls it, has been portrayed as "poor Spanish" in society, making Chicano individuals uncomfortable using it in formal settings.[1] Caló was more commonly used between young chicano men, particularly in informal settings. However, the appearance of Caló in pop culture, extended its use to a wider audience.[2] Caló words and expressions became cultural symbols of the Chicano Movement during the 1960s and 1970s, when they were used frequently in literature and poetry. That language was sometimes known as Floricanto. Caló enjoyed mainstream exposure when the character "Cheech", played by Cheech Marin, used Caló in the Cheech and Chong movies of the 1970s.

By the 1970s, the term Pachuco was frequently shortened to Chuco. The Pachuco originated from El Paso, which was the root of the city's nickname, "Chuco Town". Pachucos usually dressed in zoot suits with wallet chains, round hats with feathers and were Chicanos.

Caló is not to be confused with Spanglish, which is not limited to Mexican Spanish. It is similar to Lunfardo in that it has an eclectic and multilingual vocabulary.

## Features

[edit]

Caló makes heavy use of code-switching (fluidly changing between two or more languages in a single conversation or exchange). Caló uses rhyming and, in some cases, a type of rhyming slang similar to Cockney rhyming slang or African American Vernacular English jive.

## Examples

[edit]

Since Caló is primarily spoken by individuals with varying formal knowledge of Spanish or English, variations occur in words, especially of phonemes pronounced similarly in Spanish: c/s, w/hu/gu, r/d, and b/v. It is common to see the word barrio ("neighborhood") spelled as varrio, vato ("dude") spelled as bato or güero ("blond/white man") spelled as huero or even weddo.

## Usage

[edit]

The translations should not be taken literally; they are idioms like the English "See you later alligator".

¿Qué Pasiones?
(literally "What Passions") ¿Qué Pasa? meaning "What is going on?"
¿Si ya sábanas, paquetes hilo? or Si ya Sabanas, pa' que cobijas
(literally, "If already sheets, packages thread?/covers what for") ¿Si ya sabes, pa(ra) qué te digo? meaning, "If you already know, why am I telling you?"

Occasionally, English is spoken with Mexican features. Speaking to a sibling or family member about parents, for example, a Caló speaker will refer to them as "My Mother" (Mi Mamá) instead of "Mom" or "Our mother".

Rhyming is sometimes used by itself and for emphasis.

Common phrases include:

¿Me comprendes, Méndez?
"Do you understand, Méndez?"
¿O te explico, Federico?
"Or do I explain it to you, Federico?"
Nel, pastel
"No way" (lit. "Nay, Cake")
Al rato, vato
"Later, dude" (lit. "al rato" means "later"; "vato" means friend or guy)
¿Me esperas, a comer peras?
"Will you wait for me?" (lit. "will you wait for me to eat pears?")
¿Qué te pasa, calabaza?
"Whats going on?" (lit. "What is happening to you, squash/pumpkin?")
Nada Nada, Limonada
"Not much" (lit. "Nothing, nothing, lemonade". Spoken as a response to the above, "¿Qué te pasa, calabaza?").

## In popular culture

[edit]

* American Me
* Akwid
* Blood In Blood Out
* Cheech and Chong
* La Chilanga Banda, a song by Café Tacuba
* Culture Clash
* Don Tosti
* Edward James Olmos
* George Lopez (TV series)
* Harsh Times
* Homies
* Frost \- Chicano rap artist whose song "La Raza" uses Caló
* Lalo Guerrero \- Pachuco swing musician
* Lowrider Magazine
* Gilbert "Magú" Luján
* La Mission (2009 movie)
* Mi Vida Loca
* Robert Rodriguez
* Sublime
* Tin Tan \- actor from the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema who popularized Pachuco dress and talk
* Zoot Suit (film)
* Zoot Suit (play)
* El Mero Perro - Chicano Rap Artist and Music Producer who uses many Caló lyrics with Tejano/Chicano Pachuco themes in his songs

## See also

[edit]

* Latino and Hispanic American portal
* Language portal

* Chicano English
* East Los
* Órale
* Pachuco

## Sources

[edit]

* Aguilar Melantzón, Ricardo. Glosario del caló de Cd. Juárez. (translated by Federico Ferro Gay ; edited by María Telles-McGeagh, Patricia A. Sullivan. Las Cruces, N.M.: Joint Border Research Institute, New Mexico State University, c1989.
* Burciaga, José Antonio. Drink Cultura: Chicanismo. Santa Barbara: Joshua Odell Editions, Capra Press, 1993. ISBN 1-877741-07-8
* Cummings, Laura. "The Pachuco Language Variety in Tucson." In Pachucas and Pachucos in Tucson: Situated Border Lives. University of Arizona Press, 2009. pp 95–131
* Fuentes, Dagoberto. Barrio language dictionary: first dictionary of Caló [by] Dagoberto Fuentes [and] José A. López. La Puente, California: El Barrio Publications, 1974.
* Galindo, D. Letticia. "Dispelling the Male-Only Myth: Chicanas and Calo." Bilingual Review 16: 1. 1992.
* Galindo, D. Letticia and María Dolores Gonzales, editors. Speaking Chicana : voice, power, and identity. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, c1999. ISBN 0-8165-1814-9 and ISBN 0-8165-1815-7 (paperback)
* Hallcom, Francine, Ph.D. "An Urban Ethnography of Latino Street Gangs in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties"
* Metcalf, Allan A. "The Study of California Chicano English". International Journal of the Sociology of Language. Volume 1974, Issue 2, Pages 53–58
* JL Orenstein-Galicia. "Totacho a Todo Dar: communicative functions of Chicano Caló along the US-Mexico border." La Linguistique (Paris. 1965)
* Ortega, Adolfo. Caló Orbis: semiotic aspects of a Chicano language variety New York: P. Lang, c1991. ISBN 0-8204-1542-1
* Ortega, Adolfo. Caló tapestry. Berkeley: Editorial Justa Publications, 1977. ISBN 0-915808-21-8
* Polkinhorn, Harry, Alfredo Velasco, and Malcom Lambert. El Libro De Caló: The Dictionary of Chicano Slang. Mountain View, California: Floricanto Press, 1988. ISBN 0-915745-19-4 [1]
* Webb, John Terrance. A lexical study of Caló and non-standard Spanish in the Southwest. (dissertation), 1976.
* Manuel Cantú - Pachuco Dictionary ISBN 978-0-615-15944-7

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* t
* e

Dialects and varieties of Spanish by continent

Africa and Asia|

* Canarian
* Equatoguinean
* Philippine
* Saharan

Americas
(Interamerican)|

| Caribbean|

* Cuban
* Dominican
* Panamanian
* Puerto Rican
* Trinidadian

|

Central America|

* Belizean
* Costa Rican
* Guatemalan
* Honduran
* Nicaraguan
* Pachuco
* Salvadoran

North America|

* United States
* Caló (Chicano)
* Californian
* Isleño
* New Mexican
* Sabine River
* Mexican

South America|

* Amazonic
* Andean
* Bolivian
* Chilean
* Chilote
* Chiloé Archipelago
* Colombian
* Cordobés
* Central Argentina
* Cuyano
* Central western Argentina
* Ecuadorian
* Equatorial
* Coastal Ecuador
* Llanero
* Los Llanos Colombia/Venezuela
* Maracucho
* Zulia State
* Paisa
* Paisa Region
* Paraguayan
* Pastuso
* Colombia-Ecuador border
* Peruvian
* Ribereño
* Coastal Peru
* Rioplatense
* Coastal Argentina
* Uruguayan
* Venezuelan

Europe
(Peninsular)|

* Andalusian
* Canarian
* Castilian
* Castrapo (Galicia)
* Castúo (Extremadura)
* Murcian
* spoken by Catalan speakers

Other|

* Standard
* Llanito
* Judaeo-Spanish
* Haketia
* Tetuani Ladino
* Caló (Para-Romani)
* Spanglish
* Palenquero (creole)
* Chavacano (creole)
* Media Lengua (mixed language)
* Papiamento (Portuguese-based creole with Spanish influence)

Extinct|

* Cocoliche and Lunfardo
* Coastal Argentina, Uruguay
* Malespín
* Central America
* Bozal

* v
* t
* e

Languages of the United States

Languages in italics are extinct.

English|

Dialects of American English

* African-American English
* Vernacular
* American Indian English
* Appalachian English
* Baltimore English
* Boston English
* Cajun English
* California English
* Chicano English
* General American English
* Good American Speech
* High Tider English
* Inland Northern American English
* Miami English
* Maine English
* Midland American English
* New England Englishes
* Eastern
* Western
* New Mexican Englishes
* New Orleans English
* New York City English
* New York Latino English
* Northeastern elite accent
* Northern American English
* North-Central American / Upper Midwestern English
* Pacific Northwest English
* Pennsylvania Dutch
* Philadelphia English
* Puerto Rican Englishes
* Southern American English
* Older
* Texan English
* Upper Michigan English
* Utah Mormon English
* Western American English
* Western Pennsylvania English
* Yeshiva English

Oral Indigenous
languages|

| Families|

| Algic|

* Abenaki
* Arapaho
* Blackfoot
* Cheyenne
* Cree
* Fox
* Malecite-Passamaquoddy
* Massachusett
* Menominee
* Mi'kmaq
* Munsee
* Ojibwe
* Potawatomi
* Shawnee

* Etchemin
* Gros Ventre
* Loup
* Nawathinehena
* Mahican
* Miami-Illinois
* Mohegan-Pequot
* Nanticoke
* Narragansett
* Pamlico
* Powhatan
* Quiripi
* Unami
* Wiyot
* Yurok

|

Austronesian|

* Chamorro
* Hawaiian
* Refaluwasch
* Samoan
* Tokelauan

Caddoan|

* Arikara
* Caddo
* Pawnee

* Kitsai
* Wichita

Chinookan|

* Kathlamet
* Tsinúk
* Upper Chinook

Chumashan|

* Barbareño
* Cruzeño
* Obispeño
* Purisimeño
* Ventureño

Dené(–
Yeniseian?)|

* Ahtna
* Deg Xinag
* Dena'ina
* Gwich’in
* Hän
* Hupa
* Jicarilla
* Koyukon
* Lower Tanana
* Mescalero-Chiricahua
* Navajo
* Tanacross
* Upper Kuskokwim
* Upper Tanana
* Western Apache

* Cahto
* Eyak
* Holikachuk
* Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie
* Lipan
* Mattole
* Plains Apache
* Tolowa
* Tsetsaut
* Tututni
* Upper Umpqua
* Wailaki

Eskaleut|

* Inuit
* Inupiat
* Aleut
* Alutiiq
* Central Alaskan Yup'ik
* Central Siberian Yupik
* Chevak Cup’ik

Iroquoian|

* Cayuga
* Cherokee
* Mohawk
* Oneida
* Onondaga
* Seneca

* Erie
* Neutral Huron
* Nottoway
* Susquehannock
* Tuscarora
* Wyandot
* Wenrohronon

Kalapuyan|

* Central Kalapuya
* Northern Kalapuya
* Yoncalla

Keresan|

* Cochiti Pueblo
* San Felipe–Santo Domingo
* Zia–Santa Ana Pueblos
* Western Keres
* Acoma Pueblo
* Laguna Pueblo

Maiduan|

* Konkow

* Chico
* Maidu
* Nisenan

Muskogean|

* Alabama
* Chickasaw
* Choctaw
* Koasati
* Mikasuki
* Muscogee

* Apalachee
* Houma

Palaihnihan|

* Achumawi
* Atsugewi

Pakawan|

* Coahuilteco
* Comecrudo
* Cotoname
* Garza
* Mamulique

Plateau Penutian|

* Nez Perce
* Sahaptin

* Klamath
* Molala

Pomoan|

* Kashaya
* Southeastern Pomo

* Central Pomo
* Eastern Pomo
* Northeastern Pomo
* Northern Pomo
* Southern Pomo

Salishan|

* Coeur d'Alene
* Halkomelem
* North Straits Salish
* Okanagan
* Salish
* Thompson

* Columbia-Moses
* Cowlitz
* Klallam
* Lower Chehalis
* Lushootseed
* Nooksack
* Quinault
* Tillamook
* Twana
* Upper Chehalis

Siouan|

* Assiniboine
* Crow
* Dakota
* Hidatsa
* Lakota
* Omaha–Ponca
* Quapaw
* Stoney
* Winnebago

* Biloxi
* Catawba
* Chiwere
* Kansa
* Mandan
* Mitchigamea
* Moneton
* Ofo
* Osage
* Tutelo-Saponi
* Woccon

Tanoan|

* Jemez
* Kiowa
* Picuris
* Southern Tiwa
* Taos
* Tewa

* Piro Pueblo

Tsimshianic|

* Coast Tsimshian

Uto-Aztecan|

* Comanche
* Hopi
* Kawaiisu
* Mono
* Northern Paiute
* O'odham
* Shoshoni
* Timbisha
* Ute-Chemehuevi
* Yaqui

* Ivilyuat
* Cupeño
* Kitanemuk
* Luiseño
* Serrano
* Tongva
* Tübatulabal

Wakashan|

* Makah

Wintuan|

* Patwin

* Nomlaki
* Wintu

Yuk-Utian|

* Central Sierra Miwok
* Southern Sierra Miwok
* Valley Yokuts

* Bay Miwok
* Buena Vista Yokuts
* Coast Miwok
* Gashowu Yokuts
* Kings River Yokuts
* Lake Miwok
* Northern Sierra Miwok
* Palewyami
* Plains Miwok
* Tule-Kaweah Yokuts

Yuman–
Cochimí|

* Cocopah
* Havasupai–Hualapai
* Ipai
* Kumeyaay
* Maricopa
* Mojave
* Quechan
* Tiipai
* Yavapai

Others|

| Isolates|

* Haida
* Karuk
* Kutenai
* Washo
* Zuni

* Alsea
* Atakapa
* Chimariko
* Chitimacha
* Esselen
* Natchez
* Salinan
* Siuslaw
* Taensa
* Takelma
* Tawasa
* Timucua
* Tonkawa
* Tunica
* Yana
* Yuchi

|

Mixed or trade
Languages|

* Afro-Seminole Creole
* Chinook Jargon
* Michif

* Mohawk Dutch

Manual Indigenous
languages|

| Hand Talk|

* Anishinaabe Sign Language
* Blackfoot Sign Language
* Cheyenne Sign Language
* Cree Sign Language
* Navajo Sign Language

* Plateau Sign Language
* Ktunaxa Sign Language

|

Isolates|

* Hawai'i Sign Language
* Creole Hawai'i Sign Language
* Inuit Sign Language
* Keresan Pueblo
* Navajo Family Sign Language
* Orocovis Sign Language

Oral settler
languages|

| French|

* Louisiana
* Métis
* Missouri
* Muskrat
* New England

|

German|

* Pennsylvania Dutch
* Hutterite
* Plautdietsch
* Bernese
* Alsatian
* Texas

Spanish|

* Caló (Chicano)
* Isleño
* New Mexican
* Puerto Rican
* Sabine River

Creole and mixed languages|

* Gullah
* Louisiana Creole
* Spanglish
* Angloromani

Manual settler
languages|

| Francosign|

* American Sign Language
* Black American Sign Language
* Protactile
* Puerto Rican Sign Language

|

BANZSL|

* Samoan Sign Language

Kentish|

* Martha's Vineyard Sign Language

Isolates|

* Sandy River Valley Sign Language
* Henniker Sign Language

Immigrant languages
(number of speakers
in 2021 in millions)|

* Spanish (41.3)
* Chinese (3.4)
* Tagalog (1.7)
* Vietnamese (1.5)
* Arabic (1.4)
* French (1.2)
* Korean (1.1)
* Russian (1.0)
* Portuguese (0.9)
* Haitian (0.9)
* Hindi (0.9)
* German (0.9)
* Polish (0.5)
* Italian (0.5)
* Urdu (0.5)
* Persian (0.5)
* Telugu (0.5)
* Japanese (0.5)
* Gujarati (0.4)
* Bengali (0.4)
* Tamil (0.3)
* Punjabi (0.3)
* Serbo-Croatian (0.3)
* Armenian (0.3)
* Greek (0.3)
* Hmong (0.2)
* Hebrew (0.2)
* Khmer (0.2)

1. ^ Galindo, D. Letticia; Gonzales, María Dolores, eds. (2023-05-30). Speaking Chicana. University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-5120-0.
2. ^ Ornstein-Galicia, Jacob L. (December 1987). "Chicano Caló: Description and Review of a Border Variety". Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences. 9 (4): 359–373\. doi:10.1177/07399863870094001. ISSN 0739-9863.

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