Caló

Historical Development and Key Features

The exact origins of caló among Mexican Americans are subject to debate among linguists, historians, and Chicano studies scholars. However, a prominent theory contends that the antecedents of contemporary caló originated among the gypsies of Spain [los gitanos], who developed their own form of slang by blending their native Romany with Castilian Spanish during the 19th century. This hybridized slang eventually made its way to Mexico City by the early years of the 20th century and subsequently reached the major border city of El Paso, Texas, as a result of immigration from Mexico City throughout the 1920s.

In El Paso, caló slang underwent a further hybridization as bilingual Tejano youth infused it with English influences. The primary speakers of this new caló were largely lower-income Mexican American males who came to be known as “pachucos.” Improved railroad lines connected Texas with California, and large numbers of pachucos relocated to Los Angeles throughout the 1930s. As these young men migrated to the West Coast, they brought their linguistic idiosyncrasies with them and firmly planted caló in the cultural landscape of southern California. In the barrios of East Los Angeles during the 1940s, pachucho lifestyle flourished as it become associated with bilingualism, caló, and the zoot suit. Other Mexican American teenagers began to adopt these customs and mannerisms, including caló speech.

George Lopez performs at the Kids Inaugural: We Are the Future concert in Washington, D.C., in 2009. Lopez has used caló on television in his ABC sitcom George Lopez.

Some of the more common caló words and phrases include Órale! [Okay, or All right!], qué Onda? [What's going on?], simón [yes], chále [no], a toda madre [everything is swell], and vato [guy/dude]. Male speakers of caló may use the term carnal to refer to their biological brother or very close friends to whom they feel a strong attachment. The female counterpart is carnala. Similarly, the terms ése and ésa are frequently used as informal labels for a man or woman, respectively. Another defining feature of caló is its tendency to replace the letter B with V in the word varrio (traditionally spelled barrio in Spanish). The term means neighborhood [Page 429]but is popularly used to connote specifically an urban district with predominantly Mexican/Chicano residents; as such varrio remains one of the most common terms in poetry and literature produced in caló. Much like the rhyming verses that comprise the jive talk of African American street slang, caló also exhibits numerous phrases based on rhyme, including Me entiendes, Mendez? [Do you understand me?] and Al rato, vato! [Later, dude!] akin to “see you later, alligator!”

...