I'm sure everyone in DallasCowboysLand is awestruck with Tony Romo's success in his first 4 NFL starts. All Cowboys' fans wish he had started the season instead of somewhere near the middle, but beggars can't be chosers at this point. I don't know if anyone noticed this, but just before the Colts kicked the ball back to the 'Boys in the 4th quarter, Romo ran down the bench and essentially high-fived everyone to get them ready for the pending drive. Wow, where did this come from? I do not know if any other quarterback does this, but with the way the team has played lately, it sure does make sense that the team is playing better because of Romo's attitude.
What I am very surprised to have not heard so far, media-wise, is that Tony Romo is the first Hispanic starting quarterback in Cowboys' team history. Maybe he isn't because I have yet to hear that specific item in all the hype that has surrounded him since midseason insertion, but it's wonderful to see and hear that he's doing so well.
I would like to share a fantastic website that has become one of my all-time favorites. I came across this site, maybe 10 years ago, and I don't remember if a co-worker told me about it, but what it is, is immensely entertaining, especially if you know something about Mexican culture. The context of the site, may be vulgar to some, but it certainly deserves plenty of recognition, in terms of the word it describes. The site is entirely in Spanish and it is called "La Chingada," or loosely translated as "The Screwed," in English and I like to visit it from time to time for a quick laugh. You'll find the site at: http://csgrs6k1.uwaterloo.ca/~dmg/chingada/ Although the website is quite lame in construction and lacks any visual effects, but it certainly makes up for in colorful context and philosophical connections. What I like about it is that it delves into the etymology of one of the most prolifically used expletives in Mexico's spanish vernacular.
The word chingar, with the verb meaning to screw, could be seen as a catch all, similar to English's usage of both s*** & f***, but it has a historical background and varied usage that its English counterparts do not have. Yes, you can say, "Ah, go f*** yourself," or "I had a s****y time" in English, but chingar has a breeding all its own, pun immensely intended, and it's inherently a Mexicanism. Ask any Mexican when the initial chingada occurred and they will tell you it came when Spanish conquistadores took Aztec women as their wives. Furthermore, you will see and hear the phrase, "Hijos de la chingada" throughout Mexican culture and you will know that they are referring to the "sons (& daughters) of the first chingada."
These are a quick sampling of Octavio Paz's interpretation of the word from the site itself:
[La chingada] es una palabra hueca. No quiere decir nada. Es la Nada.
[La chingada] is an empty word. It doesn't say anything. It is the Nothing.
El hijo de la chingada es el engendro de la violación, del rapto, de la burla.
The son of the chingada is the fetus of the rape, of the abduction, of the ridiculed.
Para el mexicano, la vida es la posibilidad de chingar o de ser chingado.
For the Mexican, life is the possibility of being the screwer or the screwee.
