Comedian John Oliver roasts Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto's use of the phrase "Ya chole". Photo: screen grab
As we've pointed out, popular TV newscaster/comedian John Oliver is fond of poking fun of goofy political stories, not just from his native Britain, or his adopted home country of the US, but around the world. And recently, he set his sights on the president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto.
Oliver took issue with a video released by Peña Nieto's handlers, responding to criticisms of the government's controversial reforms. The video shows two working class Mexicans talking, and when one complains about the reforms, the other shuts him down: "That's enough of your complaints". The video may have seemed like a good idea for the Mexican government when they uploaded it to the internet, but it quickly became a lightning rod for criticisms. Though it has been removed from official government pages, it has been reloaded to the youtube page of well-known Mexican journalist Carmen Aristegui. John Oliver proceeded to rip the video. "We get used to politicians telling us: 'We've heard your voice,'" Oliver said. "But they don't usually follow it with: 'And it's annoying, so shut up.'" He also cataloged some of the responses by average Mexicans, including a GIF image saying "That's enough of your [poop emoji] Enrique Peña Nieto." The GIF later animates what appears to be an explosion emanating from the poop emoji. "When a government tells its people to stop complaining, they should know that shit is eventually going to blow up in your face," Oliver remarked.
But the video was noteworthy for the specific Spanish phrase it used. Instead of the more neutral "ya basta", the video uses the phrase "ya chole" (which later went on to become a popular hashtag on Twitter). This is actually a uniquely Mexican slang term, used particularly in and around Mexico City. In all likelihood, Peña Nieto's video included it to try to identify with average people - a move that backfired.
There's actually a fair amount to be said about the phrase "ya chole". First of all, from a linguistic standpoint, it's kind of an outlier. Whereas the more commonly used "ya basta" is based on the verb "bastar", which literally means "to be enough" or "to suffice", "chole" is not actually based on any verb at all. A Spanish-language entry on Word Reference suggests that it is actually derived from the nickname from the Spanish women's name "Soledad". In fact, there are a good deal of Mexican slang words that begin with the "ch" sound, including "Chilango", a term for residents of Mexico City. These have formed the basis for a song by the well known Mexican band Cafe Tacuba, "Ya Chole Chango Chilango". All in all, an important lesson in Mexican slang, which being featured by a well known comedian has perhaps helped to make a bit less boring. Let's hope Peña Nieto has also learned a lesson about trying to be folksy with slang words: it doesn't work. |
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