¡Chingado! The REAL Bad-Ass Spanish Word . . .
. . . that White Moms Never Say
My mom has always been a very creative user of the Spanish language and this was one of the words we heard often, mostly because we were not the best-behaved children.
One day, somewhere around the age of 12, I decided to look up the word “chingado” because I’d heard it so often (not just mom, but uncles and cousins). And I mean OFTEN.
This is the first thing that crossed my mind when I learned what it meant: “White moms don’t say that word!” That was it.
Not, “I can’t believe my mom talks this way.”
Not, “Shame on my mom!”
Nope. “White moms don’t say that word!” Emphasis on the exclamation mark. I was shocked.
That’s significant because ALL moms used to yell at their kids, not just mine. But none of the neighborhood moms used the English version of this word. NOT one time did I hear a white mom use this word.
If any white moms were going to use this word it would have been the ones in my neighborhood. These moms were so mean that we kids would compare stories about whose mom was the meanest. It was close because all moms also used to spank their children.
