- The suffix 'ita/ito' is used as a diminutive, expressing familiarity or endearment. Thus, while Ramon's nickname is 'Macho', he is called 'Machito'. 'Chiquita' would be more familiar than 'Chica', or could imply a younger or smaller girl.
- You can sometimes tell if a name is masculine or feminine by the last letter - if the last letter is an 'a', then -maybe- the name is feminine, while the same rule would suggest that a masculine name would end in 'o'. Thus, Ramon is 'Machito' while male and 'Machita' while female.
- "Perdonenme". My punctuation may leave something to be desired. In addition to my own clumsiness, some browsers may not be able to portray the accents and tildes (a', e', i', o', n~) which I have tried to include in the text. A plain text version is being set up for those folks who want to download it and read the story offline (bless you!).
And, lastly, an apology for representing Mexicans and Indians as distinct and different in this story. There are hundreds of different Indian groups in Mexico, forming a vital part of the nation's population. Any attempt to portray any one group as being more `Mexican' than another would be misleading.
bebito - baby boy (informal). "mi bebita" would be "my baby girl".
chico - small, used for young boys. (alternate: niño)
chica - young girl. (alternate: niña)
corazon - Should be corazón: literally "heart". "mi corazón" would mean "My heart".
Don - Title placed before the first name of a respected man.
Notice that it does not denote a specific rank or position.
Dona - Should be doña. Title placed before the first name of a respected woman.
Estrella - Star. Estrellita means 'Little Star'.
Gordo - fat. In this case, Gordito was named when he was young and chubby. Adolescence made him taller and slender.
hombre - man, mature male.
Macho - Masculine, virile, strong.
Mama - Should be Mamá. Ramon's name for his mother.
Papa - Should be Papá. Ramon's name for his father.
pero - but.
For the Japanophiles, "pero..." would be the
equivalent of "demo..."
que - how, what (in an exclamation).
For the Japanophiles, "Que?" would be the
equivalent of "Nani?"
(note: This is a very flexible word!)
Ramon - Pronounced "Rah - Moan". At a guess, it means 'king of the mountain'.
The more I learn about the Spanish language, the more I worry about making a mistake. Fortunately, many good people have stepped in to correct me, so if you see where I have goofed up, don't hesitate to let me know.
One error I have made is the following statement: If you call a woman 'Macha', you had better first be on good terms with her. In the first place, she probably would not know what you meant, since 'macha' is rarely used. The correct word would be 'Marimacha.' Nevertheless, the caution holds. It implies that the woman is masculine, strong, or aggressive. These can be good qualities, but may not be considered complimentary in all cases. (Gracias to Alex for this one!)
Machito is the diminutive form of Macho, and may be used for young or dear children. Machito is also the name of a spicy sausage found mostly in northern Mexico, composed of the usual ingredients plus the brains, organs and gonads of the contributing animal. Presumably, one has to be 'macho' to be able to eat it.
Likewise, a young girl could be called Machita because she was energetic, strong, or bossy. A tomboy. In Ramon's case, it is not only appropriate, it is a joke.