XicotencatlSmith
Experienced
- Joined
- May 14, 2002
- Posts
- 41
How Xico got his groove
Well, as I said, Xico is like Chico. (And, in my circle, Chico is pronounced she-ko, not cheek-o, so that might answer your word-sound etymology question.) New Mexico, where I grew up, is a weird blend of cultures. Notice I say blend, and not mix. People don't even know exactly which culture started what. You've got your Julio Jones living next to your William Kennedy Gomez. Many of the older families are the direct descendants of the original spanish colonists/conquerers, (the kind of people who don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo because they feel it was a bad idea ever to overthrow spanish rule, let alone let Texans move in.) You can spot the hard core cultural advocates because they insist that Albuquerque is just the lazy anglicized spelling of Alburquerque. You go with Xico because tourists are mangling the word taco. (Tack-o) It might kill them to learn anything more, and nobody wants to collect tourist bodies.
Xicotencatl is the name of one of my college roomies that I adopted as a stage name to annoy him. He came from the same background as me, but his parents were more political than mine and selected god names like Xicotencatl(Xico), Quetzacotl(He went by "Q"), and Julie("Julie") for their children. (I never got the nerve to ask, but I figured the Julie got her name because mesoamericans weren't big on female dieties) I just like the blend of the old and the new, the native and european, and like Brigette Keeny there's a little play in the initials.
Well, as I said, Xico is like Chico. (And, in my circle, Chico is pronounced she-ko, not cheek-o, so that might answer your word-sound etymology question.) New Mexico, where I grew up, is a weird blend of cultures. Notice I say blend, and not mix. People don't even know exactly which culture started what. You've got your Julio Jones living next to your William Kennedy Gomez. Many of the older families are the direct descendants of the original spanish colonists/conquerers, (the kind of people who don't celebrate Cinco de Mayo because they feel it was a bad idea ever to overthrow spanish rule, let alone let Texans move in.) You can spot the hard core cultural advocates because they insist that Albuquerque is just the lazy anglicized spelling of Alburquerque. You go with Xico because tourists are mangling the word taco. (Tack-o) It might kill them to learn anything more, and nobody wants to collect tourist bodies.
Xicotencatl is the name of one of my college roomies that I adopted as a stage name to annoy him. He came from the same background as me, but his parents were more political than mine and selected god names like Xicotencatl(Xico), Quetzacotl(He went by "Q"), and Julie("Julie") for their children. (I never got the nerve to ask, but I figured the Julie got her name because mesoamericans weren't big on female dieties) I just like the blend of the old and the new, the native and european, and like Brigette Keeny there's a little play in the initials.
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