PRELUDE
Much has kept me from my editorial desk of late, but I simply
could not resist doing a bit of research on that curiously
un-American celebration, Cinco de Mayo. Each year, more and
more of us take to the streets and drink Coronas and margaritas,
without really understanding what May 5th is all about. It
is much more than a celebration of a dusty military victory
against overwhelming odds, but a case study in the cultural
evolution between the Mexican and American people.
QUOTES
OF THE WEEK
“He
who praises you for what you lack wishes to take from you
what you have.”
—Don Juan Manuel
“It is better to die on your feet than to live on your
knees.”
—Emiliano Zapata
“Don’t let it end like this. Tell them I said
something.”
—Pancho Villa (his last words)
THIS
WEEK IN HISTORY
MAY
5, 1914: Erwin “Cannonball” Baker begins
a historic 11 day cross-country motorcycle trip from San Diego
to New York, which would ultimately change the way Americans
viewed motorized bicycles. Baker’s trip was the result
of a sponsorship by motorcycle maker Indian, which asked him
to take a two-speed, 7 horsepower model on a demonstration
tour of Cuba, Jamaica, and Panama. Following the promotional
tour, Baker decided to take the same model across the U.S.
He sent letters all around the country asking people to help
him plot a contiguous route, since roads outside of urban
areas were in uniformly poor shape. By Baker’s own account,
he ran out of gas on the second day in the Arizona desert
and was forced to push his bike in 119 degree heat; that was
before he was set upon by wild dogs (which he successfully
repelled with his .38 Smith & Wesson). Baker went on to
do many more promotional races for sponsors, and adopted the
tagline “no record, no pay.”
Baker received
his famous moniker after this cross-country race, when a New
York journalist compared him to the famous Cannonball Express
train (fabled to have been so fast it took three men to say
“here she comes,” “here she is,” and
“there she goes.”).
Sources: The History
Channel, Wikipedia,
Motorcycle Hall
of Fame. |
 |
3
WORDS
Memorize these by week's end and you shall
quickly develop an enviable lexicon.
This week’s theme: Spanish loan words.
| peccadillo
(peck-uh-DIL-oh) noun |
| 1. |
|
a
slight offense |
Ex.
While much of Europe wrote off Clinton’s
escapade with Lewinsky as a mere peccadillo,
the American public was in an uproar.
Etym. Diminutive of
the Spanish pecado, or “sin.” |
|
barrio (BAR-ee-oh) noun |
| 1. |
|
a
district of a city or town in Spanish speaking countries |
| 2. |
|
a Spanish-speaking area of a city or town in the United
States, esp. in the Southwest. |
Ex.
The barrios are often the poorest parts
of large U.S. cities.
Etym. Spanish for “neighborhood,”
ultimately from Arabic barriya,
“open country.” |
|
lariat (LAR-ee-et) noun |
| 1. |
|
a long light rope with a running noose used to catch
livestock; LASSO |
Ex.
The rancher showed his new cowhand how to tie
a lariat, so that he might go out and bring
in the scattered livestock.
Etym. From Spanish la
reata, “the lasso.” |
|
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