2008: ¿Quién quita…?
Happy new year! Of course. That’s what everyone said two nights ago at the stroke of twelve, at least in English. In Spanish, on the other hand, one says ¡Feliz año nuevo!, which means exactly the same thing. But let’s go back a little, back to before Christmas when the saying was Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo. Now that’s a little different. Back then one was to have a merry — or Happy — Christmas and a prosperous New Year. After Christmas, however, one goes back to the happy or merry. But having survived 2007, I think we all deserve a próspero año nuevo. Don’t you?
But what does próspero really mean? One thinks that a prosperous man is one who has tons of money, or who makes tons of money. As a matter of fact, though, in Spanish this meaning of próspero is non-existent. It does, however, pop up in the English dictionary as “well-to-do” or “well off,” synonyms for “wealthy.” Outside of this, they basically mean the same thing in both Spanish and English. Let’s translate the Spanish definition: “favorable, propitious, fortunate.” It follows, then, that a prosperous man is not necessarily rich; he may not have any money at all, but he is in a favorable position, he is fortunate, which means he has good luck. If your concept of good luck is having tons of money, then being Mr. Money Bags would constitute your idea of being prosperous. That makes about 90% of all Mexicans (and people of most other nationalities) definitely unprosperous… So what’s to do?
There is a saying in Spanish which is somewhat apropos of this situation: al mal paso, darle prisa. This means that if you have to go through with something unpleasant, you should do it quickly. If 2008 is going to be as rocky as 2007, or even rockier, then let’s get on with it! You never know, we may be prosperous and find ingenious ways of outsmarting the wolf, the one who ends up knocking on our door every time the Visa or Master Card comes due (not to mention the car payments, tenencias, insurance policies, etc).
Which leads us to another handy saying: Al mal tiempo, buena cara. According to this adage, there’s nothing worse than going quickly into that bad situation with a long face. So, as it were, we should step into the arena and confront the lions with a smile. Quién quita… You never know: maybe those bichitos will be thrown for a loop and won’t even bother us, like Daniel in the lions’ den.
Okay. Let’s back up a little once more. Quién quita. What does that mean? As you may have gathered, it means you never know, there’s always a possibility. A very common expression in contemporary Mexico, it is used all the time to refer to some fortunate happenstance that might make us prosperous. Literally it means nothing, or next to nothing: “who takes away.” I assume the taking away part has to do with taking away a possibility, as if we were to say: “Who can be sure that the fortunate possibility will be denied us,” meaning that we just might be lucky; you never know…
Bichito, on the other hand, is a nice word that has several meanings in Spanish. It is most commonly used to refer to insects, as in bugs. But cats are also affectionately referred to as bichos — or bichitos — all the time. As a matter of fact, the Spanish equivalent of here-kitty-kitty is bichito-bichito-bichito. Fighting bulls (toros de lidia) are also referred to as bichos, and the word may be used to allude to any animal, large or small, in a more or less derogatory manner. That’s the way I used it to refer to the lions that are eagerly waiting to devour us in 2008, only we won’t let them because we are determined to have a próspero año nuevo. Right? Of course right!
For those who are really into curious terminology, there is a related verbal expression I believe comes from the north of Mexico: bicharse, meaning to takes one’s clothes off.
“Bíchate,” said the rancher, staring at the startled girl.
“No me bicho,” she answered, “hace mucho frío.”
This isn’t common south of Sinaloa, but if you ever go north, it might be good to keep it in mind, especially now that the weather has turned a little nippy.
So, have a próspero and feliz año nuevo. Because, quién quita and if enough of us actually do have one, we might even climb out of this bache, or pothole, because no hay mal que por bien no venga. There never blows an ill wind.
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