• When In Doubt, Co-Opt

    In linguistics 101, you learn that co-opting language is, in a way, actively repackaging it for your own use. 

    For example, those who are homosexual took the negative smear queer and used it to label themselves in a positive manner. They re-appropriated, redefined and repackaged queer.

    Young blacks did the same thing with the word nigger, or, likely more phonetically correct, nigga, or any variation thereof. The rest of society followed suit, taking much of the AAVE (African American Vernacular English) and co-opting it to our own uses, too.

    I’ve always found co-opting language to be an interesting phenomenon, and my very favorite example is the word mojado– or, those who don’t speak Spanish may recognize it as wetback. My first exposure to this word came from my own cousin back in the early 90’s in Portland, OR, but witness this co-option of Mojado in what is likely the saddest and most beautiful song ever written (Ricardo Arjona):

    Empacó un par de camisas, un sombrero,
    Su vocación de aventurero
    Seis consejos, siete fotos, mil recuerdos.

    Empacó sus ganas de quedarse
    Su condición de transformarse
    En el hombre que soñó y no ha logrado.

    Dijo adiós con una mueca disfrazada de sonrisa
    Y le suplico a su Dios crucificado en la repisa
    El resguardo de los suyos y perforó la frontera como pudo.

    Si la luna suave se desliza por cualquier cornisa
    Sin permiso alguno, por qué el mojado precisa
    Comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno.

    El mojado tiene ganas de secarse,
    El mojado esta mojado
    Por las lágrimas que brota la nostalgia
    El mojado, el indocumentado carga el bulto
    Que el legal no cargaría ni obligado.

    El suplicio de un papel lo ha convertido
    En fugitivo y no es de aquí porque su nombre
    No aparece en los archivos ni es de allá porque se fue.

    Si la luna suave se desliza por cualquier cornisa
    Sin permiso alguno, por qué el mojado precisa
    Comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno.

    Mojado sabe a mentira tú verdad,
    Sabe a tristeza la ansiedad
    De ver un freeway y soñar
    Con la vereda que conduce hasta tú casa.

    Mojado, mojado de tanto llorar sabiendo que en algún lugar
    Le espera un beso haciendo pausa desde el día en que te marchaste.

    Si la luna suave se desliza por cualquier cornisa
    Sin permiso alguno, por qué el mojado precisa
    Comprobar con visas que no es de neptuno.

    Si la visa universal se extiende el día en que nacemos
    Y caduca en la muerte, por qué te persiguen mojado
    Si el cónsul de los cielos ya te dio permiso.

     For those unfortunate ones who cannot speak Spanish, just a sample so you can get the flavor (flava?): The mojado has the right to dry himself off. (And, on a linguistical tangent, you may be amused to see that the verb tener ganas “has the right” is the same verb as “has the desire” and ganar by itself means “earn”.)

    For my freelance friends, what brought this up? I’m attempting to complete a series of interviews for Latino Leaders magazine on a subject of which I am wholly uneducated (finances, capital management, money management), and I have found myself needing to co-opt the language to further my limping understanding.

    Hey, sometimes you don’t always get to write about the things that interest you. . . that’s what your blog is for!

3 Responsesso far.

  1. Heiddi says:

    Allena,

    Ok. You did shock me when I saw your tweet, but now I get it. 🙂 You’re absolutely right. People do know how to make a negative into a positive. Seeing the silver lining. I just didn’t know it was called co-opting. I learned something new today. Thanks!

  2. Allena says:

    lol, it’s all in the headlines.

    Linguistics is not only nteresting but is very helpful to writers.

  3. Dan Reveal says:

    Perceptive comments…I’ve studied Social Psychology–meaning is generated by interaction.