Dichos: Like Fortune Cookies, But Yours To Throw Away After A Mexican Meal
5 June 2008, 10:30 AM. By Alex Alvarez
Dichos are little fortune-cookie-like confections, except, instead of including words of wisdom like “that lo mein was a terrible idea,” you’ll get them with a plate of enchiladas you’ll eventually totally regret and a saying in Espanish:
Crack open the cinnamon-scented wafer and you’ll find a slip of paper printed in English on one side and Spanish on the other with a Mexican saying, or dicho. Example: La lengua del mal amigo, más corta que un cuchillo. (The tongue of a bad friend cuts more than a knife.)
Mexican saying? Whatever. They were all invented in Cuba. Along with language, fire and rainbows.
Dichos, as the cookies are called, have been appearing at restaurants — Mexican and others — in southern Arizona in a haphazard pattern in which word-of-mouth has far outpaced formal distribution. Raul and Marina Montaño, the Douglas, Ariz., couple who came up with the idea after a Chinese meal in March 2007, have been fielding calls for their product since they opened for business just over four months ago.
Cute idea! We can see them as fun favors for wedding receptions while guests are trying to ignore the fact that the bride is looking a little “radiant” and the groom keeps giving the best man a look that says he really knows his way around a chilaquile.
Speaking of dichos, here are some of our very favorites. Feel free to share your own:
“Quedó en la página dos.” (He remained on the second page.) = He’s dead.
“Quien peces quiere, mojarse tiene.” (He who wants fish must prepare to get wet.) = You’ve got to work to get what you want.
“Si cocinas como caminas, me como hasta el pega’o.” (If you cook like you walk, I’ll even eat the bits of rice stuck to the pan.) = Girl, you are fine. I’m going to attempt to woo your ass and then I’m going to go ahead and never return your calls.
Couple making dichos are smart cookies [LA Times]
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I like the elitist ones:
Dime con quien andas, y te diré quien eres.
Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda.
Oh, I forgot a good one:
Te conozco bacalao, aunque vengas disfraza’o.
I only want fortune cookies/dichos that tell the bitter truth:
“The things you don’t like about him now will only get worse with age.”
“Don’t ever, ever fart in an elevator.”
“Ten birth control pills do not equal the Morning After pill.”
@Latin_Princess: I have the hugest crush on you.
@ Marco: Right back at ya, sugar lumps. :)
Pa’ comer y pa’ coger no hay tontos ni cansados
My favorite:
Con paciencia el elefante coge a la hormiga
Here are a few other lyrical treasures:
El que anda con un cojo al a~no cojea
Para el gusto se hicieron los colores
No hay mal que por bien no venga
amor de lejos, amor de pendejos.
Camarón dormido, se lo lleva la corriente, or, more literally: Culo dormido, no tiene dueño. And of course my abuelita´s personal favorite: La que no enseña, no vende… pero la que enseña mucho, se le mosquea.