Ay apodos! One of my favorite subjects prima. Nena and I have spoken on this subject before. Often when discussing a family from the mentioned area (Teocaltitlan de Guadalupe & Jalostotitlan), we always have to revert to nicknames to know who we are speaking about. Many entire families have a particular nickname, especially in Teocalitan de Guadalupe, most commonly known as Tecua. For example, I have cousins who are known as "las Zorras" because of their mother's family. My sister-in-law's family is known as "Los Chivos", and another cousin's family were known as "Los Coyotes." In fact, just the other day, my dad was talking about his two granddaughters. He referred to one of them as being a Chiva, and the other one being like us.
Now, I asked my dad once. Hey dad, do we have a nickname? His response was a resounding, "No, my father never allowed nicknames because often the nicknames could be ugly, and often started in the home." As I got older and began to venture out and meet more people from Jalos & Tecua, I discovered that my dad's family were called, of course not to their face, "Los Patones," and my father was called, "La Escalera del Diablo. I learned that it had to do with his family's tall stature, and of course the large feet that come with being 6 ' 2". I believe he was a bully in his younger days--probably the diablo part. He's a very sweet and caring father to us. Needless to say, he wasn't happy when I asked him about this. His response was, " yeah I heard that one, but "ningun %$&&^% ever dared to say that to my face." :)
Do you Nena know why some of these families: Chivos, Zorras & Coyotes (el difunto Jose Gtz who married to Catalina Romo--parents of Isidro, Antonio, etc.,) were called that?
Irma