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raferguson

Jan 21, 2010, 8:48 PM

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Madrota?

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SINO CREE PREGUNTELE A LA MADROTA DE LA JAULA DE LAS LOCAS,

OK, the Jaula de las locas would be the crazy house, or the mental institution. But why could I not find an official translation? I looked it up in a couple of dictionaries, but no luck. Is it slang? What does it really mean? I have the impression that it might not be a nice word......

I did find a song that referred to the Madrota, a dirty song that you would not play in front of your mother. I found a movie, La India, in which one of the characters is the madrota, but without seeing the movie that does not help.

Euphemisms as answers accepted. ;-)

Richard

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com

mazbook1

Jan 22, 2010, 3:10 AM

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Re: [raferguson] Madrota?

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Since padrota (¿o?) is slang for a pimp in Mazatlán, I guessed that madrota was probably the madam of a bawdy house. Looked it up in the DRAE and sure enough, I was right.

sergiogomez / Moderator

Feb 6, 2010, 6:48 PM

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Re: [mazbook1] Madrota?

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Yep! It's one case where -ote/ota has a decidedly negative connotation and changes the meaning of the root word quite significantly. Un platote de comida would be a BIG plate of food, maybe even Thanksgiving dinner big, and could be a very good thing (depending on whose cooking you're eating!). At any rate, it's not too different in meaning from un plato de comida. Madre and madrota are about as much alike as June Cleaver and a Thai house mama.

Speaking of the devil, I found an article from El Universal with a number of definitions (in Spanish) of madrota and similar terms:

http://www2.eluniversal.com.mx/...180&tabla=Ciudad