Si te digo que es carnaval

Since it was carnival week, let’s start with an oldie: si te digo que es carnaval, apretá el pomo. A pomo in this context is a squeezy plastic bottle that people used to spray water over others and was popular in the 60s and 70s — now you’re more likely to get splashed by water balloons. So if someone says “Hey, if I say it’s carnival, you squeeze the water bottle” that’s a show of confidence: they’re so sure about what they’re saying that they’re convinced you should act accordingly (including soaking other people). 

The phrase originated in Uruguay and was less popular in Argentina, although you’ll sometimes hear variations like Si te digo apretá el pomo es porque es carnaval — I wouldn’t tell you to do something unless it made sense. 

Tongo

President Javier Milei returned to Argentina this week with no hairs on his tongue, giving an incendiary TV interview and amid some choice metaphors, used the word tongo. It didn’t end up in Amy’s piece but it sparked our curiosity nonetheless: a back-alley decision made to give someone an edge and you could refer to someone who’s part of the shady proceedings as entongade/o/a. According to the Chilean Etymological Dictionary, it comes from the “negative” suffix -ongo and the Latin tunica for tunic — referring to something being done under wraps. 

To the divine button

I texted Amy earlier this week saying I didn’t want her to log on “to the divine button” (yes, translating al divino botón literally into English, of course) and thought, where does that come from? In Argentina when we say we did something al divino botón it means it was a fruitless endeavor, there was no point in making the effort. 

Turns out it comes from praying the rosary, dating back to Ancient Rome. In some early Christian shade, apparently, it was a way of saying that some people don’t put their heart into their prayers, paying more attention to the beads (botones) they’re using than the content of their invocations, which is why their pleas go unanswered. Harsh.

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