Caló is the latest addition to Marfa Public Radio's programming. Created by Oscar Rodriguez, who sometimes goes by the name "El Marfa," the series honors the Texas borderlands patois commonly called Caló.
Oscar grew up speaking this language in Ojinaga and Odessa. He remembers the unique dialect filling the barrios and countryside of his childhood in West Texas. Each week on Caló, Oscar will feature words and phrases from Caló then explore their meaning with a personal anecdote.
Oscar was born and raised in Ojinaga, West Texas and Southeastern New Mexico. He has lived in and out of Texas since he graduated from Ector High School in Odessa in the late-1970s, including a couple of years in the 1990s when he lived in Marfa and taught at Sul Ross State University. Oscar is also an enrolled member of the Lipan Apache Tribe and an avid researcher of Native history in Texas and New Mexico — specifically in the La Junta region.
He hopes by sharing his knowledge of this colorful language, he can help keep it alive.
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On Caló this week, the word writer Oscar Rodriguez explores: "Apéate" — get down, get off, get on your feet.You can hear Caló every Tuesday on Marfa… -
On Caló this week, host Oscar Rodriguez explores two words: “Mercar” and "Trucha" — the first meaning to buy or purchase, and trucha meaning to watch out,…
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On Caló this week, writer Oscar Rodriguez explores the words “cantón” and "chante" — shared-housing and a home, respectively.
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On this week's episode of Caló, host Oscar Rodriguez breaks down the meaning of the words “ruca” and “ramfla." The first word is a term of endearment for a woman, and "ramfla" is a way to refer to the car you drive.
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Today on Caló, writer Oscar Rodriguez highlights the word, cuitcha, also pronounced cuita. It means poop, excrement. By focusing on this word, Rodriguez…
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On every episode of "Caló," the show's host Oscar "El Marfa" Rodriguez shares words and expressions from the Rio Grande dialect known as caló. You can…
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Órale, today’s episode features the term ‘esqinear,’ which is a verb that in English means to corner. In Caló it means to back you up, defend you, block…
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Órale, today’s episode is about the expression ‘ponle un cinco.’ It’s modern Spanish and translates to ‘put a nickel in it.” The context is an old…
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Órale, today’s episode features the complex expression, ‘pintar un venado’. It’s modern Spanish. In English it means ‘paint a deer.” It’s used in Caló to…
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Órale, today’s episode is about the word ‘cameo.’ In Spanish is means camel. In Caló it means job or employment. There’s a similar term that’s sometimes…