I always used to think Dos Equis meant two horses. The two exes on the label along with the complete absence of horses should have tipped me off but they didn't. In hindsight I thought of those exes the way you see three exes on a bottle of granny's moonshine on "The Beverly Hillbillies" - it meant hooch, somewhat old hooch with a storied past. It was the first Mexican beer I ever tried and the exes gave it history and made me feel it might have a higher alcohol content. In college we would make Brador runs - trips over the border to get the 6.2% Molson Bradors. After college I moved to Boston and took Spanish classes through an extension class. It was there that I discovered Dos Equis were Two Exes. Humbling and mind opening.
I've had a few similar moments.
As kids we didn't have much control over what we'd watch on TV. I remember "The Lawrence Welk Show," "Hee Haw," "The Flip Wilson Show," The Carol Burnett Show" and "The Beachcombers" over on CBC - some were more painful than others and some kept using a word as they'd go to a break or come back from one. The word I heard was brochtoyubied. I never saw it spelled out so that spelling is mine. A few years later I found it was four words - "brought to you by."
Home in East Charleston, whenever we would take meat out of the freezer, it wasn't to thaw it but was rather to unthaw it. You would unthaw food but there would not be a spring unthaw - that was a spring thaw. Again years passed before I ever figured out that I was thawing instead of unthawing. I took the name of the blog from this unthawing of food. I like the idea of learning through food or remembering through food.
5 comments:
I was anticpating an entry on Dandelion Wine. Dos X is close I guess.
There are a few phrases from my youth that I had a hard time understanding. On was "ends meet", such as "making ends meet" during the seventies. I always that it was some sort of meat product, as in "ends meat" made from the left over portions of an animal. I am glad, actually, that is not the case. I was always waiting for that meal made from ends meat that never came...
as a non-drinker I had that thought about the 2 XX's as well, but never had to bring it to the forefront of my mind for any reason until you brought the bottles into the house the other day - it is funny how the assumption of meaning can sit with us for years - and completely change perception of the subject.
The "brochtoyubied" section of this post almost had me falling out of my chair with laughter (dangerous, at the time I was sitting on a stool) - I find that to be a particularly beautiful misunderstanding...and also proof that the voice-over guy says that phrase too fast!
Thank you for the unveiling of the history behind the name of the blog.
E,
I had just written the pithiest, most amazing comment ever and I seem to have lost it. Shoot.
Dandelions were in the running. Dad made dandelion wine - sour vinegary stuff he had bottled, probably a few still in the cellar. Dust them off open them up and pour some over lettuce and sprinkle on sugar - might not be half bad.
Grammie also used to cook up dandelion greens with salt pork.
Ends meat. Thank you. Never thought of it that way but will from now on - reminds me of meat for sausage.
m,
He was fast. And it sounded like the same guy every time.
(I hate when I loose the good comments before I've posted...)
I remember Brador runs to the border from Plattsburgh...fun times. Never thought about those XXs before, but you're right, it doesn't look like it oughtta be on Granny Clampett's jug of recipe.
Post a Comment