a fortiori

i am reading a paper that uses the latin phrase a fortiori and which reminded me of my mom's mexicanized version a fuerziolis.

for those who don't know, a fortiori is used when an argument is given and another argument is inferred from the first one. so the second argument must hold a fortiori.

since i was a kid, my mom has used her own version of this latin expression. so, when my mom said i couldn't leave the house until i cleaned my bedroom and later i asked, without having tidied up my room, if i could go out to play with my friends, she'd say i have to clean my room a fuerziolis. it doesn't have the exact same meaning as the original expression... but who would've thought i would be learning latinesque expressions at such young age?

thanks, mom, for making me smart.

also, my sister called yesterday to ask me what a lonche was. of course i know what that is, and of course i knew where she was coming from. in mexico, the small meal consisting of egg tacos or ham and cheese sandwiches or grated carrots or cucumbers with chile and lemon... that moms prepare for kids to take to school and eat during recess is called lonche. of course that's just an abherration of the english word lunch. but in monterrey, a lonche is also a sandwich, but only those sandwiches made with "box bread" (pan de caja), which is what we call the sliced bread loaf they sell in super markets---not, say, the bread you'd get at a bakery.

i miss those lonches de jamón i used to eat for dinner. the best were those that were heated up in the sandwich maker: and not your typical electric sandwich maker... but a mechanical metal device that you'd open to put the sandwich inside and then you'd put the whole thing on the stove. i have never seen a similar device elsewhere...