Re: /w/ vs /B/

On 6/6/07, Eric Christopherson <rakko@...> wrote:

>
> There's also a current slang term <güey> (I've also seen the spelling
> <wey> but I assume that's pronounced the same), standard <buey> "ox"
> - used to refer to a person (probably male only, but I'm not sure)
> either with contempt or with affection, depending on context.
Guey (as I've seen it spelled) is incredibly common as an informal
slang term among Mexicans (I live in California). I've heard it used
at the ends of almost every sentence and not just to refer to someone.
It was also very common when I was in Mexico and used among friends,
even by girls (it seems to have a bit of a masculine tinge to it).
It's use is almost like dude among Californians.

I spoke with a Spanish teacher in Mexico who mentioned with disdain
that girls have been using it a lot, to the diminishing of their
sentences (she implied that its use means that sentences become
simple).

I heard it so much from the idiot I was paired with in Mexico that
whenever I do hear it, it raises the hairs on the back of my neck.

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