RE: In the song "Hotel California," what does "colitas" mean?

[edgar.flowers]

going back to this post, you never answered the question...Colitas is a mexican term for the buds on a marijuana plant. so when he says "warm smell of colitas, rising up in the air" he's talking about the smell of marijuana...

[Powers]

What do you mean he never answered the question? It's right there near the end:

Originally Posted by Uncle Cecil

This E-mail just in from Eagles management honcho Irving Azoff: "In response to your [recent] memo, in 1976, during the writing of the song 'Hotel California' by Messrs. Henley and Frey, the word `colitas' was translated for them by their Mexican-American road manager as 'little buds.' You have obviously already done the necessary extrapolation. Thank you for your inquiry."

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...s-colitas-mean


Powers &8^]

[Czarcasm]

Just so you know, it is customary to provide a link to the column in question, like so. No harm, no foul. I do believe that the column was updated to show that "colitas" means "little buds". Can you give a cite that shows it specifically means the buds of the marijuana plant?

[Irishman]

Actually, the answer stated in the column was

Enough of these distractions. By and by a denizen of soc.culture.spain wrote: "Colitas is little tails, but here the author is referring to 'colas,' the tip of a marijuana branch, where it is more potent and with more sap (said to be the best part of the leaves)." We knew with an instant shock of certainty that this was the correct interpretation.