# "Ai Chihuahua" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022 "2002-09-28T22:37:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gneen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b77776/32.png) [@Gneen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gneen)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/1 "2002-09-28T22:37:31Z")
Yup - I know it’s a fairly common expression of surprise. But I don’t speak Spanish and I’m not sure why this phrase was familiar to me! Suggestions so far: 1. Simpsons - apparently used by The Bumblebee man in one episode but not a regular catch-phrase like “Aye Carumba” 2. Taco Bell … no evidence … does the talking Chihuahua say this? 3. Name of a “Road Rules” episode (but this isn’t me). 4. Uttered on a Love-Boat episode by Charo 5. Desi Arnaz or Speedy Gonzolez or Jose Jiminez - but no evidence I’ve googled 'til I’m blue but I can’t find anyplace in pop culture that would explain my familiarity with the phrase … Can anyone help with either origins or usage? ADVthanksANCE =Gneen ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/2 "2002-09-28T23:41:57Z")
The Spanish slang phrase _ai, caramba!_ goes back before 1838, which is when it appears in print in the US. _Ai Chihuahua!_ doesn’t seem to appear in a slang sense that early. Indeed, My Mathews on ‘Americanisns’ from 1951 would indicate that it wasn’t much in use \* in English\* before the 30’s or 40’s as slang here. I’ll just bet that if you viewed most movies made in the US in the 1930’s and earlier with a Mexican theme, you would hear _ai caramba!_ but not _ai Chihuahua!_. I’m gonna wager it appears in early tv stuff. Cisco kid, etc. My Looney Tunes upbringing doesn’t remember _ai Chihuahua_ until much later than _ai caramba_. My guess, the popularity of the dog breed coming to American helped make the word popular. Only a short jump to using it in a slang interjection. The above is strictly speculation on my part. I could be proved wrong easily. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/3 "2002-09-28T23:42:37Z")
Well as I can recall hearing the phrase from when I was a kid, I think it’s certainly older than 1-4. As Desi Arnaz was a Cuban, he wouldn’t be the origin either. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2002, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/4 "2002-09-28T23:58:19Z")
I always thought it came from “Ai, chingado!” (not being a Spanish speaker, I don’t know about the spelling). Although I don’t know what _chingado_ means, I have the impression that it’s vulgar. If so, then perhaps it was changed to “chihuahua” for radio and television broadcast. (Everyone who was meant to, would know what it means.) ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/5 "2002-09-29T00:11:28Z")
So this thread isn’t about an adorable artificial dog and his journey of discovery? ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/6 "2002-09-29T00:44:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > > \*\*Although I don’t know what _chingado_ means, I have the impression that it’s vulgar. \*\* As explained at the site linked below, “the verb ‘chingar’ has very negative connotations. It denotes impotence when faced with violence, failure, has sexual implications and is a very strong swear word. (Octavio) Paz says: ‘It is a cruel, active, masculine verb: it stings, injures, shatters and stains.’ To call a person, particularly a man, a _chingado_ is a great insult as it implies that the individual is passive, inert, open to abuse, and female identified, exactly that which the macho Mexican male claims not to be.” [http://www.cf.ac.uk/euros/newreadings/volume6/davisl.html](http://www.cf.ac.uk/euros/newreadings/volume6/davisl.html) ---
**Author:** ![cdhostage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@cdhostage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdhostage)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/7 "2002-09-29T00:52:09Z")
Ha! ARtifical dog! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2002, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-chihuahua/130022/8 "2002-09-29T00:59:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*I always thought it came from “Ai, chingado!” (not being a Spanish speaker, I don’t know about the spelling). Although I don’t know what _chingado_ means, I have the impression that it’s vulgar. If so, then perhaps it was changed to “chihuahua” for radio and television broadcast. (Everyone who was meant to, would know what it means.) \*\* That’s an interesting theory. Yes, _chingado_ basically equates to f\*\*ked,at least in Mexico. As in English, there is a practice in Spanish of substituting mild words containing similar sounds for swear words, like English “Sugar!” Examples from Spanish include _Ajo!_, _Chuleta!_, and _Miercoles!_