Living in San Diego has its advantages. When a football game is being blacked out, or simply not shown on the local stations, I can tune to a Mexican station and watch it. Not being able to fully understand the annoucers is another bonus. The biggest sponsor of these games is Bimbo Bakeries, whose mascot is a cross between a teddy bear and the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Needless to say, that’s very disappointing given the possibilities. I’m guessing “bimbo” must have a different meaning in Mexico, but I can’t find it in the Spanish dictionaries I’ve checked. Does anyone know what it means there?
That’s the way that it is on this bitch of an earth."
– Pozzo, Waiting For Godot
“Bimbo” means nothing in Mexico, it’s merely a brand name.
A converse situation would be if there were, say, a line of baking products in the U.S. called Puto’s… no connotation whatsoever in English, but a well-known member of the Mexican set of expletives.
“Anything is peaceful from one thousand, three hundred and fifty-three feet.”
I’m afraid I can’t answer your question, but I have a similar experience to share. I have spent a good amount of time in Spain and have attended many Spanish football matches. At one (and only one) of the grounds I have visited, Vicente Calderon in Madrid, the seating sections are called ‘Vomitorio’.
As far as I am able to discern every Spanish word that begins with ‘vomit’ refers to some aspect of the regurgitation process so I am completely at a loss as to how this word came to be applied in this case. (Although perhaps knowing the character of Atlético Madrid supporters, I should not be so surprised…)
As “El Mariachi” has correctly noted, Bimbo is a brand name. You can visit their home page at http://www.gibsa.com.mx/
Although, I believe there is a meaning for the word “Bimbo”. The company was founded together with another one: “Marinela”, and to me they sound like nicknames.
I’m already sending an e-mail to Bimbo, asking them about this.
As for “El Vomitorio”, let me ask you something, KD: is there an upper balcony, or a similar structure overlooking the “seating section” at the Estadio Vicente Calderon? That could be the clue.
The word “vomitorio” refers to a place specifically designed to vomit. Just like “mingitorio” is the place where you urinate.
I’m not completely certain I understand the connection between vomiting and the presence of an overhead structure, but to the best of my memory (I have only been there once) there isn’t.
I might add that my ticket (which I still have) actually indicates which ‘Vom.’ my seat was in.
This may have nothing to do with it, but Bimbo was the name of Betty Boop’s sidekick. He had a series of his own cartoons, too (see “Bimbo’s Initiation”). The only reason I mention him is because your description of the logo is similar to Bimbo of the cartoons.
“Vomitorio” has nothing to do with regurgitating food. In Roman arenas, like the famous Colloseum, the “vomitoria” were the passageways leading from the stands to the exits. Therefore, the exit passageways were “vomitoria” because they were for disgorging the crowds from their seats to the streets.
The Romans designed their arenas for quick & efficient movement of the crowds, so that’s why bullfighting rings, stadiums, and arenas are basically copies of the Roman layout.
John’s right. “Vomitorium” is a valid if a little unusual English word, meaning “one of those tunnel things that go through the rows of seats at the baseball stadium”. The original root word just means something like “to spew forth”, not necessarily “to upchuck”. I think the latin word for “volcano” also contains the same root word.
I’ve seen Bimbo trucks driving along I-5 a couple of times. The first time I was really curious what they were hauling.
Actually, I find the “it’s just a brand name” argument pretty lame. Even brand names come from somewhere. In this case, I’m guessing that both our usage and the bakery’s brand name come from Italian, where bimbo = baby. That’s just a guess though. Hey E1Skeptic, have you heard back from them yet?
Greg: I haven’t heard anything from the Bimbo people yet (maybe the company is run by Bimbo’s? he, he, he…). I’m using different sources this time, and as soon as I find something I’ll let you know.
Regarding “Vomitorio”, you guys are right. It just sounds too funny for a mexican, maybe in Spain they are used to it…