I'm going on a pretty reliable source here, My great aunt who is in her 90's(still sharp as a knife!), born and raised in Madrid and who is a living historical reference specialty in all things Madrid! (When you need to find out the answer to something, ask an elder! )

Gatos... where it came from. Well, they have since been moved, but WAAAAAAAAY back in the day, Madrid was much smaller and surrounded by a wall. Access to Madrid could be through one of 4 doors(which have since been moved from their original locations, you all know them, la puerta de Alcala... etc. but no, not all of the archways you see in Madrid were of the 4 I'm talking about)- which at night, were closed for protection of the city. At night, cats, LOTS of them, like any kitty will do when they find a good wall, used to hang out by these doors and 'sing'. Well, one thing lead to another, and since the cats seemed to be the welcome committee, people began to connect the cats with madridlenos and eventually, the Madridlenos got termed with the nickname 'gatos'

And, no, it has nothing to do if your first, second, or millionth gen. from Madrid. You're born there=gato and even if you're family is from there you can be considered a gato! And Jer, I'm sure it goes for making it your nesting place, you can be a 'gato' in a sense

Hey espe3, great story!!!

Even if it were not true, I'll take it!!!

The best one yet!!!

Saludos,
jer...

Seems like there are as many explanations for why 'gatos' is used for a Madrilenos as there are for why 'frenchmen' (and women !) are referred to by certain English speakers as FROGS.

On that theme, it has been said that Paris was surrounded by swampy land in the 'days of yore' and of course travellers first meeting, when entering the city, was with those croaky friends.

So the story about the cats singing at the entrance to the city seems to fit.
In fact it could be the "cats' whiskers" - which in common usage in Gran Bretana means the best !

Nige

Hi all !

I've founf the lyrics of a Shakira's song:

"Te Dejo Madrid"

There's a sentence I'll show you:

"Si ya es hora de esconder
Del mundo el dolor
Bajo la piel
M�s se que estar� bien
Los gatos como yo caen de pie
No quiero
Jugar mi suerte por ti
No puedo
con V pequena vivir
pronto estar� de aqui
Muy muy lejos

And so on...
I was wondering:
since the song talks about Madrid,
do you think there's anything in common with the Gatos ??

Hasta luego,

Hey pptravel, could be but I doubt it!!!

I think Shakira is simply saying that she will be ok no matter what may come, just like a cat that always lands on its feet.

I really doubt that she even has any idea that "gatos" are linked to "Madrile�os" in this way.

Well Nige, I must admit that you have put a whole new twist on the French = Frogs thing. And to think, all this time I thought it was because the French are just so ugly

Saludos,
jer...

Hey Jer !

Here's what we Italians say is the "why" our "cousins" the French are called Frogs:

So, actually we here call them "Frog-eaters" more than Frogs, and this is due to the way they pronounce the letter "R"...

We say that if they ALL say R like that it can't be because of anything but all the frogs they eat, and it's these frogs who (from their stomachs) pronounce the letter R :jeje:

I hope my english is enough ok to understand

Hey pptravel, I understand you perfectly, your English is fine.

I guess we are what we eat :jeje:

So, does that mean the Madrile�os eat "gato"

Saludos,
jer...

quote:

originally posted by jer:

So, does that mean the Madrile�os eat "gato"

Well maybe...

But.... never go to a restaurant in Vicenza and order a dish of rabbit.....

you MIGHT get a cat, eat it, and not notice what you did......

Vicentini magnagatti, veronesi tutti matti :b:

Jejejeje, there the expression...

"�No me des gato por liebre!"

Saludos,
jer...

...Hola,

he le�do la expresi�n de que los Madrile�os comen gato"...No est�n demasiado lejanas las vivencias de los Madrile�os durante la Guerra Civil y puesto que durante tres a�os el asedio a la ciudad fue muy duro, adem�s del hambre, todos los gatos de Madrid desaparecieron... Era corriente intentar comer en los restaurantes de entonces y pedir liebre o conejo. Imaginaos el resto... De ah� viene "dar gato por liebre"...M�s expresiones propias de la ciudad y posteriores a la �poca del estraperlo el pr�ximo Dominngo chicos,

Saludos

LEonora

?que?

FFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTT!!! HSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Yummmmmmyyyy!!! Don't knock it till ya try it

Saludos,
jer...