Colombia’s Special Word for ‘You’
After Altair Jaspe moved from Venezuela to the Colombian capital, Bogotá, she was greatly surprised by the way in which she was addressed when she walked into any store, cafe or physician’s workplace.
In a metropolis that was as soon as a part of the Spanish empire, she was now not “señora,” as she would have been referred to as in Caracas, or maybe, in her youthful years, “muchacha” or “chama.” (Venezuelan phrases for “girl” or “young woman.”)
Instead, throughout her, she was awarded an honorific that felt extra becoming for a lady in cape and crown: Your mercy.
Would your mercy like a espresso?
Will your mercy be taking the appointment at 3 p.m.?
Excuse me, your mercy, folks advised her as they handed in a doorway or elevator.
“It brought me to the colonial era, automatically,” mentioned Ms. Jaspe, 63, a retired logistics supervisor, expressing her preliminary discomfort with the phrase. “To horses and carts,” she went on, “maybe even to slavery.”
“But after living it,” she went on, “I understood.”
In many of the Spanish-speaking world, the principal methods to say “you” are the informal “tú,” and the formal “usted.” But in Colombia there’s one other “you” — “su merced,” that means, “your mercy,” “your grace” and even “your worship,” and now contracted to the extra economical “sumercé.”
(In some components of the Spanish-speaking world there’s but a distinct “you” employed — the hyper informal “vos.”)
In Bogotá, a metropolis of eight million folks nestled within the Andes Mountains, “sumercé” is ubiquitous, deployed not simply by taxi drivers and shopkeepers to take care of purchasers (how can I assist your mercy?), but additionally by youngsters to refer to oldsters, dad and mom to discuss with youngsters, and (typically with tender irony) even by husbands, wives and lovers to refer to one another (“would your mercy pass the salt?” or “your mercy, what do you think, should I wear these pants today?”).
It is utilized by the younger and previous, by urbanites and rural transplants, by Bogotá’s most up-to-date previous mayor (“trabaje juiciosa, sumercé!” she was as soon as caught on camera yelling at a road vendor, “get to work, your mercy!”), and even by the entrance lady for one of many nation’s best-known rock bands, Andrea Echeverri of Aterciopelados.
The Spanish based Bogotá in 1538 after a brutal conquest of the Indigenous Muisca folks, and the town quickly grew to become a middle of colonial energy.
“Sumercé” is certainly a relic of that period, and students have documented its use as an indication of courtesy in institutional relationships (a letter from the governor of Cuba to the conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1518); an indication of respect in households (one brother-in-law to another in 1574); and, specifically, as an indication of servitude from slaves or servants to their masters.
But modern-day advocates of “sumercé” say that its present recognition lies in the truth that it has misplaced that hierarchical edge, and at this time signifies respect and affection, not reverence or a distinction of social class.
Ms. Jaspe mentioned she finally got here to see “sumercé” as an off-the-cuff time period of endearment, as in “sumercé, qué bonito le queda ese sombrero.” (“Your mercy, how lovely that hat looks on you.”)
After Colombia gained its independence from the Spanish within the early 1800s, “sumercé” held on within the division of Boyacá, a lush agricultural area in central Colombia, simply north of Bogotá.
Jorge Velosa, a singer-songwriter and well-known voice of Boyacá (he as soon as performed Madison Square Garden within the area’s conventional wool poncho, often known as a ruana) recalled that in his childhood dwelling “sumercé” was how he and his siblings referred to their mom, and their mom to referred to them.
“Sumercé,” he mentioned, was a type of center floor between the stiff “usted” — used solely in his home as a preamble to a scolding — and the just about overly informal “tú.”
Eventually, “sumercé” migrated south together with many Boyacenses, to Bogotá, changing into as a lot part of the lexicon of central Colombia as “bacano” (cool), “chévere” (additionally cool), “parce” (pal), “paila” (troublesome), “qué pena” (sorry) and “dar papaya.” (Literally, “give papaya,” however extra figuratively, “act oblivious.” As in: “Your mercy, don’t act oblivious in the street, you’ll get robbed!”).
For essentially the most half “your mercy” has remained a characteristic of central Colombia, and is never used on the nation’s coasts, the place “tú” is extra frequent, or in cities like Cali (“vos”) and Medellín (“tu,” “usted” and typically “vos.”)
But within the capital and its environment, “sumercé” is emblazoned on hats, pins and T-shirts and included into the names of eating places and markets. It is the title of a new documentary about Colombian environmental activists. And it’s celebrated in songs, podcasts and Colombian Spanish classes throughout Spotify and YouTube.
“At this point it marks no social class,” mentioned Andrea Rendón, 40, of Bogotá. “We are all sumercé.”
A not too long ago launched music video, “Sumercé,” by the rapper Wikama Mc, embodies the folk-cool standing the phrase has achieved.
In a home occasion scene that could possibly be set nearly wherever within the Colombian Andes, the artist sports activities a ruana whereas celebrating the “Colombian flow” of the feminine object of his affection, who he brags “dances carranga” — folks music popularized by Mr. Velosa — and in addition reggaeton, trendy occasion beats popularized by worldwide megacelebrities like J. Balvin.
“Talk to me straight, sumercé,” he raps, earlier than providing his girlfriend a cordial tip of his conventional felt hat.
The tune has attracted greater than 18,000 views because it was uploaded to YouTube in December. Impressive, contemplating the artist has 500 followers on the platform.
Ms. Echeverri, the rock star, linked her use of the phrase to a punk aesthetic, which seeks a “horizontal” relationship with on a regular basis folks. (In a current video interview she used it to attract this system’s host nearer, talking of a remake of considered one of “those songs that maybe your mercy has heard so many times.”)
Sumercé, she defined in a separate interview, “is affectionate, but also respectful.”
Not everybody sees it that means, in fact. Carolina Sanín, a widely known author, has criticized those that argue that “sumercé” is so ubiquitous in Colombia that it must be embraced, uncritically, as a cultural norm.
Even in a area recognized for its pronounced inequality, Colombia’s class divisions stay notably entrenched. It takes the common poor Colombian 11 generations to succeed in the nationwide median revenue, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, two greater than in Brazil, three greater than in Chile and 5 greater than in Argentina.
Decades of violence have bolstered these limitations, permitting a small group to amass capital and territory. To some, “sumercé” can really feel like a perpetuation or perhaps a celebration of those hierarchical relationships.
“Not paying into the social system and accumulating land have also been referred to as ‘our custom,’” Ms. Sanín wrote on Twitter.
“Words are important,” she continued. “With words, paths to justice are forged.”
A linguist in Bogotá, Javier Guerrero-Rivera, not too long ago surveyed 40 Colombian college college students, and located that 85 % mentioned they weren’t bothered by the time period, and felt a way of respect and tenderness when it was directed at them. Another 10 % felt detached towards the phrase. Just 5 % mentioned the time period was dismissive or made them uncomfortable.
Juan Manuel Espinosa, deputy director of the Caro and Cuervo Institute, which is devoted to learning the particularities of Colombian Spanish, mentioned that he believed the social division described by folks like Ms. Sanín was exactly what attracted many Colombians to the phrase.
“‘Sumercé’ is a way to create a connection in a very fragmented society,” he mentioned.
Jhowani Hernández, 42, who operates workplace cleansing machines, described utilizing “your mercy” together with his spouse, Beatriz Méndez, 50, a housekeeper, “cuando me saca la piedra” (Colombian for “when she makes me angry”) however principally “para dar cariño” (“to show affection”).
Still, Daniel Sánchez, 31, a documentary filmmaker in Bogotá, mentioned that he had moved away from utilizing “sumercé,” after he started occupied with “the whole background of the phrase,” that means “that servile and colonialist thing that is not so cool.”
Now, when he desires to convey respect and affection, he employs a distinct, much less fraught Colombianism: “Veci,” that means merely “neighbor.” As in: “Veci, don’t give papaya in the street, you’ll get robbed.”
Simón Posada contributed reporting from Bogotá.