COLIFA: ORIGIN AND MEANING - DUDAS - 2025

Colifa corresponds to a lunfardo idiom, especially popular in Buenos Aires. According to some specialists, “colifa” is the result of the abbreviation of “coliphate”, a term that means “lovable madman”.

Similarly, it is estimated that the expression serves to qualify those who suffer from mental disorders although, thanks to its use in popular jargon, it is now also understood as a less literal and even loving adjective.

At this point it is worth mentioning that the influence of this term is such that it is even part of the name of the first station in the world that is conducted by patients in a psychiatric hospital.

The truth is that this word is part of lunfarda speech, which includes a series of idioms and expressions derived from Italian and Portuguese, whose relevance is palpable today.

It is even a case worth studying for experts and linguists because it is a component that embraces different cultural heritages that inhabit Argentina.

Origin and meaning

Although there is no described origin of the word, according to some Internet users, it seems to come from "fato", a word in Italian whose meaning is related to "matter", "business" and "important situation". It is even believed that this same word is related to the past tense of "to do."

So, in view of the above, two important things can be noted:

-The etymology of the word is not clear enough, although there seems to be a consensus that “colifa” comes from Italian.

-Thanks to the influence of this language, as well as others from Europe, it was possible to form lunfardo, a slang that remains today.

On the other hand, it is estimated that initially "coliphate" was used as an adjective, although thanks to the use in common speech, part of the word was suppressed until it became "colipha", the most popular and widespread word.

Meaning

The main meaning of the word is the following:

-According to FreeDictionary: "Colifa, short for coliphate that means crazy."

-Argentine Dictionary: "Affectionate way of telling someone that they are crazy or crazy."

-AsíHablamos.com: “Crazy, crazy, deranged of the mind”.

As mentioned above, with the passage of time the word took on a broader meaning by taking an affective tone to refer to another person. Currently, both meanings are considered correct and widely used.

Synonyms and associated words

Some similar terms that are worth mentioning are:

-Alienada / o.

-Chalado / a.

-Shallop.

-Nobody.

-Crazy.

-Loca / o.

-Locatis.

-Locuelo / a.

-Lunatic.

-Maniaco / a.

-Piantado.

-Pirado.

-Tabardillo.

-Madcap.

-Sailed. This particular word also has other meanings: "rude", "rude", "daring", "misplaced", "offended".

Usage examples

- "This bum is re-colifed."

- "You are re colifa".

- "What a coliform you are!"

- “Che, but what a colip you are. You can't throw yourself like that ”.

- "We went to the party and we saw it like this, re colifa".

LT22 Radio La Colifata

The influence of the word in common speech has become so important that it became a central piece for the founding of the LT22 Radio La Colifata station, a station in Buenos Aires that is run by psychiatric patients.

Some important features of this project are listed below:

-It began at the beginning of the 90's, as an important project during the recovery therapy of several patients confined at the Doctor José T. Borda Neuropsychiatric Hospital. The main objective was to provide them with a space so that they could have the necessary tools to re-enter society.

-The recording sessions were simple, since it only consisted of recording the concerns of the patients. Later, the same material was broadcast by a community radio station.

-Thanks to the popularity of radio buses, the hospital was able to count on the necessary resources for the establishment of the station within the facilities, which were obtained thanks to donations from individuals and institutions.

-Nowadays, the station transmits to Buenos Aires, Uruguay and Mexico, and it is also possible to listen to its programming on the Internet.

-Artists and organizations have supported -directly or indirectly- both the station and the patients. They have even been part of advertising campaigns for the Coca-Cola Company, participated in productions of the singer-songwriter, Manu Chao, and even worked as extras in the Francis Ford Coppola film, Tetro.

-Both the work and the progress seen in La Colifata, served as a model for other emulated projects around the world and adjusted according to the needs and cultural components of each country.

Italianism in the lunfardo

"Colifa" is an expression that is estimated to come from Italian, thanks to European migratory movements to the Southern Cone. That is why a series of words have become idioms that are an essential part of popular speech today.

Lunfardismo is a vocabulary that dates back to the end of the 19th century, and whose main constitution is made up of Italian words. Likewise, over time, this jargon was able to collect native oral expressions and others of Brazilian and / or African origin.

Initially, according to some Internet users, lunfardismo originated as a kind of code that could allow communication between thieves and other criminals so that they were not discovered by the police. That is why for some time it was called "the language of thieves."

characteristics

-Some specialists indicate that this language was born in the periphery of Buenos Aires and later spread both in the rest of the city and in other adjacent countries.

-It is estimated that its emergence is a unique linguistic phenomenon due to the cultural heritages that it has collected over time. In addition, it is considered as an example of the flexibility and adaptation of the language according to the contexts and needs of the locals.

-Its use became widespread thanks to various cultural manifestations such as poetry and tango.

-There are more than six thousand words and a little more than three thousand speeches in the Lunfardo vocabulary.

-For Argentines and other speakers of lunfardo, this slang is considered almost as a national heritage due to the cultural legacy that is implicit in it.

References

1. "The lunfardo is a unique linguistic phenomenon." (2018). On Page 12. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. On Page 12 of pagina12.com.ar.
2. Houses, Javier Simón. Some Italianisms in the lunfardo. (1991). In Contrastiva. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. In Contrastiva de contrastiva.it.
3. Colifa. (sf). In AsíHblamos.com. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. In AsiHablamos.com of asihablamos.com.
4. Colifa. (sf). In Open and Collaborative Dictionary. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. In Open and Collaborative Dictionary of significade.org.
5. Colifa. (sf). In Argentine Dictionary. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. In Argentine Dictionary ofdictionaryargentino.com.
6. Coliphate (sf). At Sensagent. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. In Sensagent from dictionary.sensagent.com.
7. Coliphate (sf). In The free Dictionary. Retrieved: July 11, 20188. In The Free Dictionary of es.thefreedictionaru.com.
8. The lunfardo, a brief introduction. (2018). In BuenosAires Connect. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. In BuenosAires Connect of buenosairesconnect.com.
9. LT22 Radio La Colifata. (sf). On Wikipedia. Retrieved: July 11, 2018. In Wikipedia at es.wikipedia.org.