WHERE DOES THE WORD SQUINCLE COME FROM? - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The word escuincle comes from the term itzcuintli (from Náhualt, a language spoken by the Aztecs) and literally means dog. In modern Mexico, the word escuincle has the meaning of dog and child. However, dictionaries from the colonial period do not refer to the latter meaning, so the use in the sense of child is considered to be much more recent.

Specifically, in its meaning as dog, the word squincle refers in a pejorative way to a skinny, hairless street dog. The word is also used to refer to a breed of dog that existed in pre-Hispanic times, highly appreciated by the Aztecs and that survives today known as xoloiztcuintle or xolo (it is also called a Mexican hairless dog or Aztec dog).

According to chroniclers of the time of the conquest that refer to the strange Mesoamerican hairless dog, most of the animals were born with fur, but it was removed by the natives using a resin called oxilt, a medicinal extract made from the resin of Pine tree.

These same chroniclers described the animal as a domestic dog that did not bark, devoid of fur and skilled in hunting and tracking. It had small raised ears and thin, sharp teeth.

School mythology in Aztec mythology

For the Aztecs, the scoundrel was important in two ways. From a mythological point of view, they believed that the animal had the ability to guide its masters to Mictlán, the world of the dead.

They represented them with different characteristics: sometimes as stocky animals and sometimes as skeletal and with wrinkle-like patterns of spots.

Some representations were less naturalistic and much more grotesque, such as a squint with antlers sprouting or in semi-transformations from dog to human. In the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, a ceramic figure of a puppet transforming from dog to snake is exhibited.

Xólotl, Aztec god

Squincles were also associated with the mortuary rituals of the Aztecs. They were seen as emissaries of Xolotl, the monstrous god of death, who was similar to a dog. According to this, some dogs were sacrificed when their masters died and buried with them.

The interpretation of the colonists

Some Spanish chroniclers of the time of the conquest also described sacrifices of these animals to the god of rain. In times when rain was scarce, animals were carried in procession to the temple of their god.

Animals were sacrificed in various ways: some were pierced with arrows, others were suffocated and others were thrown tied on rocks after removing their hearts, which was then cooked.

The kid and the human being

Other mythical Mexican accounts, compiled after the conquest, suggest the intimate relationship between scoundrels and humans. One of these myths relates that on one occasion the gods had punished humans with a terrible flood. The surviving humans had had to resort to fishing as the only available resource for food.

Thus, the smoke produced while cooking the fish angered the gods, who beheaded humans and magically turned them into skewers.

These records and the archaeological finds of objects that represent the skeleton in different ways, suggest that the Aztecs considered this animal sacred or supernatural.

In addition to this sacred meaning, the escuincle also satisfied one of the most fundamental needs of ancient Mexicans: food. It is known that they bred these dogs to consume them as food.

They fed them corn and when they were fat they killed them and prepared them in a green sauce. The writings of the time refer that the taste was similar to that of suckling pig. They generally ate this animal when religious festivals or special sacrifices were held.

The squincles almost disappeared after the conquest and the surviving specimens were left behind in the Mexican west.

Interest in this canine breed resurfaced in the middle of the 20th century when the Asociación Canófila Mexicana appointed a committee of specialists to rescue, promote and disseminate the existence of the breed.

The origins of the word squint as a child

The word escuincle is also applied by extension to refer to people, especially raptor children, being a term typical of the common speech of Mexican Spanish.

The reason for the use of the word with the meaning of child is not known exactly what it was. Some suggest that it is used by association with the original meaning.

Some academics suggest that the word squint, used in its meaning for child, is referred to as that of an impertinent, annoying or mischievous child. Meanwhile, others assure that the word also applies to adults when they want to treat them with contempt or as little boys.

The word has a certain pejorative connotation whether it refers to a boy or an adult. In this sense, the words brat or pelado are synonymous with escuincle.

Since the word escuincle referred to a dog with the particular characteristic of lacking fur, it is believed then that this characteristic was associated with that of children who do not have facial or body hair either.

Another hypothesis suggests that it was associated with children because of their playful and cheerful nature compared to that of dogs.

As for the association of the meaning with the derogatory connotation of escuincle when referring to a dirty or disheveled child, it is believed that it is because the word also defines a dirty stray dog.

References

1. Moreira F. (s / f) Atlacatl: A Fabricated Prince of the Fabricated Land and Nation Building in El Salvador. Online article. Recovered from academia.edu.
2. Máynez P. (2000) “Chamaco, Chilpayate and Escuincle”. In the familiar speech of Mexico. In Nahualt Culture Studies. 31 pp. 423-431 Recovered from ejournal.unam.mx.
3. Valdez R, and Mestre G. (2007). Xoloitzcuintle: from the enigma to the 21st century. México, MX: ArtenACIÓN Ediciones. Recovered from books.google.co.ve.
4. Zolov, E, (2015). Iconic Mexico: An Encyclopedia from Acapulco to Zócalo: An Encyclopedia from Acapulco to Zócalo. Recovered from books.google.co.ve.
5. Bertran, M. (2016). Uncertainty and everyday life: Food and health in Mexico City. México, MX: Editorial UOC. Recovered from google.co.ve.
6. Carbonero, P (1990). Talk about Seville and you speak American. Sevilla, ES: Publications of the University of Seville. Recovered from google.co.ve.