Unknowingly, we unleashed the great colita/culito de rana debate on April 27 when we posted the dicho on Facebook for a post featuring Vapor-Rub, the Latino cure-all. Before the post went live on Facebook, we took a quick office poll. And though our team was pretty split, the colitas lost.
After the post reached the Internet, we learned that people are adamant about whether it’s colita or culito. One person’s explanation that the phrase is actually colita garnered the most likes. So after reading all the comments, we decided to take it one step further and see if the preference is random or based on something more concrete, like country of origin.
The Remezcla estaff weighed in and explained why they use a certain phrase. From what we can see, people with ties to Central America and the Caribbean favor culito, but those from Mexico and parts of South America use colita. We also took a poll on Twitter, where the colitas account for way more than half.
Instead of fighting it out, we let everyone speak their mind. Check out what they had to say below:
1
Mariale Espinoza, Associate Account Manager
Roots: Lima, Peru
Team: Colita de rana
Why: Because it’s something adults tell kids when they get hurt, so it doesn’t make sense they would use the word ass (culito) in front of children. Instead, they say colita (butt) de rana.
2
Raqueli Contreras, Todóloga
Roots: Dominican Republic, born and raised
Team: CULITO DE RANA
Why: Porque las ranas NO TIENEN COLITAS – adult ones anyway.
3
Patty Shaw, Community Manager
Roots: Guatemala City
Team: CULITO -always and forever-
Why: My mom didn’t raise no weak ass bitch also SCIENCE.
4
Andrea Gompf, Editor-in-Chief
5
Vanessa Erazo, Film Editor
Roots: Mexican mom, Salvadorian dad, grew up in the SF Bay Area.
Team: Colita de rana
Why: Up until a few weeks ago, I had never in my life heard anyone say culito de rana. When I was a kid my mom, my aunt, and everyone (I thought) said colita de rana. Then, one day an argument broke out in our office over culito vs. colita. I had a suspicion it might be regional and since I had never heard my dad use the saying, I called him and asked. “Did your mom ever say: sana, sana?” He quickly said yes and finished my sentence: “Sana, sana, culito de rana.”
Before he could even finish, I heard my mom yell in the background, “Se dice colita.” I cracked up and realized even though I grew up hearing it the Mexican way, it just depends on where you’re from. I gotta stick with the way I learned it though, so I’m still team colita. Also, according to my mom, “Salvadorians probably say culito because they are more perverted.” So there’s that.
6
Joel Moya, Artists & Labels Relations
7
Eric Gamboa, Social Media Strategist
Roots: Mexico City
Team: Colita
Why: ‘Cause frogs don’t have culo, neither colita, but colita is closer to tail.
8
Yara Simón, Trending Editor
Roots: Nicaraguan mom and Cuban dad, born and raised in Miami
Team: Culito de rana
Why: My mom isn’t big on cursing or using vulgar language. She always says hijue-p (though she could have done with more a la puchicas), but she always said culito de rana. So if colita was a thing, she’d pick colita. But it’s not.
9
Itzel Martinez, Photo Editor
Roots: Bordertown, El Paso / Juarez represent!
Team: Colita Colita Colita
Why: 1. Mi mamá nunca se equivoca. 2. The internet is always right.
10
Paola Rodriguez, Social Media Gurl
11
Manuel Betancourt, Remezcla Contributor
Roots: Bogotá, Colombia
Team: Colita
Why: Well, the rhyme is lost with “culito,” no? (Also, maybe it’s a pet peeve, but “culito” has always struck me as needlessly sexual compared to the more playful “colita.”)
12
Isabelia Herrera, Music Editor
Roots: Chicago/DR
Team: Colita de rana
Why: According to mama: “Decían colita para no decir culo a los niños” lol
13
Alan López, Associate Creative Director
Roots: Mexico, Americano obviamente no
Team: Colita
Why: Because Culito it’s kinda bad word in my local slang, guess I’m trippin in a traditional way.