Cinco de Mayo
Contents
Part of Speech
Proper Noun
Pronunciation
Cinco de Mayo ['seen ko / de / 'mi oh]
Description
“Cinco de Mayo”, translating to “the fifth of May” in English, is a day of commemoration of the Mexican army’s victory over France at the Battle of Puebla (1862) during the Franco-Mexican War (1861 -1867).
[1]
Usage
Cinco de Mayo is used to refer to the holiday. Pertaining to the Northwestern Community, Cinco de Mayo has been a holiday that has been culturally appropriated throughout the country with mustaches, ponchos, and the infamous cinco de mayo cerveza (“beer”) or margaritas. Alianza - Northwestern’s Hispanic/Latino Student Alliance (see Alianza), along with Northwestern’s Student Associated Government (see ASG) sent a joint letter asking for university students to be culturally sensitive about the event. The letter [2] received backlash and reactions even went viral on media outlets such as The College Fix. [3] However, anyone can use it is not restricted.
Example Sentence
There are some specials today on Mexican food since it is Cinco de Mayo.
Note: In order to convey the different interpretations of the word the example sentence uses code switching between Spanish and English.
Etymology
Through time it has increased in popularity within the Mexican-American community in the United States and has become a minimal holiday in Mexico. [4]
Video
If you would like to see an informational video about what Cinco de Mayo is, please refer to the link below which takes you to the History Channel's brief video overview of the historic event.
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/cinco-de-mayo