What is Escuincle?
Escuincle or escuincla is a colloquial term used to refer to children or minors.
The word escuincle derives from the Nahuatl itzcuintli , which means ‘dog’.
However, initially, the term itzcuintli was used to refer to a breed of dogs that lived in Mexico and was bred by the Aztecs before the arrival of the Spanish in America. Today this breed of dog is known by its Nahuatl xoloitzcuintle name , and is characterized by being small and having little hair.
In this sense, the word escuincle is believed to be associated with children because, like this breed of dog, they are small and have no body hair. Hence, in Mexico it is customary to denominate, popularly, as children escuincle.
However, escuincle is an adjective little used in other countries, even in those that are close to Mexico, instead other colloquial terms such as ‘pelado’ or ‘crío’ are used.
On the other hand, escuincle is a term that may have a pejorative connotation depending on the context and the intonation with which it is stated, especially if it is a child whose character is annoying and also has bad behavior.
For example, “Don’t bring your teammates to work”; “Shut up that boy!”; “The escuincles are playing in the park.”
However, there are those who support that the use of the word escuincle is related to the fuss and noise that children make, like dogs, when they are playing or having fun. In this case, its use is not derogatory although, for many adults, the fuss generated by children in their moments of recreation and fun is annoying.
