- Thread starter Talldrink
- Start date
Describe a Chopo for me
Your description is not right
That was my point, see, una Chopa in DR is a person who is like a servant one who HAS to do everything for nothing (Cinderella if you will, pero Dominicana). Not a sangano or 'out of style' person like you guys keep calling them.
Used in a sentence: Tu quieres que yo haga todo en la casa, que tu crees, que yo soy la chopa??
BTW - I LOVE bachata and I am NOT a chopa.
That was my point, see, una Chopa in DR is a person who is like a servant one who HAS to do everything for nothing (Cinderella if you will, pero Dominicana). Not a sangano or 'out of style' person like you guys keep calling them.
Used in a sentence: Tu quieres que yo haga todo en la casa, que tu crees, que yo soy la chopa??
BTW - I LOVE bachata and I am NOT a chopa.
Thanks!
Anna, thanks, I hadnt read that one. The beginning of the post was fine, which gave me the definition but then it turned ugly.
Is a shame so many threads get closed by the same person posting dictionary and degrading remarks to the previous post. I thought one of the rules was to not 'attack' anyone. Every other post was an attack to the other person. And I see this over and over again with the same one...
Back to the subject: After reading that other thread about the chopos, is a shame that what some few describe to be chopos, are just poor Doms who do what they can with what they have.
Merengue and Bachata are original to DR, so why cant WE listen to it in the radio where we please, including the car?? I'll be dammed if anyone calls me a chopa, b/c my entire CD changer in my car if filled with mixed CD's that mostly include merengue y bachata.
So what if they can only afford a house with 200 square feet, good for you that you can afford more. but many of those comments are just blows to poor people, not only Dominicans, but everywhere. If anything, living here in NJ I see that most Mexicans are to be considered Chopos as well.
Im glad we have so many rich people that inundate us with their fantasy wealth that only THEY can see...
Remember, the internet can be a magical world, the poor can be rich and the rich can be poor.
Anna, thanks, I hadnt read that one. The beginning of the post was fine, which gave me the definition but then it turned ugly.
Is a shame so many threads get closed by the same person posting dictionary and degrading remarks to the previous post. I thought one of the rules was to not 'attack' anyone. Every other post was an attack to the other person. And I see this over and over again with the same one...
Back to the subject: After reading that other thread about the chopos, is a shame that what some few describe to be chopos, are just poor Doms who do what they can with what they have.
Merengue and Bachata are original to DR, so why cant WE listen to it in the radio where we please, including the car?? I'll be dammed if anyone calls me a chopa, b/c my entire CD changer in my car if filled with mixed CD's that mostly include merengue y bachata.
So what if they can only afford a house with 200 square feet, good for you that you can afford more. but many of those comments are just blows to poor people, not only Dominicans, but everywhere. If anything, living here in NJ I see that most Mexicans are to be considered Chopos as well.
Im glad we have so many rich people that inundate us with their fantasy wealth that only THEY can see...
Remember, the internet can be a magical world, the poor can be rich and the rich can be poor.
I've heard the same thing being said about Merengue and Bachata for over four years now and I finally said something couple of months ago. I follow NO crowd. I like what I like no matter who says what.
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quote:
I have heard the same bashing of Merengue and Bachata since I got on DR1 four years ago and I've finally had enough of looking the other way when reading about it. So now I will tell you what I think for a change.
I was born in Italy and was exposed to all the opera and all that waltzing stuff. We can to Canada when I was seven so I have lived through Elvis,The Beatles, Rock and Roll, Heavy Metal, not so heavy metal rock ect. Have lived in good old Guelph most of my life I've never been exposed to Latin music of any kind. Closest would have been, Carlos from Santana, any of the songs that couldn't even escape Southern Ontario. And the only Spanish words I ever sang in a song was when Paul Anka ( yes I'm old) brought out the song called "Eso beso:
Sooooooooo, in the late 80s I went on a holiday with one of my girlfriends and our kids. I let her pick where we would go because she's good at getting the best deal for the buck, so we end up going to an Island called The Dominican Republic. Had no idea what it would be like.
We land and all these happy friendly people are all over the place. The bus that's taking us to the AI hotel ( yeah yeah didn't know any better then) is playing this very happy up beat music and it's so different than anything I have ever heard in my life. I also observe that from 5 to whatever age everyone is dancing the same way and I think " how wonderful that there is no generation gap. They are dancing the same way" I've never heard of Merengue or Bachata in my whole life and I'm loving it.
So excuse us for loving the music that is " Musica Dominicana" Whether you like it or not that's what it is so get over it!
Ok that felt good!
____________________________________
___________________________
quote:
I have heard the same bashing of Merengue and Bachata since I got on DR1 four years ago and I've finally had enough of looking the other way when reading about it. So now I will tell you what I think for a change.
I was born in Italy and was exposed to all the opera and all that waltzing stuff. We can to Canada when I was seven so I have lived through Elvis,The Beatles, Rock and Roll, Heavy Metal, not so heavy metal rock ect. Have lived in good old Guelph most of my life I've never been exposed to Latin music of any kind. Closest would have been, Carlos from Santana, any of the songs that couldn't even escape Southern Ontario. And the only Spanish words I ever sang in a song was when Paul Anka ( yes I'm old) brought out the song called "Eso beso:
Sooooooooo, in the late 80s I went on a holiday with one of my girlfriends and our kids. I let her pick where we would go because she's good at getting the best deal for the buck, so we end up going to an Island called The Dominican Republic. Had no idea what it would be like.
We land and all these happy friendly people are all over the place. The bus that's taking us to the AI hotel ( yeah yeah didn't know any better then) is playing this very happy up beat music and it's so different than anything I have ever heard in my life. I also observe that from 5 to whatever age everyone is dancing the same way and I think " how wonderful that there is no generation gap. They are dancing the same way" I've never heard of Merengue or Bachata in my whole life and I'm loving it.
So excuse us for loving the music that is " Musica Dominicana" Whether you like it or not that's what it is so get over it!
Ok that felt good!
____________________________________
TallDrink: How dare you bring up the C word in here?
As you can tell pretty much everyone in this board is very rich and part of the elite...ehem
Anna: Thanks for coming to the defense of us chopos...Just remember...Chopos have more fun!
Suarezn (AKA chopo4life)
As you can tell pretty much everyone in this board is very rich and part of the elite...ehem
Anna: Thanks for coming to the defense of us chopos...Just remember...Chopos have more fun!
Suarezn (AKA chopo4life)
No wonder they chose you as Moderator!!!
Very well said, Anna...
I also LOVE merengue and bachata...my kids, who were born and raised here in the States, and basically had never heard that music before, not only love it now, but they start dancing whenever they listen to it!
GOD SAVE US CHOPOS!!! :laugh:
Very well said, Anna...
I also LOVE merengue and bachata...my kids, who were born and raised here in the States, and basically had never heard that music before, not only love it now, but they start dancing whenever they listen to it!
GOD SAVE US CHOPOS!!! :laugh:
Talldrink, you are right when you say it is shame how sb describe chopos.
When I first read in the DR about chopos I imagined them like "malavitosi", people don't get mixed up with, then asked my primary resource about dominican questions, this nice and funny lady who help me with the housework.
She laughed and said me, chopos are me and the my kind, people who don't matter.
Only thing I can say that I prefer her over these rich mums (at the school of my son) who before to speak to you, just check out what kind of car do you have.
When I first read in the DR about chopos I imagined them like "malavitosi", people don't get mixed up with, then asked my primary resource about dominican questions, this nice and funny lady who help me with the housework.
She laughed and said me, chopos are me and the my kind, people who don't matter.
Only thing I can say that I prefer her over these rich mums (at the school of my son) who before to speak to you, just check out what kind of car do you have.
Chopos
The way I see it, if you listen to bachata and merengue AND are a tourist, you are not a chopo. Many of the Dominican elite listen to merengue, but not bachata. If you are dominican, you simply recognize a chopo when you see one. And being a chopo is not about the money i know many rich people who are chopos, especially the new rich, WHICH includes politicians who now want be members of the country club, or the marina, who now purchase houses in casa de campo, etc. Do you need any names? Another example in USA terms could be the following: Although the term chopo does not exist, Donald Trump is considered a chopo among the Amererican elite. It's hard to describe, again, if you're a dominican you just know a chopo when you see one and I guess that's enough for me.
The way I see it, if you listen to bachata and merengue AND are a tourist, you are not a chopo. Many of the Dominican elite listen to merengue, but not bachata. If you are dominican, you simply recognize a chopo when you see one. And being a chopo is not about the money i know many rich people who are chopos, especially the new rich, WHICH includes politicians who now want be members of the country club, or the marina, who now purchase houses in casa de campo, etc. Do you need any names? Another example in USA terms could be the following: Although the term chopo does not exist, Donald Trump is considered a chopo among the Amererican elite. It's hard to describe, again, if you're a dominican you just know a chopo when you see one and I guess that's enough for me.
My view on choponess....
Mind you, I'm just going by the way my family views them and so how I became to understand the term:
A chopo/chopa is someone who is classless. it doesn't matter if you have money or not. if you do the wrong thing at table, or don't even know which utensil to use for what, don't know how to dress tastefully, don't know how to properly address people, are not very well read, etc. etc. the list is endless. So naturally it used to be that only servants were called chopas. Now, the definition has changed slightly because there are people who do have money (new money) but do not have the proper breeding. They throw their money around (INSTEAD OF HOLDING ON TO IT), they are loud, vulgar. Have no social skills, etc. etc.
I agree with the poster who said, that if you're dominican you can immediately detect a chopa/chopo.
Mind you, I'm just going by the way my family views them and so how I became to understand the term:
A chopo/chopa is someone who is classless. it doesn't matter if you have money or not. if you do the wrong thing at table, or don't even know which utensil to use for what, don't know how to dress tastefully, don't know how to properly address people, are not very well read, etc. etc. the list is endless. So naturally it used to be that only servants were called chopas. Now, the definition has changed slightly because there are people who do have money (new money) but do not have the proper breeding. They throw their money around (INSTEAD OF HOLDING ON TO IT), they are loud, vulgar. Have no social skills, etc. etc.
I agree with the poster who said, that if you're dominican you can immediately detect a chopa/chopo.
Ahh, you people.
You spend way too much time trying to figure what a chopo is or what it isn't. I am sure that as we waste time typing nonsense they are having a jolly good time.
Pib
Pinky firmly extended while drinking a glass of Moscatel Caballo Blanco... with ice.
You spend way too much time trying to figure what a chopo is or what it isn't. I am sure that as we waste time typing nonsense they are having a jolly good time.
Pib
Pinky firmly extended while drinking a glass of Moscatel Caballo Blanco... with ice.
traying to honestly answer ms. talldrink's question
Speculation:
Funny, but the word may come from American English. In the early part of the 20th century, Marines lived in the DR as did many sugar mill American executives whom, of course had help in the house. Among the typical shores for these domestic workers was, as it is today, to go to the colmados for groceries etc. on behalf of the household owners. Dominicans may have heard Americans use the phrase "the shopper of my house" and changed it into "la chopa de mi casa".
Anecdotes & Interpretation:
Several decades ago, when I was a child, the term chopa was not one used by anyone in my family or among people considered to be educated. I never heard an adult use it. Children in my family were simply not allowed to utter the word "chopa" when I was growing up, since it was considered both foul language and unacceptable to denigrate anyone based on their social standing and/or race. I only heard it used by kids trying to be cool or to sound street smart. If they used it at home, they would get some time-out or even a therapeutic spanking (una pela). In other words, it was very much chopo (in today's lingo) to use the word chopa (in yesteryear's lingo).
The male counterpart word (chopo) simply did not exist as it does today. I began to hear it maybe in my teens as an adjective or adverb, and later on becoming a noun with its more recent meaning of any number of things but mostly "Dominican nouveau-riche or wannabee". The way I understand it, since I do not use it, is that it is meant more to convey a certain attitude rather than people's actual backgrounds. Folks pretending to belong to a certain social class despite obviously tacky fashions or faux mannerisms, open themselves to ridicule in the process precisely by the people that they most wish to impress, and unknowingly but automatically, are begging for the label of chopo. On the other hand being poor and uneducated without pretending to be no less or no more will not command the stigma of choponess. Nowadays everyone and everything is being labeled chopo. Silly as it is, some Dominicans of the self-appointed higher classes spend precious amounts of energy into cataloguing people based on appearances. They keep their anti-chopo radars on all the time and their chopometers are always tuned up, lest they may be confused with the focus of their obsession. If anything is chopo, that ought to be it.
note; Sarcasm level of the above post: Minimal (1 to 2 value in a 0-10 scale)
-Tordok
Speculation:
Funny, but the word may come from American English. In the early part of the 20th century, Marines lived in the DR as did many sugar mill American executives whom, of course had help in the house. Among the typical shores for these domestic workers was, as it is today, to go to the colmados for groceries etc. on behalf of the household owners. Dominicans may have heard Americans use the phrase "the shopper of my house" and changed it into "la chopa de mi casa".
Anecdotes & Interpretation:
Several decades ago, when I was a child, the term chopa was not one used by anyone in my family or among people considered to be educated. I never heard an adult use it. Children in my family were simply not allowed to utter the word "chopa" when I was growing up, since it was considered both foul language and unacceptable to denigrate anyone based on their social standing and/or race. I only heard it used by kids trying to be cool or to sound street smart. If they used it at home, they would get some time-out or even a therapeutic spanking (una pela). In other words, it was very much chopo (in today's lingo) to use the word chopa (in yesteryear's lingo).
The male counterpart word (chopo) simply did not exist as it does today. I began to hear it maybe in my teens as an adjective or adverb, and later on becoming a noun with its more recent meaning of any number of things but mostly "Dominican nouveau-riche or wannabee". The way I understand it, since I do not use it, is that it is meant more to convey a certain attitude rather than people's actual backgrounds. Folks pretending to belong to a certain social class despite obviously tacky fashions or faux mannerisms, open themselves to ridicule in the process precisely by the people that they most wish to impress, and unknowingly but automatically, are begging for the label of chopo. On the other hand being poor and uneducated without pretending to be no less or no more will not command the stigma of choponess. Nowadays everyone and everything is being labeled chopo. Silly as it is, some Dominicans of the self-appointed higher classes spend precious amounts of energy into cataloguing people based on appearances. They keep their anti-chopo radars on all the time and their chopometers are always tuned up, lest they may be confused with the focus of their obsession. If anything is chopo, that ought to be it.
note; Sarcasm level of the above post: Minimal (1 to 2 value in a 0-10 scale)
-Tordok
Forbeca said:
Proper breeding...That's a good one. We Dominicans can also readily detect the "elite" and the "blue blood" wannabe's...
Pib: That was a good one about the Moscatel...You may be considered a chopa for that though. I'm sure Forbeca, Golo, Tony C. and other "elite" will go for a classier wine instead, such as Vino Pina.
suarezn said:
Ahhhh Jealousy becomes you!
Being a Chopo has nothing to do with what you drink or what music you listen to. It has to do with how you act or think when you drink or listen to music or any of the 1000's of things you do.
You just don't get it. Never have. Never will!
Actually I can never be a Chopo. It is a purely Dominican attribute. Among my people the term is Chusma!
