"Mexican Pink"
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There's a restaurant in the western suburbs of Philadelphia called "Rosa Mexicano", one of one of a chain by that name. Since the first time I saw it, I've known enough Spanish to wonder why Mexicano is a masculine adjective, given that the noun rosa "rose" is feminine. But thanks to a Spanish friend, I've recently learned that the noun rosa has another sense, referring to the color "pink" — and in that sense the noun is masculine.
Furthermore, the phrase rosa mexicano has a particular meaning and pattern of historical usage — as Wikipedia explains
Mexican pink (Spanish: rosa mexicano) is a purplish pink tone of the color rose, vivid and saturated, similar to the colors called fuchsia or magenta. It has been compared with the color of the bracts of ornamental climbing plant called bougainvillea, that is, Trinity and Santa Rita bougainvillea. Its origin is that this color is used in traditional clothing such as serapes and is used in the craft art and fine art of traditional Mexican culture.
Mexican pink became known as such through the efforts of the journalist, painter, cartoonist and fashion designer Ramón Valdiosera. In the mid-1940s, Valdiosera made a long research trip across Mexico where he made contact with different ethnic groups and collected suits and dresses typical of different regions. Interested in traditional Mexican clothing being adapted to contemporary fashion, on his return to Mexico City he set up a sewing workshop and there devoted himself to move the fabrics, colors and traditional styles to sophisticated forms of fashion at that time.
The color frequently appears in the work of Luis Barragan, one of Mexico's best-known architects. It was also used in the 2023 movie Barbie.
Maybe the Barbie link is widely known, but it was news to me: "‘Barbie’ Honors This Pink Used in Mexico for Centuries — Here Are All the Details".
Cirk R. Bejnar said,
September 11, 2025 @ 10:46 pm
Interesting. Reminds me of the village of Los Lunas in New Mexico which I was told was not las lunas "the moons", but rather "the members of the Luna family".
zyx said,
September 11, 2025 @ 11:06 pm
"Rosa" the color is masculine just like "color" (in Spanish) is masculine. Similarly, all letters are feminine and "letra" is feminine ("la te" is the letter and "el té" is the drink). Numbers are masculine and "número" is masculine.
Fruits are feminine and fruit trees are masculine ("manzana" vs. "manzano"). I wonder if that's related to "fruta" being feminine and "árbol" masculine. And I wonder if there are other categories in Spanish (or other languages) whose members follow the grammatical gender of their category name.
cameron said,
September 11, 2025 @ 11:15 pm
there have been Rosa Mexicano restaurants in New York since the early 90s. I think that's where the chain got its start. I too looked askance at the name at first, as if it might be an error, but then remembered that in French la rose is a flower, but le rose is a color. so I figured the same must be the case in Spanish. and at some point I looked at a Spanish dictionary to confirm
John Kozak said,
September 12, 2025 @ 2:39 am
French "rose" works in the very same way.
John Swindle said,
September 12, 2025 @ 3:11 am
It's not just the noun. In Honolulu and Kailua on the Hawaiian island of Oahu there used to be restaurants called "Taqueria 'El Gallo Rosa.'" I read that as "Rosa the Rooster's Taco Shop" until someone explained to me about the color rosa (pink) being invariant. As for not spelling "taquería" with the accent mark, maybe "taqueria" has become an American English word.
twinspan said,
September 12, 2025 @ 9:48 am
@Cirk R. Bejnar
Unlike English, surnames don't have a plural inflection in Spanish (and many other languages).
Hence 'The Simpsons' is known in Spanish as 'Los Simpson'.
'Los Lunas' would imply the surname is Lunas, not Luna.
Barbara Phillips Long said,
September 12, 2025 @ 1:04 pm
More confusing to me is the food truck I see regularly: La Maison Tacos. The menu is said to include signature French tacos, Moroccan paninis, and gourmet burgers.
Chris Button said,
September 12, 2025 @ 8:58 pm
What a clever name!
I think rosa is masculine. But as a color rather than a flower, it is a shortening of "rose colored", which in Portuguese is "cor de rosa" where "cor" is feminine. The internet tells me that Spanish "color" also used to be feminine like Portuguese "cor", but it is now commonly treated as masculine.
Chris Button said,
September 12, 2025 @ 9:01 pm
Sorry, my first sentence above should read:
I think rosa is feminine.
Peter Taylor said,
September 13, 2025 @ 1:18 am
Cf previous comment on the phrase la reina del Plata, where Plata is masculine because it's the name of a river.
An alternative colour adjective in Spanish is rosado which varies its ending in the usual -o/-a/-os/-as scheme.
Abbas said,
September 13, 2025 @ 2:58 am
It seems that both the Mexican and also the Spanish flags are the only ones featuring pink colour, small details in their respective coats of arms.
Andrea said,
September 13, 2025 @ 7:19 am
I wonder if there is any connection to cochineal, a natural dye that originates in Mexico. It is a bright pink or red
David Arthur said,
September 14, 2025 @ 7:28 am
Reminds me of the hotel in Montreal called 'Le Reine Elizabeth' – 'le' being masculine because it refers to the missing noun 'hôtel'!
Chris Button said,
September 14, 2025 @ 8:03 am
@ David Arthur
Nice one! Just like the missing "color" in this case then.
Doctor Science said,
September 15, 2025 @ 12:59 pm
@Andrea:
I think you're exactly right. Here's what traditionally-prepared cochineal dyed-cotton looks like:
https://kakawdesigns.com/products/naturally-dyed-decor-loom-hot-pink-indigo