Coco

Sometimes I think I’m cursed.

Because of something that happened before I was even born.

See, a long time ago, there was this family.

The papa, he was a musician. He and his family would sing and dance and count their blessings. But he also had a dream.

To play for the world. And one day, he left with his guitar and never returned. And the mama – She didn’t have time to cry over that walk-away musician.

She rolled up her sleeves and she learned to make shoes. She could have made candy, or fireworks, or sparkly underwear—for wrestlers, but no, she chose shoes.

Mira [look], Mira [look], they’re setting up for tonight! The music competition for Dia de los Muertos [Day of the Dead].

You wanna be like your hero? You should sign up!

Uh-uh. My family would freak!

Come on, what did de la Cruz always say?

Seize your moment?

Show me what you got, muchacho [boy]. I’ll be your first audience.

Miguel!

Abuelita! [grandma]

What are you doing here?

You leave my grandson alone!

Dona [Madam], please!

I was just getting a shine.

I know your tricks, mariachi. What did he say to you?

He was just showing me his guitar.

Shame on you. My grandson is a sweet little Angelito Quenrido Cielito [cute little angel].

You keep away from him.

Mira [look], Mira [look], they’re setting up for tonight! In this cases like this one, the phrasal verb set up is used to say to prepare, in other words, he is saying that they are working to have everything ready for that night’s celebration.

Day of the Dead has begun. There’s some rumour floating around that some hotshot Piston Cup racecar is setting up his big racing headquarters here.

Really? Ah, well, there goes the town. You wanna be like your hero? You should sign up!

To sign up is to enroll yourself in a certain activity in order to participate in it. Miguel would love to sign up and participate in the talent show, but let’s see how his family reacts to that:

But what about tonight? What’s tonight?

Well, they’re having this talent show. And I thought I might—

Sign up?

Well, maybe?

You have to have talent to be in a talent show.

What are you gonna do? Shine shoes?

As we saw in the beginning of this lesson, Miguel’s family hates music and by no means will let him participate.

You should sign up!

Uh-uh. My family would freak!

To freak or freak out is to panic or have a strong emotional reaction to something. Let’s look at some more examples of this word:

A kid! There’s a kid here. A human kid!

So you’re being strangely cryptic as you wrap your magic hair Around my injured hand.

Ah!

Sorry.

Just don’t—just don’t freak out

Come on, what did de la Cruz always say?

Seize your moment?

The phrase seize your moment is used to encourage people to live their life to its full potential

In other words, in some way this means “enjoy life while you can.”

As this was the catchphrase of Miguel’s hero, the musician Ernesto de la Cruz, we can see this phrase repeated a few times in this movie.

When you see your moment, you mustn’t let it pass you by. You must seize it! Senor de la Cruz, what did it take for you to seize your moment?

I had to have faith in my dream. No one was going to hand it to me. It was up to me to reach for that dream-

Grab it tight and make it come true. No more hiding, Dante. I got to seize my moment! I’m gonna play in Mariachi Plaza if it kills me.

Show me what you got, muchacho [boy].

The phrase show me what you got is commonly used to ask someone to show you their talents or abilities.

All right, Dusty, remember this. It ain’t how fast you fly, it’s how you fly fast.

Roger that

Show me what you got

Watch this!

Oh yeah! Great, you can go up and down.

What else?

Show me your turns. Here we go!

Do you know which of these phrases has the same meaning?

Do your tricks

Show me what you’re made of

Show me what you have

That’s right! Now let’s hear this phrase again and pay special attention to the way that he pronounces these words:

Show me what you got, muchacho [boy].

Here we have an interesting example of connected speech, which is the that natives connect and link their words together. When words that end with a T sound are followed by words that start with a Y sound, they merge into a CH sound. So, he doesn’t say WHAT YOU, he says [wa-chu]. Let’s hear it again, fast and slow.

Show me what you got, muchacho [boy]. Then, the final T in the word “Got” is a glottal T. That means that it is cut off at the back of the throat. So instead of saying [got] we say it like [goh].

All together [shoe me wachu-goh].

I’ll be your first audience.

An audience is the group of people that gets together in one place to see someone perform.

As Miguel never played his music in public, this musician would be his first audience. Note that this word is actually used to refer to a group of people and not really to an individual person.

Dona [Madam], please!

I was just getting a shine.

I know your tricks, mariachi.

As we can see in this scene, the musician is paying Miguel to polish his shoes. If you ever polished your shoes you probably know that they end up being very shiny. For this reason, we can also call this a “shoe shine”, and Miguel is a shoe shiner. The mariachi reduces it by just saying “shine”.

I was just getting a shine.

I know your tricks, mariachi.

tricks are actions that intend to deceive someone. For example, if I say, “You tricked me!”, which of these words could work as a synonym?

That’s right! By saying that she knows his tricks, she is saying that she doesn’t believe that he was just getting a shine. By the way, did you notice how she called him?

I know your tricks, mariachi.

So mariachi is not his name, a mariachi is a typical musician from Mexico, who wears these traditional clothes and plays traditional music.

What did he say to you?

He was just showing me his guitar.

Shame on you.

Shame on you is a good phrase to use when you want to tell someone off, as it is a way of saying that he or she should feel shame because of their acts.

I’m not from the Candy Tree department

Lying to a child, Shame on you, Ralph

But I wasn’t lying about the medal, that was my medal.

What big teeth you have! Men! Shame on you Maurice

You did not see you insulted the freak!

Ah! You must tell me. Who the heck are you?

He wants no part of your music, mariachi. You keep away him.

If someone tells you to keep away from someone or something, that person means that you should avoid that person, as they seem unpleasant, dangerous or likely to cause problems.

Example: Keep the baby away from the kitchen.

You make me un poco loco [a little crazy]

Un poqui-ti-ti to loco

The way you keep me guessing

I’m nodding and I’m yes-ing

I’ll count it as a blessing

That I’m only un poco loco

Not bad for a dead guy!

Not so bad yourself, gordito! Eso!

The loco that you make me

It is just un poco crazy

The sense that you’re not making

The liberties you’re taking

Leaves my cabeza [head] shaking

You’re just un poco loco

The way you keep me guessing

I’m nodding and I’m yes-ing

Both nodding and yes-ing have similar meanings, as they are used to express agreement.

When you nod, you move your head up and down several times to show approval.

Yes-ing is a slang word that is used to say that someone agrees.

I’ll count it as a blessing

That I’m only un poco loco

If you say that you have been blessed or have a blessing, you mean that you feel lucky to have something such as health, love or in this case, a bit of craziness [un poco loco].

Now, the expression “to count one’s blessings” means to be grateful for what one has.

Often we will use it to tell someone they should be grateful.

Come on! You could at least give them a chance!

Oh, to do what? Sharpen their pitchforks

No! They just want to give you their blessing

Oh, great. Now I need their blessing?

Well, if you want part of this family, yes!

That I’m only un poco loco

Here we have another good example of connected speech. Let’s listen to this verse again and pay special attention to the way that he pronounces the words THAT and I.

That I’m only un poco loco

If you watch our videos often, you probably know that when you have a T sound between two vowel sounds in American English, if you watch our videos often, it often morphs to a D sound. This is often called an American T, and it is heard in instances like: Better Cat and dog It is Notice it doesn’t have to be in the same word, as long as the T is surrounded by vowel sounds. So he doesn’t say THAT I, he says [tha-di].

Let’s listen to it again fast and slow and look at a couple more examples of this type of sound morphing.

That I’m only un poco loco

Not bad for a dead guy!

Not so bad yourself, gordito! Eso!

This phrase is quite common and it is used to say that you are good at something.

So by saying this, he means that Miguel is actually a really good musician!

The liberties you’re taking

Leaves my cabeza [head] shaking

The phrase to take liberties is used when someone feels very comfortable with a situation or thing and acts in a way could be considered too free.

Example: I took some liberties when writing the essay and didn’t follow the professor’s rules.

We can also say, “To take the liberty (to do something)”

This means that we do something without asking for permission.

Example: I took the liberty of ordering a drink for you while you were in the bathroom.

Mira, Mira, they’re setting up for tonight! The music competition for Dia de los Muertos.

You wanna be like your hero? You should sign up!

Uh-uh. My family would freak!

Come on, what did de la Cruz always say?

Seize your moment?

I’ll be your first audience.

Miguel!

Abuelita!

What are you doing here?

You leave my grandson alone!

Dona, please!

I was just getting a shine.

I know your tricks, mariachi. What did he say to you?

He was just showing me his guitar.

Shame on you. My grandson is a sweet little Angelito Quenrido Cielito.

You keep away from him.

You make me un poco loco [a little crazy]

Un poqui-ti-ti to loco

The way you keep me guessing

I’m nodding and I’m yes-ing

Not bad for a dead guy!

Not so bad yourself, gordito! Eso!

It is just un poco crazy

The sense that you’re not making

The liberties you’re taking Leaves my cabeza [head] shaking You’re just un poco loco