levanton

n. a lift or boost; a kidnapping; a ride (in a vehicle); euphoria or an emotional lift. Subjects: Spanish, Mexico, United States

Etymological Note: From the Spanish levantar, “to lift, raise, pick up.” In Spanish the word is accented: levantón.

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Citations: 1990 Patrick McDonnell L.A Times (Sept. 2) “The Lethal Path to the North Popular Alien Route Crosses, Crisscrosses Perilous Freeways” p. 1: The smugglers, mostly men in their 20s, station themselves at strategic spots-along the roadway shoulders, medians and in adjoining brush-offering levantones ( “lifts,” or “rides").…"Levanton! Levanton!” the smugglers advertise as each new group arrives alongside the edge of I-5. 1996 Ana Luisa Ochoa @ Mexico, D.F. Mundo Ejecutivo (July 1) “Industria hotelera Definiendo estrategias”: Para que Mexico de el verdadero levanton en la industria turistica y, por consiguiente, en la hoteleria, se debe concientizar a los servidores y funcionarios publicos de la importancia del turismo. 1996 Jorge Ernesto Witker @ Mexico, D.F. Crónica (Nov. 16) “Entrenador nuevo, filosofia vieja”: Con la llegada de Carlos Miloc, la inyeccion de momentaneo animo produjo el acostumbrado levanton del debut. 2002 AP (Dec. 10) “DEP FUT Mexico Semifinales” (in Torreon, Mexico): Por su parte el entrenador del Santos, Luis Fernando Tena, senalo que su equipo tuvo “un levanton” en buena momento, por lo que espera que sus jugadores sigan poniendo su “maxima entrega.” 2004 Mark Getty @ Ciudad Juárez Frontera NorteSur (New Mexico) (Jan.-Feb.) “Mexico’s Forgotten Disappeared: The Victims of the Border Narco Bloodbath”: During the last 10 years, hundreds of people from Tijuana to Matamoros have been forcibly carted off by heavily armed men sometimes sporting police insignias and uniforms. They are the victims of a style of violence known in border lingo as the “levantón,” which could be literally translated as the “lift” or “pickup.” Occasionally the “levantados” turn up murdered baring signs of torture but frequently they are transformed into memories of agony for distraught relatives. 2004 Minerva Canto @ Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Orange County Register (California) (June 15) “Sure her husband is innocent, Miriam Garcia won’t turn her back on him” p. 1: Miriam fears her husband is the victim of a levanton, one of the kidnappings that plague this border city as the drug trade spreads its ugly claws. 2004 Aline Corpus, Tim Gaynor @ Tijuana and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico Reuters (Sept. 15) “‘Disappearance’ new weapon in Mexico drug wars”: The incident is one of a rising number of forcible abductions in crime-ridden towns and cities flanking the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S. border. They have become so common that local residents have coined a name for the phenomenon: the “levanton” or “big pickup.” *2004 State of Calif. California Highway Patrol (Sept. 16) “Child Booster Seats”: Give ‘Em a Boost!…Déles Un Levantón! *2004 [Tony] Chalino Sanchez Site (Sept. 17) “The Truth is out there…This may be it.”: Chalino having grown up in Sinaloa, being in the mob himself could have spotted a “levanton” miles away. Chalino had to have known that if you get pulled over at 3 am by federales your chances of living are zero.

Posted 17 Sep 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend