He's ten, I'm two two, I don't have a fifth, I'm two three... There are many expressions with numbers that exist in Mexico and undoubtedly, “he has already dropped twenty” is one of the most used by the society of the territory, however, it is common for the phrase to be used but it is not very clear what its original meaning is.
In the country it is used when someone manages to understand an explanation or know why a certain situation happened. That is why it is normal to hear that when a person is aware of something he mentions “he has already fallen into the twentieth”, but since when did this statement become popular?
The writer Arturo Ortega details that the origin of this peculiar phrase dates back to the 1980s, because when technological advances had not yet flooded cities, the only way to communicate with loved ones was by going to a public telephone, since during that time a good percentage of the population did not have access to it innovative invention.
However, a prerequisite for being able to talk to someone remotely was to have a 20 cent coin, because this was the only denomination accepted by telephone machines at the time.
In the procedure for making a link, you first had to insert the money into the slot and then dial the number you wanted to contact. Once the person answered, you could hear how the machine swallowed the coin, which allowed the conversation to take place.
However, when there was a failure to establish communication, people used the expression: “he has not dropped the 20″, a question that meant that the connection between both parties could not be achieved successfully. In addition, it became common to verify the status of the call to indicate to the other person that “the twentieth has already fallen”, so that both users could talk without worries.
Over time, the expression passed through the telephone booths and became established in the daily life of households. Thanks to Mexican creativity, this phrase was soon used as a synonym for “you already understood” or, more colloquially, “you already caught the idea”.
It is a fact that the telephone, which arrived since the time of the Porfiriato, not only transformed the way individuals interact, but also brought new practices that in followed by incorporation into the culture of the territory, because “he already fell twenty” is not the only inheritance he left, as is the case of the word “good”. Nowadays people answer this way because it was necessary to tell the operators that the signal was “good”, so that the connection with the recipient could be established.
It should be noted that this case is not unique and particular in Mexico, because in Argentina it is said “I already fell the file”, in the same way, in England we hear “the penny has dropped” (the penny has fallen); in Venezuela it is used “I dropped the loach”; in Israel it is “Nafal ha-asimón” (the asimon fell) and in Germany it is “J etz ist bei mir” der Groschen gefallen” (I already dropped the Grosche).
In all these cases reference is made to the ancient coins that were used in those territories to make calls in public places. Although it is common in different parts of the world, it cannot be ignored that numbers are very present in different Mexican phrases.
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