¡A La Máquina!

I have C/S tattooed on my middle finger. I get A LOT of questions as to why I have it there or just as to what it means. My favorite response is to quote José Antonio Burciaga in Drink Cultura: Chicanismo:

“At one time or another many of us have seen the c/s sign-off on Chicano ‘placas’ and graffiti in the Southwest or Midwest. It’s a very common Chicano symbol but its true origin and significance is nebulous. It is not a Mexican symbol but a Chicano, a Mexican-American, symbol. Its origin is unknown but, like the ‘Pachuco’, it probably originated in South El Paso’s ‘Segundo Barrio’. The c/s sign-off means ‘con safos’, and translates literally as “with safety.” It was meant as a safety precaution, a barrio copyright, patent pending. No one else could use or dishonor the graffiti. It was an honorable code of conduct, a literary imprimatur. Like saying “amen,” it ended discussion. Above all, it meant, “anything you say against me will bounce back to you.” Most kids respected a ‘placa’ if signed off with the c/s. Without that symbol, a placa would sooner or later get scribbled on or erased. Some kids would put a double c/s sign or put xxx after it, or a skull and cross bones, which physically threatened anyone who did not honor and respect the code. The closest possible Spanish word from which safos could have come would be ‘safo’ from ‘safar’, or ‘safado’, which translates to slip or slipped. This is a plausible definitoin since the c/s is meant to let insults slip off, to protect and shield from attacks. In a game of marbles, Chicano kids used the word ‘safis’ if they let the marble slip before shooting it in the right direction. By saying safis the marble shooter was allowed to try again. Some Chicanos will also end a placa, graffitti, with the message ‘con o sin safos’, which means that with or without safety, with or without this code, whether you like it or not, whether you insult me back or not, this placa, insult or praise, stands.”

I actually got the idea from Mike Giant. He put it on the middle finger of one of his fixie chicks and I thought it was a really clever placement of the symbol. I just had to get it.

Who gives a fuck if I’m a viejita with tinta on her middle finger one day, haha.

‎Just remember: “If anyone’s got anything bad to say, CON SAFOS!”