Leonor from Dallas, Texas, says that when she was a child, her Spanish-speaking mother and grandmother used to her after a bump or scrape with Sana, sana, colita de rana, Si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana , literally, “Heal, heal, little frog’s tail. If you don’t heal today, you’ll heal tomorrow.” Somehow this always helped distract her from any minor pain. There are many versions of this saying throughout Latin America. Another ends with Dame un besito para hoy y mañana , or “Give me a kiss for today and tomorrow.” Around the world, similarly soothing phrases are often accompanied with a bit of touch or gentle massage, which works at least as well as the words themselves. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Sana, Sana, Colita De Rana”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hello, my name is Leonore, and I’m calling from Dallas.
Hi, Leonore.
I have a question on a little saying that I used to hear when I was a child. And my grandmother used to, and so did my mom, and I guess a lot of ladies in the neighborhood.
When we were kids, and if we went outside to play and fell, scraped a knee and elbow, we’d come in crying, and they would stop, look at it, put saliva on it, and wipe it with their finger. And they’d say, sana, sana, colita de rana. Si no sanas ahora, sanarás mañana.
Where did this start? Is it very Mexican, or do all the Latin countries use it? And funny, it was like magic. We’d just resume our play.
Oh, Leonore, you are bringing back lots of warm memories, I am absolutely sure, for so many of our listeners who heard that saying when they were growing up, or maybe they say it to their own kids now. And the literal translation of what you’re talking about is heel, heel, little frog’s tail. If you don’t get better today, you’ll get better tomorrow. Isn’t that it?
That is correct. Yeah, and it’s such a lovely little musical saying, sana, sana, colita de rana, si no sanas hoy, sanarás mañana. The rana in there is frog, and the sana means to heal. It’s related to English words like sane and sanitary. And the colita, which means little tail, is related to the English word coda, like, you know, the little coda, the little tail at the end of a piece of music.
So sana, sana, colita de rana has this wonderful sing-song melody, and that rhyme is so pleasant and reassuring, isn’t it?
Yes, and my kids grew up with it because my mother lived with me.
-huh.
Yeah, and it’s wonderful because it takes the kids’ mind off the boo-boo, right? They have this weird image, and it’s also so reassuring. But you asked if there were other versions of it, and my goodness, there are versions all over Latin America, some of which are a little more coarse that we won’t share. But there’s one that goes, dame un besito para hoy y mañana. Give me a little kiss for today and tomorrow. And we’re not sure where it comes from.
Frogs and toads tend to show up in a lot of Mexican folklore, I know. But I’m not sure, Grant, that we know an origin for it.
No, no, but these kinds of sing-songy rhymes to make a child ignore their boo-boos are pretty common across all human cultures. And sometimes you mentioned they would put saliva on the boo-boo.
-huh, -huh.
Sometimes they just massage. But it’s the touch of the parent, too, that helps.
Well, that’s interesting.
Yeah, thank you for sharing your memories. This is going to ring a lot of bells for a lot of people. Thank you for giving me the privilege of speaking to you, and I’ve enjoyed it.
All right, take care of yourself. What a pleasure. Sana, sana to you.
Martha, I love it when you share your language memories from these cross-cultural experiences. Share them with us. We can talk about them, explore them, and let everyone else know as well.
It’s toll-free in the United States and Canada. And if you’re somewhere else in the world, there are a lot of ways to reach us, including by text message, by a contact form on our website, and by a WhatsApp number. You can find all of that at waywordradio.org.
I was raised by my Mexican American Grandparents…I miss my Ama saying Sana Sana to me. In later years she would do the egg for el ojo. I love and miss her soooo much!