Sancho

When we took the call about what to call a woman’s male lover, you know, the guy on the side, the male equivalent of a mistress.

Oh, I remember that.

We got a lot of responses, a zillion, most of them recommending Paramore, which I can’t believe we didn’t mention, but it’s a great name for it.

A little old fashioned, but Paramore is a great name for a male lover on the side.

But we also had a few people who responded with the word Sancho or Sancho, S-A-N-C-H-O.

And I was really kind of surprised by that.

There were some people in Texas and California.

And, you know, maybe it’s more common in the Southwest or in states that border Mexico.

I don’t really know.

A couple of people suggested that it does come from Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s sidekick.

Possible.

I do know that Sancho is used in prison slang to refer to the man who sleeps with your wife when you’re in the clink, right?

Oh, sort of like—

And what does that remind you of?

Oh, I know where you’re going.

Yeah, it reminds you of Jody, who is the man who, when you were in the service, serving abroad, who is at home driving your car and sleeping in your car.

No.

Anyway, I look an email and I see that Daniel in Southern California wrote to us last year in response to a call about Jodi.

And he said that when he served as a firefighter, that they used Sancho as well to refer to this mythological figure who was at home like stepping into your shoes when you were away in the brush fighting the wildfires.

Eating off your plates.

And one other thing, two people mentioned that the sublime song Santeria does include a mention of this Sancho figure.

Very good.

Sancho as the male lover on the side.

Well, we did not know that.

Did not know that.

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