X
Well attestedNamed from the place

Tex-Mex

adjective · first attested 19th century

Tex-Mex began life as a telegraphic abbreviation for a railroad company.

Of the Texan-Mexican border culture, and especially its cooking of chili, cumin, yellow cheese and wheat flour tortillas.

Texas·United States

31.0000°N -100.0000°W · Q1439

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Relationship
Named from the place
Confidence
Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
Attested
19th century
Part of speech
adjective

Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.

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  1. Step 1

    Texas

  2. In English

    Tex-Mex

The entry

The hyphenated form was shorthand for the Texas-Mexican Railway, whose line was founded in the 1870s, and then a label for Texans of Mexican descent. It only became a name for food in the twentieth century, popularized by writers drawing a line between border cooking and the kitchens of central Mexico.

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