Tangueras: Don't get into that cab!

A super man asks for a dance
non-verbally with a nod or wink.
It's called a "cabeceo."

Struggling with Spanish and English terms that are easily confused?

Well, here are two terms that tangueras and tangeros easy get confused:

Cabby CEO  from cabby [cab driver] and "chief executive officer."

and

Cabeceo  from the word "cabeza."


Cabeceo:  This is Spanish for a nod of the head -- a non-verbal way to get a nice ride around the dance floor to locations of musical bliss one desires to visit.

Cabby CEO:  This is English for a high risk driver running his own business at any cost.  A cabby CEO's business is to talk you into going to locations he (or she) is going.   It is easy to detect cabby CEO's:  They are very verbal taxi drivers (or tango dancers) who ask if you want to go where they happen to be going. (They won't be interested where you want to go; that is why they asked.)
 

Hey, wanna dance?
I drive you mad for good price.*

*Warning: Never take a ride from someone who suggests a ride by stopping you to ask.  The destination may be dangerous.  Don't lie.  Just say, "No thanks."  More on tango etiquette here.

Yes, you there.  Let's dance!

Ladies:  Don't leave it up to the man.

One can be non-verbal and get dances very assertively.  This photo is my favorite example of a female "mirada" (look) -- the ladys' version of a non-verbal request for a dance.  My guess is that she got that dance.

I suggest a little bit less assertiveness than this, but she's on the right track.







Photo credits:
Super cabeceo
Cabby CEO
Female cabeceo (thanks Christian Xell -- a poster for a milonga in Vienna, Austria.)