alazán jilote

( alazán [alasán] < Arabic al-azár 'reddish')

   Cowboy pronunciation of the Spanish color alazán—sorrel, or reddish. This may reflect a spelling pronunciation or a misconstrual of the model. Some poor cowman may have read the term with English phonology or mistakenly assumed that it originally referred to a redheaded female named Alice Ann. The DRAE describes the color as reddish or the color of cinnamon. Santamaría describes alazán with reference to horses' coloring. He notes that the term combines with other adjectives to describe a variety of colors. Alazán claro (light sorrel), alazán jilote (corn-colored sorrel), and alazán mulato (mulatto sorrel) are some examples.