The goal of our “From the Archive” series is to revisit popular stories that capture the unique history and culture of life in Mexico. This Sarah DeVries article — originally published in January 2025 — is a perfect example, offering humorous insight into the fine art of whistling.
I have known no jealousy like the jealousy I feel when I hear Mexicans’ elaborate category of effortless whistles.
Okay fine, they’re not effortless. They just sound that way because they learned how to do it when they were kids. You know, like speaking Spanish.
Indeed, whistling is part of the language in some meaningful ways. There are specific whistles used for getting people’s attention. There are whistles for saying “Hey buddy, what’s up?” from across the street. There are whistles for saying, “But of course, my horse” — okay, maybe not exactly that, but a kind of “You know it!” with that adorable tone. There are whistles to say, “Wowza, nice butt, strange woman I don’t know!” Some whistles say, “Okay, back up your car now, a little more, a little more, a little more, stop!” There are even whistles to tell people where they can stuff it. Careful with those.
And I am going to learn them all.
A realistic goal
Well, I’m going to try. Forget turning my health or finances around; it’s too big a task. I need something I actually stand a chance at being able to bite off. Even though the prospect of practicing them takes me back to the deep humiliation I felt trying to string a four-word sentence together in Spanish while the three-year-old next to me rattled off deep, complex sentence after deep, complete sentence, I’m committed. I did it once, and I can do it again!
I won’t necessarily use them all, or use them frequently. In fact, I’m fairly certain that men whistle much more than women around here, anyway. Like cursing, it falls into a decidedly “male” category of behavior, and is seen as somewhat crass and unladylike.
I’ve also noticed that whistling is more prevalent among lower socio-economic classes than among the more well-to-do. Part of this is simply cultural habit, growing out of the need to communicate at great distances. It’s more pleasant sounding, and clearer, than shouting. If you’re willing to do some digging, there are actually some fascinating examples of whistles-as-language. There’s a cool short video about this below.
But I don’t need to be communicating over great distances in the Oaxaca countryside. I just want to have some fun.
And I don’t want to go too fast, but I’m also an eager learner. This video is pretty cute, by the way, as an introduction to the meanings of different whistles.
Here are the specific ones that I want to learn:
Learning how to whistle in Mexico (in different styles, for different purposes)
The whistle to get someone’s attention
Say you’re walking along a busy street and you need to get someone’s attention. Maybe it’s a vendor, or maybe a taxi that didn’t notice you! This whistle is perfect for it. It’s also important for me personally, because my voice does not carry at all. My loudest is not very loud, and the strain on my voice physically hurts! This can either be a quick low-high sound, or the more universally recognized high-low-slightly higher.
The ‘you can count on me, buddy’ whistle
I mostly want to learn this one because I think it’s both hilarious and adorable. My partner does this one sometimes, and even though it’s kind of a joke, I am 100% charmed.
‘Hey, friend on the other side of the street!’
Finally, I’ve just got to learn this whistle. It’s short and sweet, and I don’t care that I’ve hardly ever heard it from a woman’s lips.
So those are the three goals. Three distinct whistles — I can kind of do a “pucker” whistle now, but not very well — should be manageable in a year, right?
In the meantime, I’m dying to know: can you whistle? Can you do any specifically Mexican whistles? I especially want to know how many women out there can — please let me know in the comments!
Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, sarahedevries.substack.com.
