I had always assumed the bell managed to reference both a dinner bell (food) and a mission bell (California, with its Hispanic population, hence Tex-Mex). I'm blown away it's just the founder's name.

Tex-Mex is from Texas... that's what the Tex part is, and it's distinct from Cali-Mex, because while both cuisines originated from Mexican influence into the area using local ingredients and traditional techniques, the ingredients were different and the influences originated from different regions of Mexico which heavily influenced the cuisine. Tex-Mex originated with the Tejanos who resided in Texas while it was still part of Mexico and mostly originated from Central and Northern Mexico while Cali-Mex is predominantly a result of immigration that occurred later on mostly from Western/Coastal Mexico.

Tex-Mex and Cali-Mex aren't the same thing, and California has no claim to Tex-Mex...

I've never heard the term Cali-Mex, but I'd say that Taco Bell is way closer to Tex-Mex than any other taco places in SoCal, which are generally much more authentic.

Taco Bell isn’t Tex-Mex, it’s corporatized and white-washed fast food. You won’t find Tex-Mex in California... that’s kind of the point.

I appreciate many different cuisines, so I am not saying Tex-Mex is better than Cali-Mex, just that they’re different. Bringing Taco Bell into the equation and saying it’s representative is deeply insulting to Tex-Mex, however.

My favorite "Tex-Mex" is from SLC, Utah. "Ute-Mex"?

They don’t serve food like any of the taquerias here in Texas, maybe superficially similar... they do serve burritos which are more Cali mex.

The Mexican food in what is now Texas already I used a a lot of beef and cheese before it became part of America

I don't believe it would have been called Taco Smith. It happened to be that the dudes last name made sense in the context of a dinner bell being rung for tacos.

Taco John’s is a reasonably successful chain with a similar name.

That really isn't similar in terms of usage. "Taco John" is a person's nickname. (And then, Taco John's is just the place that belongs to Taco John.) But you wouldn't call someone by their last name.

Richard and Maurice McDonald, Wilber Hardee, and Little Caesars are all counter examples.

Little Caesar's is named after a Mr. Little? That would be a perfect addition to this page

Little Caesar was a co-founder’s nickname.

They're examples of someone being nicknamed off of their last name instead of their first name? How so?

Caesar isn't even a last name.

> They're examples of someone being nicknamed off of their last name instead of their first name?

McDonald's, Hardee's.

> Caesar isn't even a last name.

Worked out fine for Julius.

You're going to have to elaborate. What nickname do you see in "McDonald's" or "Hardee's"? What do you mean by "worked out fine for Julius"? You are aware that Julius Caesar's surname was "Julius", right?

OK, well, I am taking cognomen as surname, as is common when referring to him today, by nomen + cognomen. Never met the man or had the joy of calling him Gaius.

There are modern people today with a surname of Caesar. Somehow, the name of the late celebrity Sid Caesar pops up for me. Wikipedia has more: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesar_(surname) -- and I know of other languages where their cognate for Caesar is also a surname.

But yes, it is common to address people by their last name as a nickname. I seem to recall it was especially common back in school, something guys did kind of informally. Plenty of reasons explained here: https://www.google.com/search?q=call+someone+by+last+name

I also recall nickname variations of various surnames. Somebody called Fitzgerald might be called Fitz. Somebody called Smith might be called Smitty. Those are two I recall from school days.

And yes clearly, McDonald's and Hardee's are named for surnames.

> I am taking cognomen as surname, as is common when referring to him today, by nomen + cognomen.

Huh? "Caesar" is how he's generally referred to, almost certainly because the form of address to every Roman emperor was "Caesar", after him. But there's no indication that it is taken to be his surname. That would be ridiculous.

There is no pattern for the common English name of a Roman figure:

- Virgil: nomen

- Ovid: nomen

- Martial: cognomen

- Catullus: cognomen (of possible note: Martial and Catullus have the same nomen)

- Cicero: cognomen, but sometimes referred to by nomen as "Tully"

- Antony: nomen

- Brutus: cognomen

- Pliny the Elder: nomen

- Catiline: cognomen

It's purely convention whether they're known by surname or personal name.

Similarly, what are the surnames of, as they are known in English, Mao Tse-tung, Chiang Kai-shek, or Sun Yat-sen?

You seem to have ignored most of my comment for this discussion.

I can respond to the rest of it. I wanted to know where the idea that it's common to view the cognomen as a surname came from. It's bizarre.

> There are modern people today with a surname of Caesar. Somehow, the name of the late celebrity Sid Caesar pops up for me. Wikipedia has more

Not really relevant when the claim was that (1) Little Caesars is named after someone's surname; and/or (2) Caesar was Julius Caesar's surname. Both of those claims are obviously false.

> yes clearly, McDonald's and Hardee's are named for surnames.

But I've been saying this whole time that "Taco Smith" is not similar to "Taco John's", because "Taco John's" is named after a notional owner, Taco John, whereas you couldn't call someone "Taco Smith". (And of course, even if you did, you wouldn't expect the restaurant to have the same name as the owner.)

McDonald's and Hardee's are not evidence that anyone ever referred to anyone as "McDonald" or "Hardee". They're names, not nicknames.

> But yes, it is common to address people by their last name as a nickname. I seem to recall it was especially common back in school, something guys did kind of informally. Plenty of reasons explained here: https://www.google.com/

This isn't common at all. What country are you thinking of?

> This isn't common at all. What country are you thinking of?

Very very common in my childhood in the northeastern and mid Atlantic United States. I have heard it from west coaters too.

No answer to the nickname "Smitty"? It is a common one, derived from Smith. You can Google it.

None of those use the food an adjective /adjacent nickname. They are all possessives.

Taco Bill is pretty popular in Australia.

That just sounds like what they bring you after you've eaten the tacos.

Taco smith would be an interesting restaurant, maybe using an anvil as a logo instead of a bell

The Taco Smith is going in to my next D&D game.