That’s one suggested translation of “La Mexicaine de Perforation,” the amorphous group of urban explorers who built and operated a subterranean cinema in the center of Paris until it was discovered last month.
The group’s spokesman, Lazar Kunsman, originally explained the name in a French radio interview, but early English language reports of the movie theater botched both the original and the translation, and I unwittingly perpetuated their mistakes. La Mexicaine de la Perforation [sic] became The Perforating Mexicans [sic sic], which is what happens when British people think they speak French.
Le Mexico is the bar where the explorers would meet, and perforation is drilling, as in mining and quarrying. According to Language Log, the name shares its construction with industrial, utility, and institutional names in France.
This is all fascinating, I’m sure, but it’s not nearly as interesting as what films LMDP screened during its summer-long film series, Urbex Movie. I’m still working on that. [Thanks, Tristan, for the correction]
Related: Language Log deciphers “LMDP”
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the making of, by greg allen