Mexican overdrive

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Mexican overdrive

Where it comes from

Synchronically, coordinate with other variants of overdrive in this sense of the word, whereas some of the variants certainly denigrate outgroups (e.g., Jewish overdrive, Polish overdrive) and others might not be denigrating but rather celebratory (e.g., Georgia overdrive); diachronically, this one has been said to be based on NASCAR teams' experience in the early 1950s in the legendary Carerra Panamerica, where the long hills would have otherwise overrevved the engines, although this may be a folk etymology for just another outgroup-denigrating variant.

noun

  1. US, slang, uncountable Synonym of angel gear. He shifted his car out of gear, at the top of the hill, and coasted down in Mexican overdrive.

    Similar: angel gear

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MLA

"Mexican overdrive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mexican%20overdrive. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

Mexican overdrive. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mexican%20overdrive

Chicago

"Mexican overdrive." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mexican%20overdrive.

BibTeX
@misc{mexican_overdrive_2026,
  title = {Mexican overdrive},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mexican%20overdrive},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}