What Is A Mexican Breakfast?

A Mexican breakfast is supposed to be a breakfast consisting of "a glass of tap water and a cigarette. It is an American idiom that is used in derogatory metaphors and similes, implying that this is all a Mexican can afford. Another version of this phrase is that a Mexican Breakfast is a cigarette & cup of coffee for breakfast. Such phrases are generally coined by a higher-status faction about another nationality or group of individuals of a lower status. In this case, the term Mexican in itself comes to mean something substandard.  Other similar phrases include a Mexican promotion where an employee is given a new job title but no salary raise, a Mexican athlete is an unsuccessful candidate for the team and a Mexican Standoff is a gunfight in which no shots are fired.

Way back in the 17th century, the British also used this method to deride their Dutch rivals. Phrases like Dutch treat which means that you pay for yourself, Dutch defense which means to surrender, and to do the Dutch which means suicide are only some of the expressions that were coined by them.  The origin of quite a few of these phrases is obscure but they are still in use today.

Mexican breakfasts traditionally consist of Omelette's, or Breakfast burritos :D