My old friend and colleague Miguel Pérez sent me the following observation. In Spanish, the phrase has more than one meaning.
In English, we call it “the crow’s nest,” although it’s not really for birds. It’s meant for sailors to use as a lookout over the horizon in search of land or other ships. But its original name in Spanish, “el carajo,” has taken on other meanings.
It goes back to the times when the Spanish conquistadores sailed on galleons and caravels and depended on sailors who were sent up to el carajo to serve as lookouts, especially when searching for new lands to discover.
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