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jerezano

Nov 18, 2006, 6:50 PM

Post #1 of 5 (1916 views)

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Need help on modismos

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Hello,

Can anyone help me with the following translations to English:

mujer a secas

de plano para ñeros

atemporal---when speaking of love and affection.

Also the sentence: Está querida, otra palabra con la que por el tono con que una mujer de mi edad y condición [she is approaching sixty and is an author] la pronuncie, al pretender distinguir con ella a la mujer con la que vio a su esposo, será adecuada, en su calidad de sinónimo de amante o galana, o sarcástica por lo que hiciera al afecto que pudiera contener.

I am not happy with the translation I have made which is:

What is wanted is another word that by its tone a woman of my age and condition can use to distinguish the woman with whom she saw her husband, a word that would be adequate in its use as a synonym for lover or merry widow (galante) or a sarcastic term which might contain the idea.

Gracias. Adiós. jerezano.

(This post was edited by jerezano on Nov 18, 2006, 6:52 PM)

sparks

Nov 21, 2006, 8:01 AM

Post #2 of 5 (1879 views)

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Re: [jerezano] Need help on modismos

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So we can read it all ,)

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/...amp;article=a06a1cul

Sparks Mexico - Sparks Costalegre

quevedo

Nov 21, 2006, 10:55 AM

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Re: [jerezano] Need help on modismos

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Tampoco voy a llamarla dama ni mujer a secas. I won't call her lady, nor woman and nothing more, either.

De plano para ñeros. Definitely for uneducated people.

Amor atemporal. Love out of time.

Está querida, otra palabra con la que por el tono con que una mujer de mi edad y condición la pronuncie, al pretender distinguir con ella a la mujer con la que vio a su esposo, será adecuada, en su calidad de sinónimo de amante o galana, o sarcástica por lo que hiciera al afecto que pudiera contener. She is loved, another word that by the tone employed by a woman of my age and condition when pronouncing it, pretending to distinguish with it the woman she saw with her husband, will be suitable as a synonym of lover or mistress, or sarcastic if in reference to the affection it might imply.

The last sentence, estimado Jerezano, is so round-about and stilted in its original Spanish, that the translation suffers from the same malady.

Saludos cordiales,

Quevedo

jerezano

Nov 21, 2006, 11:45 AM

Post #4 of 5 (1863 views)

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Re: [quevedo] Need help on modismos

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Hola Sr. Quevedo,

Muchas gracias por tu ayuda.

The modismo: Tampoco voy a llamarla dama ni mujer a secas.

Here in Zacatecas for mujer a secas the only response I could get was to contrast mujer a secas with mujer a cama. The idea being that nobody wants a mujer a secas but yes a woman for the bed. Of course my respondents were all male. The few women who responded had no idea at all. I like your "and nothing more either."

The modismo: de plano para was translated here in Zacatecas for me as "it equates to" or "it is equal to" or "it is the same as. And ñeros which is in no dictionary that I tried including several coloquial ones was translated for me as a street term in the Distrito Federal which means crazies or locos. So I like your translation "Definitely for uneducated people."

In the sentence for which I requested a better translation than I had come up with, I agree that the sentence is convoluted and stilted. But if we remove the comma following the Está querida which should not be there since it separates the verb from the subject (which to me is word) the sentence makes sense in that a word is wanted) which will say all those things. She is loved certainly doesn't fit into the sentence at all.

Modismo: amor atemporal was translated here in Zacatecas the same as did you: "Love out of time" or a timeless love. When I asked if that meant an eternal love (amor eterno) a clearer explanation was given me than it means a love adapted or fitted to the occasion. That is what I am going with.

Déjeme ofrecer mis agradecimientos otra vez.
Let me offer my thanks again.

Nuestro amigo Sparks en un mensaje anterior nos ha regalado un URL para leer el ensayo original en español. Desafortunadamente para mí no funciona ese URL.

Our friend Sparks in a prior message has given us a URL to read the original essay in Spanish. Unfortunately that URL doesn't work for me.

Con las correciones sugeridas he enviado la traducción a www.mexconnect.com para publicación. El ensayo tiene mucha interés para nosotros los gringos tratando aprender español.

With the suggested corrections I have sent the translated article to www.mexconnect.com for publication. The essay has a lot of interest for us gringos trying to learn Spanish.

Adiós. jerezano.

quevedo

Nov 21, 2006, 1:06 PM

Post #5 of 5 (1855 views)

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Re: [jerezano] Need help on modismos

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She is loved certainly doesn't fit into the sentence at all.

You are right. I re-read the sentence and now I get the idea: "There is querida, another word that..."

Saludos,

Quevedo