WORDSMITHING / PALABREANDO: When the cat’s away... por Clare Treleaven
En esta segunda entrega de Wordsmithing hemos pensado en darnos una vuelta por el cine y
preguntarnos el porqué del curiosos fenómeno de que, en un alto porcentaje, los
títulos de las películas no coincidan en Inglés y en Castellano. También os
ofrecemos una serie de frases hechas, en esta ocasión, sobre animales, y
finalizaremos con la resurrección de algunas palabras.
Lights, cameras…action!
Sadly the film
industry has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons recently but as
the bizarre translation of some film titles always brings a smile to my
face…here are a few of the most outlandish and/or incomprehensible.
Original: Dr.
Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, 1964. (Dr. Amorextraño o: Como aprendí de dejar de preocuparme y amar a la
bomba.)
Translation: ¿Teléfono Rojo? Volamos hacia Moscú (Red telephone? We’re flying to Moscow.)
Original: Sound of
Music, 1968. (El sonido de la música)
Translation: Sonrisas
y lágrimas (Smiles and tears)
Original: Airplane,
1980. (Avion)
Translation: Aterriza
como puedas (Land however you can.)
Original: The Lost
Boys, 1987. (Los chicos perdidos)
Translation: Jóvenes
Ocultos (Hidden young men)
Animaladas
This month I’ve
chosen some expressions and idioms with animal references…
Con la cola entre las
patas:
Es la típica forma de huir que tienen la mayoría de
los perros, manteniendo el rabo metido entre las patas traseras. Se aplica a la
persona que abandona un lugar totalmente humillado.
There’s exactly the same expression in
English, with the same meaning: With
one’s tail between one’s legs.
After claiming that
she could speak Russian fluently, she walked away with her tail between her legs when she didn’t understand the
Russian tourists.
Cuando el gato no está,
los ratones se divierten:
Habla de la necesidad de estar siempre atento y
vigilando a quienes deben cumplir una tarea, porque cuando uno tiene
obligaciones, es responsable de que se cumplan.
Again, in English it
would seem that the meaning is more or less the same, although we use it more
to express our awareness (and acceptance) that if a boss/parent isn’t present,
the workers/children won’t be doing what they should. When the cat’s away, the mice will play is often used in response
to someone’s surprise at the result of them being away – as if to remind the
person complaining that it’s common knowledge that people don’t work unless
they feel an external obligation. It’s one of the most typical expressions to
only use the first half of, as we know that the other person will understand
the rest.
“I can’t believe that the kids made such a mess!”
“When the cat’s away...”
Cuando las ranas críen
pelos:
O sea, nunca. Poca es la posibilidad de que,
naturalmente, a las ranas les crezca el vello sobre su piel, por eso, la frase
se usa para expresar la escasa (o ninguna) posibilidad de que algo suceda.
I wish this expression existed in English,
but ‘when frogs grow hair’ doesn’t...yet...
To transmit the same level of impossibility
we would use: When hell freezes over.
“Do you think we’ll
get a raise in our salaries?”
“When hell freezes over.”
Cortar el bacalao:
Ser el que manda en una sociedad o cualquier grupo
de personas. El bacalao fue, durante mucho tiempo, un elemento básico en la
alimentación de los pobres, por eso, la misión de cortarlo era reservada a los
jefes de familia.
In English this fishy
reference about the person who has the power in a situation or group changes to
a cheesy one. We would say someone is: The
big cheese. In the 19th Century ‘cheese’ was used to praise
something – it didn’t matter if it was big or small! Strangely enough, nowadays
if we describe something as ‘cheesy’ it means that it’s clichéd or artificial.
If you need to get a quick answer, talk to John – he’s the big cheese
around here.
Cuando (o donde) menos
se piensa salta la liebre:
Para cazar liebres, el perro avanza sigilosamente
por el campo hasta que, en determinado momento, la presa salta y comienza su
huida para evitar ser abatida por el disparo del arma del hombre. Para ello,
hay que estar preparado, esperando ese momento. En la vida, sucede lo mismo:
debemos estar listos para enfrentar momentos cruciales.
This is one of those
expressions that have absolutely no equivalent in English, we’d say: You never know (what might happen),
with the last part often omitted.
According to the book: A Dictionary of
English and Romance Languages Equivalent Proverbs by Teodor Flonta it is: The hare starts when a man least expects
it. But I can honestly say that I have never heard the expression in my
life.
“What’s the point in going to the interview? There are 600 other
applicants.”
“You never know…”
Resurrecting the dead (words)
This month, in honour
of Halloween, I’ve found some old words that linguists at the University of
York have proposed should be re-introduced into modern usage.
Ambodexter: one who takes
bribes from both sides (political
journalists would be grateful).
Betrump: to deceive, cheat,
elude (no comment from the Whitehouse).
Nickum: a cheating or
dishonest person (you can never have
enough words to insult
people, can you?).
Quacksalver: a person who
dishonestly claims knowledge of medicine (some
of the articles related to alternate medicine on the internet could have been
written by one of these).
Teen: to vex, irritate, annoy, anger, enrage, inflict
suffering upon (if you have a teenager –
a child between the ages of thirteen
and nineteen you know what this
refers to!).
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