LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

A patadas A dime a dozen, by the carload Libros como ese los hay a patadas Books like that are a dime a dozen — “… estos deportistas que ganan dinero a patadas…” El Nacional, 19/05/1997. Venez. Como una (cien) patada(s) en el estómago (los cojones, huevos, trasero, los cataplines, la barriga, las narices) Like a kick in the teeth (head, butt, face, balls, gut, ass, behind, nuts, pants, shin) Eso sienta como una patada en el estómago That sits like a kick in the teeth — “A mí los empollones pedantes me dan cien patadas en el estómago…” Mercedes Salisachs, La gangrena , 1975. Esp. Dar cien patadas Be a million times better than Mi coche le da cien patadas al tuyo My car is a million times better than yours Dar una patada Kick Me dio una patada en la espinilla He kicked me in the sin — “Y yo le di una parada en la cabeza.” Wenceslao Fernández Flórez, Volvoreta , 1917. Esp. Darle a alguien la patada Give someone his walking papers, ditch, get the ax, sack, give (...

  Please, read this book by Professor Hayek.

Supongo que cuando Televisión Española adquiere una serie o programa originalmente en lengua inglesa, el proceso es contratar a un traductor, o empresa traductora, para que vierta al castellano el guion inglés. Ese guion acaba en posesión de una empresa de doblaje que tiene actores que son los responsables de leer y dramatizar la traducción. Y al final nosotros somos los recipientes últimos de todo el proceso. Pues bien, está claro que no hay responsable de calidad lingüística alguna. Oímos traducciones literales del inglés que no tienen sentido en español y ahora son las que verdaderamente están cambiando el curso, el devenir normal del idioma. Esto se nota mucho en la fraseología, donde hoy he escuchado en un programa sobre Alaska que "toda actividad aquí requiere trabajo de hombro" que intuyo es "elbow grease" y que debería haberse vertido al castellano como "toda actividad aquí requiere sudar la camiseta", por ejemplo. Otra "traducción" que o...

La fraseología es muy importante, aunque peliaguada, para la lexicografía bilingüe y, más aún, para traductores. Frases como ponerse algo de color de hormiga , atar los perros con longanizas , apretarse o atarse los machos uno , no ganar para sustos , amargar la fiesta a alguien , poner pie en pared , tienen sus paralelas equivalencias en lengua inglesa (y en otras). Los traductores de medio pelo simplemente se las saltan o improvisan o parafrasean. Estos tres recursos no son aceptables pero el monolingüe no lo sabe y el que sabe, no siempre tiene la oportunidad de comparar. Y así va la cosa. Espero aportar una herramienta con mi Gran diccionario fraseológico, español-inglés , que ya tiene 32,000 modismos en un manuscrito de 800,000 palabras. Obra de consulta que no existe en el mercado lexicográfico en este momento ya que los diccionarios existentes adolecen de rigor fraseológico.  

  Stick to your flannels till (until) your flannels stick to you Hasta el cuarenta de mayo no te quites el sayo Do not put your coat away just yet, remember to stick to your flannels till your flannels stick to you No guardes el abrigo todavía, recuerda que hasta el cuarenta de mayo, no te quites el sayo — “... Mr. DeWitt has resided since that time. Stick to your flannels until they stick to you. This is the time of the year...” Susquehana County Transcript, online, 2003.  US.

  Be at daggers drawn Estar (llevarse) a matar Emily and David are at daggers drawn Emily y David están a matar — “The two old dears had been at daggers drawn for over a week.” George B. Bryan et al., A Dictionary of Anglo-American Proverbs… , 2005. US. Look daggers at Matar con la mirada, lanzar una mirada asesina Susan is looking daggers at John Susana está matando a Juan con la mirada / Susan looked daggers at me before she left Susana me lanzó una mirada asesina antes de marcharse — “She looked daggers at him when he said she was not as pretty as her friend.” Vijaya Kumar, Sterling Dictionary of Idioms , 1998. US.

Yesterday in Madrid, weathering on our way a shocking rain and hailstorm, unusual in the city, my daughter Laura Carbonell and I attended a book presentation in Librería Rafael Alberti , in calle del Tutor. Laura has been telling me about Mr. Rafael Dumett ("Rafa") for years, so it was a real pleasure to finally meet him. He presented his latest book El camarada Jorge y el dragón , published by Alfaguara this year. I have attended many book presentations in my time, in Spain and in the States -always boring and long- and I was pleasantly surprised to witness  and enjoy a chatty, informative, and interesting colloquy on his book and Eudocio Ravines, the true-to-life hero of the book. I am now on page 50, enough to value the novel as a page-turner and which I venture to recommend to all those who like literature and wish to improve their contemporary and actual Spanish. Rafael Dumett is also the author of the wonderful thriller El espía del Inca .  Rafael Dumett , thank you...

  Cada mochuelo a su olivo Everyone to his place, every pig to his own sty, time to go home, the party is over Venga, se acabó la fiesta, cada mochuelo a su olivo Come on, the party’s over, everyone to his place — “Sobre las dos y media se fue cada mochuelo a su olivo.” Julio Feo, Aquellos años , 1993. Esp. Cargarle a uno el mochuelo (muerto) Pin (lay, put) the blame on someone Tendremos que cargarle el mochuelo a Pedro We’ll have to pin the blame on Peter — “Lali hizo todo lo que pudo para cargarle el muerto a la señora Doménech.” Alicia Giménez Bártlett, Serpiente en el paraíso , 2002. Esp. Cargar uno con el mochuelo (muerto) End up with the short end of the stick Yo siempre cargo con el mochuelo en esta oficina I always end up with the short end of the stick in this office — “Porta podía haber dejado que el fósil cargara con el mochuelo, pero le pudo la vanidad.” Alfonso Rojo, Matar para vivir , 2002. Esp. Quitarse (sacudirse) uno el mochuelo (de encima) P...

In his writings, interviews, and talks, Dr. George Sheehan (1918-1993), the cardiologist and guru runner, often mentioned Ortega, one of his intellectual mentors. José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) is not a household word in the Saxon world, nor is he in the Hispanic world. Ortega, as he is known by his readers and followers, is one of the 20th century's most important and serious European philosophers. I am rereading his La rebelión de las masas (1929), perhaps the most important literary works of the century, and where he coined the term "hombre masa",  or mass man. Let me offer a few quotations about language from this book: "... la obra de caridad más propia de nuestro tiempo: no publicar libros superfluous." "... cuando el hombre se pone a hablar, lo hace porque cree que va a poder decir cuanto piensa. Pues bien: esto es lo ilusiorio. El lenguaje no da para tanto." "Se ha abusado de la palabra, y por eso ha caído en desprestigio." ...

  Clip someone’s wings Cortarle las alas a uno We must clip David’s wings so that he stops acting up Tenemos que cortarle las alas a David para que deje de portarse mal — “... just clipped his wings a little, that’s all.” A. Gay, The Brooch of Azure Midnight , 1993. UK. Give wings to Dar alas a His father gave him wings and now David is I jail Su padre le dio alas y ahora David está en la cárcel — “Make me a bird too, Daddy, let me give wings to your heart.” The Kenyon Review, vol. 18, 1996. US. On a wing and a prayer A ver qué pasa, a ver si cuela, esperando lo mejor I have handed the teacher my poor paper on a wing and a prayer He dado mi redacción mal hecha al profesor a ver qué pasa — “… held together by hope and launched on a wing and a prayer.” The Times, Nov., 22, 2023. UK. Take someone under one’s wing Proteger, tomar bajo la protección de uno I’ll take him under my wing, don’t worry Yo le protegeré, no te preocupes — “Raul revealed how English-...

  Good wine needs no bush El buen vino no ha menester pregonero, el buen paño en el arca se vende I do not advertise my novel because it is good and good wine needs no bush No hago propaganda de mi novela porque es buena, y el buen paño en el arca se vende — “Doesn’t advertise much, does she? Relies on the principle that good wine needs no bush...” D. Clark, Monady Theory , 1983. UK. || “It was from this custom that the saying good wine needs no bush originated.” Julia Smith, Fairs, feasts and frolics , 1989. UK. When the wine is in, the wit is out Q uien es amigo del vino es enemigo de sí mismo. You must quit drinking, remember that when the wine is in, the wit is out Tienes que dejar de beber, recuerda que quien es amigo del vino, es enemigo de sí mismo — “Remember what I told you last night, that with the wine in, wits go out.” V. Wilkins, And so,Victoria , 1937. UK.

Cerrar los labios Keep one’s mouth shut, lips sealed Ten los labios cerrados porque esto es un secreto Keep your mouth shut because this is a secret — “… no me lo dijo, ya que permaneció con los labios cerrados.” Alfonso Vallejo, Hölderlin , 1984. Esp. Cuando los labios callan, los ojos hablan The heart’s letter is read in the eye Sabía que no me quería mirándole a los ojos porque cuando los labios callan, los ojos hablan I could tell she didn’t love me by looking at her eyes, the heart’s letter is read in the eye — “Tus ojos dicen lo que tus labios callan.” Concepción Castella, Cruz de flores , 1939. Esp. Morderse los labios Bite one’s lip Jack iba a decirle pero se mordió los labios Jack was going to say it but he bit his lip No despegar (descoser) los labios Not say a word, button one’s face (lip), keep one’s mouth shut, keep mum Tu novia no ha despegado los labios en la cena Your girlfriend has not said a word during supper — “El Maestro, que no despegó los ...

Don´t take any wooden nickels - que no te engañen - my grandfather used to say to me. That was long ago (and I have taken plenty since then) but now I see that just about everyone is trying to hand me and my fellow humans, plenty of new wooden nickels under different guises and forms: Learn a language in 15 days. Read literature classics in one easy paragraph. Become happy reading a book. Get an AM just by opening your laptop a few hours a week. Sound like a native speaker with our app. Wooden nickels, 3-dollar bills, scams, frauds, rackets... duros a cuatro pesetas . Most of what we are told about languages and the brain has no scientific basis.       

A ballpark guess is that I have written about forty books since I started my academic life, mostly on linguistic matters, bilingual and monolingual dictionaries, grammar, and readers. From the start, I penned very few scholarly articles because I refused to write material for other scholars to read, if at all. I wanted to avoid engrossing bibliographies with more writings that few would ever read. The general public is not interested in Wenceslao Fernández Flórez and his "humorismo" or his "tragedias". Neither are readers at large attracted to García Lorca's existentialism. These two are examples of my early escapades into scholarly writing. I decided to compose and compile titles that would be of benefit to the general public, and to scholars as well, why not. As the "publish or perish" dictum is still much alive, thousands of technical and scholarly journals publish stuff nobody will ever read, composed by desperate young academics in need of "b...

  Eat humble pie (crow) Cantar la palinodia, tragárselas uno (gordas), tragar quina, tragarse uno su palabras I had to eat humble pie and accept their conditions Tuve que cantar la palidonia y aceptar sus condiciones — “…. humble pie  implies some acknowledgment of error, some humbleness…” Robert Gorrell, What’s in a Word? , 2001. US.  Get a good piece of the pie Llevarse (sacar) (una buena) tajada I’ll give you the money but I want a good piece of the pie Te daré el dinero pero quiero una buena tajada — “What happens when the client is challenged, in good faith, when it comes to claiming a particular piece of the pie?” The Journal of the Legal Profession, vols. 29-30, 2004. US. Poner pie en pared Put one’s foot down Más tarde o más temprano tendrás que poner pie en pared y decirle a tu hijo que se vaya Sooner or later you’ll have to put your foot down and ask your son to leave — “Hay que poner pie en pared y decir ¡Basta!” Manuel Martínez Mediero, L...

  Leyendo los historiales académicos de profesores españoles de distintas universidades, me resulta chocante que reseñen, sin pudor alguno, títulos publicados por lo que se conoce como "vanity publishers", como Peter Lang. Estas editoriales (Ashgate, Palgrave, Informa, Arco Libros y muchas más) tienen como negocio publicar libros impublicables y de ningún interés, por una cantidad económica. Este tipo de editoriales desprestigian al autor y ninguna universidad que se tenga por rigurosa científicamente considerará un título publicado por estos mercachifles de libros académicos. Si una editorial normal no se arriesga a publicar un libro académico, por algo será. Si no tiene valor y no lo va a leer nadie ¿para qué publicarlo? Ya nos decía Ortega que la obra de caridad más importante de nuestros días era la de no publicar libros superfluos. Pero en España ni se enteran y por eso sus universidades no entran en el listado de las 100 mejores del mundo. Eso se consigue con rigor y se...

I will never tire, perched on my Blog soapbox, of pounding on the importance of phraseology in language. Idioms, idiomatic phrases, signify the epitome of language, the mind's effort to express itself and shake the slavery of simple words to embrace the freedom of expression, communication, conceit, and ideas. Words are not enough, and the mind has taken hold of whole sentences to express itself. Actions speak louder than words, and the sentence "sin pena ni gloria" means "sin especial relieve o notoriedad". ("El disco ha pasado sin pena ni gloria en España." El País, 20/09/1997.) Nobody has given much thought or attention to the record and it has been fast forgotten. Poor composer! In English, we can use another idiomatic expression in "not with a bang but a whimper" meaning of little effectiveness or excitement than expected. ("Maybe the way the British monarchy ends is not with a bang but a whimper." News.co.aus, April 27, 2024.)...

Certain Spanish spelling mistakes haunt native speakers relatively often. If we compare them with English, the problems vanish as if by magic. For example: native Spanish speakers get all mixed up with ¿por qué? , porque and el porqué . Nothing to it: ¿Por qué? - why? ¿Por qué me preguntas eso? Porque - because Te lo pregunto porque me enteresa . El porqué - the reason (why). No me has dicho el porqué de tu retraso. Nothing to it, really.      

To a certain point, I can understand that the Spanish Prime Minister's wife, Begoña Gómez , wanted to be part of the academic community, even though she has no college degree. It seems that the president of the Universidad Complutense hoisted her to direct master's degree programs, and allowed her to teach in the classroom. A university that claims to have been founded by Cardinal Cisneros in 1499, uses all sorts of hanky-panky to curry favor with politicians, especially with the questionable  Pedro Sánchez . I have two degrees from this university and I was proud of them. Checking the web page and some departments and offerings, makes me consider that the former prestige is on the wane. Think twice before applying to this university in Madrid.       

More often than not, I grab my soapbox, head towards the Retiro Park in Madrid, and shout to the four winds, to all and sundry to beware of Bilingual Dictionaries. Two-language lexicography is scorned and abused every time a new dictionary is published. The Collins dictionaries are supposed to be the best on the market. Not really. For instance, under "push" we will find the idiomatic expression "when push comes to shove" and the parallel Spanish idiom is given as "a la hora de la verdad".  If we look up "verdad" we will not find "a la hora de la verdad." That means that a Spanish-speaking student would never get to "when push comes to shove". Why? The answer is simple: bilingual dictionaries are not such, they are monolingual dictionaries: English-Spanish. and Spanish-English which are not synchronized but simply put together as one book. Two independent teams compose two independent workbooks which are sold, together, as one...

  Darle corte a uno Be, feel bashful (embarrassed) Me da corte acercarme a ella I feel ambarrassed to approach her — “No sé si me vería, pero a mí me dio corte saludarla.” Carmen Martín Gaite, Fragmentos de interior, 1976. Esp. Hacer la corte Woo, court, pay court to, run after Juan le hace la corte a la mujer del jefe John is courting the boss’s wife — “Cristián le hace la corte a Sara que acepta…” Nut Arel, Para un jardín de otoño , 1985. Urug. Hacer (dar) un corte de mangas Give the finger, flipp off, flip the bird El viejo me hizo un corte de mangas The old man gave me the finger — “… me volví hacia el mendigo y le hice un corte de mangas.” El Mundo, 01/03/1994. Esp. Muchos entran en la corte y no la corte en ellos You can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy Es imposible cambiar a la gente; muchos entran en la corte y no la corte en ellos It’s impossible to change people; you can take the boy out of the country bu...

  Be on the bottle Darle a la bebida (botella) My wife has been on the bottle for years Hace años que mi mujer le da a la bebida “She went back as soon as I was on the bottle.” Without a Trace, Mystery Drama, (COCA) 2002-2009. US. Crack (open) a bottle Descorchar una botella We cracked a bottle of wine and toasted Descorchamos una botella de vino y brindamos — “He and former governor Christine Gregoire cracked a bottle of wine…” Popular Mechanics, October, 2014. (COCA). US. Hit the bottle (sauce) Darse (pegarle) a la bebida, empinar el codo He hits the bottle and beats his family Le da a la bebida y golpea a su familia — “After my mother died, my father started hitting the bottle.” Collins Dictionary online, 2024. UK. The bottle La bebida Charles Bukowski liked the bottle A Charles Bukowski le gustaba la bebida — “He became addicted to the bottle.” RH.

Above the salt De categoría, de campanillas Although my father-in-las is above the salt, he treats his employees well Aunque mi suegro es de categoría, trata bien a sus empleados — “… sitting above the salt meant you were an important person.” Douglas M. Rife et al., Arts and Crafts Across the USA , 2005. US.   Back to the salt mines Volver a la rutina (del trabajo), volver al tajo (al curro, laboro) As the vacation is over, I must go back to the salt mines Como se han acabado las vacaciones, tengo que volver a la rutina del trabajo — “… in about 15 minutes I was done and ready to go back to the salt mines.” The New York Post, March 18, 2024. US. Below the salt De baja estofa, de medio pelo, de poco más o menos At the company anual meeting, I felt I was seated below the salt Me sentí tratado como de medio pelo en la reunión anual de la empresa — “Camilla discovered in advance that she was to be placed not just below the salt, but in social Siberia.” The New Zealand Herald, Apri...

  When push comes to shove A la hora de la verdad, en momentos críticos Peter always says he will back me up, but when push comes to shove I’m always alone Pedro siempre me dice que me respaldará, pero a la hora de la verdad, estoy solo — “… I think that when push comes to shove people have to get in there and decide…” TheBlaze.com, 2012 (COCA). US. || “When push comes to shove, all the departments work together to get the job done.” Stedman’s Guide to Idioms, 2005. US.

Yesterday my daughter Laura Lynn and granddaughter Chloe visited the Feria del Libro at the Parque del Retiro in Madrid. I aimed to visit Emilio Lledó (1927-) and have him sign some of his books. There he was, a sprite and feisty philosopher who commands my respect and interest, as very few do.  "... es el lenguaje, ese aire semántico que enlaza a los seres humanos y les hace comunicarse y entenderse, lo que forja... el símbolo más característico de la humanidad." (Los libros y la libertad, 2013.) "Ante los libros, mientras el tiempo nos sostiene y alienta, somos capaces de recuperar lo que otros seres como nosotros gozaron, sufrieron, soñaron, pensaron." (Los libros y la libertad, 2013.) "... los regímenes sostenidos por oligarquías económicas y religiosas tienden a fomentar la incultura y la manipulación." (Ibid.)  "Sabemos que la verdadera aportación a la cultura es el lenguaje: ese aire semántico que sale de nuestra boca, y con el que nuestra e...

  Begoña Gómez , wife of the present Prime Minister of Spain , Pedro Sánchez , has been indicted by a Madrid judge and will have to appear before him next July. The outcome of this indictment is uncertain, of course, and probably will come to nothing. The situation seems novel indeed, although the Spanish language reflects, with words and phrases, that the underlying attitude of politicians, in terms of freely using power, is as "old as the hills".  "Nepotismo", favoritism shown to relatives, has been around since the Popes used it freely.  "Amiguismo" which is the "práctica de favorecer a los amigos en la concesión de cargos, privilegios..."  "Enchufismo", "la práctica de conseguir un empleo mediante recomendaciones o influencias." "Caciquismo" is a word Spàniards discovered in America, from "cacique", a political boss. "Trato de favor", cronyism or giving someone a leg up, to the detriment of ot...