LAS LENGUAS INGLESA Y ESPAÑOLA de Delfín Carbonell

In the Preface to my A Dictionary of Proverbs, English and Spanish (Serbal, 1996, Barron's Educational, 1998), I wrote that "They (proverbs) form an important part of the oral background of the English and Spanish peoples. Without a knowledge of proverbs and sayings, a deep understanding of their language and culture will always be incomplete." One reviewer stated that I was wrong and that proverbs are not necessarily important in language. 30 years later, I can repeat what I wrote then and further state that they are an essential part of language phraseology and lore. I am speaking of attaining a proficient command of language. Let me urge you to acquire as many as you possibly can in both languages. For example: al buen callar llaman Sancho (santo) Silence is golden; speech is silver, silence is gold(en) — “… byen se le devyera menbrar que a buen callar llaman Sancho.” Alfonso Martínez de Toledo, Arcipreste de Talavera (Corbacho) , 1438 . España. || “… mi secreto p...

Translators and interpreters are assigned to work from a foreign language into their mother tongue. The idea behind this is that their knowledge of their mother tongue is better and it will be easier for them to find equivalents from the foreign language. This conceit may not be true because a native Spanish speaker translating from English may have inadequate knowledge of his own language, due to age, education, and culture. To assume that it is easier to interpret or render into one's native language may be a mistake. The horizon of an interpreter's language is not the horizon of language. A good array of reference tools may be necessary to compensate for the inadequacy or shortcomings of the translator's mastery of his mother tongue. I am confronted by this daily, in books, newspapers, and television, where I detect poorly translated idioms, proverbs, and sayings, mainly because of ignorance. But who is qualified to vet these translations? Are they ever vetted? The damag...

En todos los idiomas europeos encontramos dichos y frases similares, de la Biblia, que ha sido fuente de sabiduría popular en la cultura de nuestro continente. El Rey Salomón escribió el libro de los Proverbios, de donde extraigo éste (13:12), de la traducción de Reina-Valera: "La esperanza que se demora es tormento del corazón" que la King James Bible transcribe como: "Hope deferred makes the heart sick."  "Questions you, too, have asked him when you have experienced hope deferred." Fox News, February 20, 2022. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." Waterloo Region Record, February 3, 2021. "Over 53 years, seven months, and 11 days of hope deferred." The Independent, April 19, 2014.  (Disclaimer: I am a cultural Christian.)   

- Fruta que pronto madura, poco dura - Soon ripe, soon rotten. The implication is that things take time to come into their own and no rush is needed. En latín decían cito maturum, cito putridum y en inglés oímos early ripe, early rotten.  

  La Candelaria, 2 de febrero - 40 days after Christmas -  - If Candlemas Day be fair and bright, winter will have another flight. If Candlemas it be shower and rain winter is gone and will not come again. - Cuando la candelaria llora, ya está el invierno fora. Que llore o que cante, invierno atrás y delante.  And in Valencia, y en Valencia: "Si la Candelaria plora, el hiver fora, I si es riú, estem en el estiú."

Rearranging my books -again- I have come across Dale Carnegie ´s How to Stop Worrying and Start Living , a book I purchased on 06/03/1986 (I kept the sales slip!). Flipping its pages, I come across this about proverbs: "If we only applied proverbs -instead of snorting at them- we wouldn´t need this book at all. In fact, if we applied most of the old proverbs, we would lead almost perfect lives." So here: -- Don´t sell the skin till you have caught the bear. -- Don´t cry over spilt milk. -- Don´t look a gift horse in the mouth. -- Curiosity killed the cat. -- Don´t wash your dirty linen in public. -- The proof of the pudding is in the eating. -- More haste, less speed. -- You´ve got to be cruel to be kind.

  I am always harping on the importance of phraseology in language learning. We may master grammar well, its rules and idiosyncrasies, but when we encounter idioms, sayings, and proverbs we will encounter linguistic riddles tough to solve. It takes time and a lot of reading to understand phraseology well. Proverbs are the easiest to conquer and the best tool to convince others and put an end to an argument. For example, to a workaholic, we might try to convince him to take some time off by saying that all work and no play make Jack a dull boy, to which he might reply: if you won´t work you shan´t eat . And to someone who is in a brown study, we can say, to cheer him up, while there´s life, there´s hope . And what to say to those who have a streak of bad luck? Try saying that misfortunes never come singly , as a way of consolation, because hope springs eternal in the human heart . Further, to someone who has blundered: it´s never too late to mend might urge them to rectify thei...

  En abril, aguas mil April showers bring (forth) May flowers Back yonder, and as folks had no weather reports, they had to rely on proverbs of old to predict the climatic uncertainties. "When that April with his shoures soote, The droghte of March perced to the root..." is what Chaucer tells us at the very beginning of his Canterbury Tales. Ya sabes el refrán: en abril, aguas mil You know the proverb, April showers bring (forth) May flowers — “Son de abril, las aguas mil…” Francisco Melgares, Anselmo B, 1985.  || “Es éste un mes prolijo en refranes: en abril, aguas mil; abril sonriente, de frío mata a la gente […]  Ciertamente abril es un mes loco meteorológicamente hablando. No obstante, es un mes propicio para viajar, no sólo durante la Semana Santa.” Escapada, 4/1999. 

  Cuando se estudiaba latín en las escuelas, los alumnos decían que el latín era “la lengua madre y el tostón padre.” Ya lo han quitado de la enseñanza y, además, han aguado el resto de asignaturas. Lo que no han quitado son las tareas ni los deberes para casa. Pero no divaguemos. El origen de muchas expresiones y refranes en inglés y castellano provienen de esta lengua, que es madre para el español. Por ejemplo: --Better a poor compromise than a strong case / Más vale mala avenencia que buena sentencia. Lat. Cum licet fugere, ne quoere litem . --El hombre es un lobo para el hombre / Man is a wolf to man. Lat. Homo homini lupus. --Cada gallo canta en su muladar / Every cock crows on his own dunghill. Lat. Gallum in suo sterquilinio plurimum posse . --One swallow does not make a summer / Una golondrina no hace verano. Lat. Una hirundo non facit (effecit) ver. --No hay nada nuevo bajo el sol / There is nothing new under the son. Lat. Nihil sub sole novum . --Desperate d...

  Muchos refranes ingleses comienzan con "Better..." que en castellano aparece como "Más vale..." - Better to have than to wish - Better late than never - Better beg than steal - Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow - Better be an old man´s darling than a young man´s slave - Más vale tener que desear - Más vale tarde que nunca - Más vale pedir que hurtar - Más vale huevo hoy que pollo mañana - Más vale viejo que me regale que mozo que me mande La cacareada sabiduria de los refranes hay que tomarla con un granito de sal, como decían los latinos (los de Roma). Aparte de que pertenecen a otros tiempos, a otras maneras de ver la vida y la sociedad. Esto lo explico en mi "Diccionario panhispánico de refranes de autoridades" publicado por la Editorial Herder, de Barcelona. 

  How many hours should people sleep? Tenemos un número de horas para todos los gustos. Ya en épocas lejanas se debatía está cuestión. And there is a proverb that solves the question: Una hora duerme el gallo; dos el caballo; tres el santo; cuatro el que no lo es tanto; cinco el navegante; seis el estudiante; siete el caminante; ocho el jornalero; nueve el caballero; diez el majadero; once el muchacho, y doce el borracho. Five hours sleep for a traveller, seven a scholar, eight a merchant, and eleven every knave. How many hours do you sleep?

I was watching The Kominsky Method (courtesy of my daughter Lorraine) when, at one point, Michael Douglas, Sandy, says, to his friend Norman "A stitch in time means nine." This proverb I know as "a stitch in time saves nine," meaning that one quick action at the right time will save you lots of work later on. The Spanish version is "Una puntada a tiempo ahorra ciento" with the same meaning. However Sandy Kominsky says "means" instead of "saves." An error from the scriptwriters? A slip of the tongue by Michael Douglas while declaming? From the above I infer that 1) proverbs people think are a thing of the past are very much alive, and 2) proverbs evolve and change over time due to mutations language is subject to. By the way, I have enjoyed The Kominsky Method a lot. Thank you, Lorraine.

Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda   An ape’s an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, though they be clad in silk or scarlet. [ This proverb is a translation of one of the adages of Erasmus: “simia simia est, etiamsi aurea gestet insignia.” It implies that people never change whether they appear in fine clothing or acquire great riches. "Varlet" era un truhán, un sinvergüenza. "Clad", vestido.]

There is no accounting for tastes   Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito. [En latín “de gustibus non est disputandum.” También existe la variante “There is no disputing about tastes” que se ajusta más a la frasee latina. También en latín “aliis alia placent”, a unos agradan unas cosas y a otros otras.  Los antiguos ya sabían que es estúpido discutir sobre lo que nos gusta o no y sin embargo continuamos argumentando qué es mejor, sea sobre comida, costumbres, idiomas ... ]

A caballo regalado no le mires el diente Do not look a gift horse in the mouth  San Jerónimo (c. AD 342-420) lo tradujo en la Epístola a los Efesios, pero en latín: Noli equi dentes inspicere donati . La edad de los caballos se conoce por el desgaste de sus dientes. Cuando nos regalan algo no debemos ponerle reparos, aunque el caballo sea viejo.   

Better safe than sorry . Mejor es prevenir que lamentar. También se dice que "prevention is better than cure ". Es mejor evitar un accidente que luego tener que reparar los desperfectos. 

A certain Vanessa, self-appointed teacher of English, declaims on YouTube about proverbs. She says that foreigners find them difficult to learn because they have "many words together" (?). She also says that many "native" speakers do not know English proverbs, so why bother? She tells us "not to use A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush " because it sounds "pretentious, snobby" and native speakers might think you are not a "normal person." Vanessa is a very young woman and we must make allowances for her youth and enexperience. She is also a native speaker, and so she depicts all the misconceptions people have about English monolinguists, those who manage in one language only. "A bird in hand is worth two in the bush" has been in the English language for centuries, since 1530 when it was rendered as "A byrde yn honde ys better than three yn the wode."It is part of the cultural and linguistic lore of Engl...