Spanish word of the day
Quote: pacomartinI would have never guessed that in a million years. I always heard people say ¡Qué lástima! for "What a pity". I would never connect pity and hurt.
They're two different words. That's one time when the uselss specks called accents are important:
Lástima, accent on the first syllable: pity.
Lastima, unwritten accent in the second syllable: hurts.
Lastimar, unwritten accent in the third syllable: to hurt.
Quote: NareedLastima, unwritten accent in the second syllable: hurts.
Is this written correctly?
El acento defecto es la penúltima sílaba cuando la palabra termina en vocal.
Quote: pacomartinIs this written correctly?
It's unwritten correctly ;)
Quote:El acento defecto es la penúltima sílaba cuando la palabra termina en vocal.
You're asking me for formal rules? I don't know what to admire more, your persistence or your sense of humor.
Quote: NareedYou're asking me for formal rules? I don't know what to admire more, your persistence or your sense of humor.
I meant does the sentence make sense. You don't have to agree to it's accuracy. I figured out after repeated failure, that I should not ask you about rules.
British vs American English
Quote: pacomartinI meant does the sentence make sense.
Almost. Add the word "por" before "defecto" and it makes sense. You can also say "por default", but I odn't know if the wrod is formally Spanish.
Quote: WizardThe song Me Voy by Julieta Vengas has the lyric, Que lástima pero adios.
Keep in mind songs, and poetry, tend to compress the use of language. So the phrase means "It's a pity, but I must say good bye." rather than the literal meaning "What a pity but good bye."
Quote: NareedKeep in mind songs, and poetry, tend to compress the use of language. So the phrase means "It's a pity, but I must say good bye." rather than the literal meaning "What a pity but good bye."
Not to mention that sometimes the lyrics sometimes rhyme/sound better if you take some poetic liberty. For example, "Me, I want to eat." -- I Eat Cannibals.
"I'm banned from going to the White House, so I'm not going to make it,''
"But I'm going home to D.C., I'm just not allowed to go to the White House."
"That's what happens when you make bad decisions in your life. You can't go to the White House.''
"I've been there 100 times in my lifetime,''
"I live right around the corner. I live in D.C. It's going to be ashamed the President isn't going to get a chance to meet me. I'm the president of my house.''
The phrase It's going to be ashamed is supposed to be It's a shame..
Nareed should come to the USA to teach English.
Palabra: Mayordomo
Today's SWD, mayordomo = butler.
Ejemplo time.
Mi mayordomo estaba durmiendo en el trabajo ayer. = My butler was sleeping on the job yesterday.
Quote: WizardMi mayordomo estaba durmiendo en el trabajo ayer. = My butler was sleeping on the job yesterday.
You have an extra r.
In English you use "was sleeping" to indicate ongoing actions in the past, but in Spanish you usually use the imperfect past tense (which doesn't really exist in English).
Mi mayordomo dormía en el trabajo de ayer.
While your sentence is correct, I don't think it is common to use the progressive past tense. Nareed should confirm.
Quote: pacomartinIn English you use "was sleeping" to indicate ongoing actions in the past, but in Spanish you usually use the imperfect past tense (which doesn't really exist in English).
Perhaps I was trying to imply that that my butler often sleeps on the job, but this time I caught him in the act.
I'd be interested to hear how Nareed would interpret the sentence both ways.
German word of the day: Bürgermeister
Today we get a bonus German word, which is one of my favorites. Bürgermeister = mayor.
Ejemplo time
Wo ist der Bürgermeister? = Where is the mayor?
Quote: pacomartinWhile your sentence is correct, I don't think it is common to use the progressive past tense. Nareed should confirm.
Is that like a lateral pass? ;)
There's nothing wrong with the Wizard's sentence. It's fully valid.
1) Mi mayordomo estaba durmiendo en el trabajo ayer.
2) Mi mayordomo dormía en el trabajo ayer.
3) Mi mayordomo durmió en el trabajo ayer.
Quote: pacomartinHow would you translate these three sentences?
Easily? :)
Quote:1) Mi mayordomo estaba durmiendo en el trabajo ayer.
My butler was sleeping at work yesterday
Quote:2) Mi mayordomo dormía en el trabajo ayer.
My butler slept at work yesterday or My butler was sleeping at work yesterday
Quote:3) Mi mayordomo durmió en el trabajo ayer.
My butler slept at work yesterday
But English being what it is, I'd say "My butler fell asleep while at work yesterday."
Did you ever post in any Star Trek boards? You'd have been a hit (I say this as a compliment).
Palabra: Ya
Any Spanish to English dictionary will say that ya means "already." However, I seem to see it a lot more in Spanish than I see "already" in English. It seems to me that ya is often used to add emphasis that something is happening. In those cases, perhaps "now" would be a better translation.
The following is an example from Ramona empieza el curso.
Quote: EnglishWe all know you have musical shoes.
Quote: SpanishYa nos hemos dado cuenta de que tienes zapatos musicales.
Quote: WizardFecha: 10 de Enero, 2012
Palabra: Ya
Any Spanish to English dictionary will say that ya means "already." However, I seem to see it a lot more in Spanish than I see "already" in English. It seems to me that ya is often used to add emphasis that something is happening. In those cases, perhaps "now" would be a better translation.
It's interesting seeing the English Spanish differences from your point of view.
"Ya" is one of those complicated words that ahve no English equivalent. Examples:
¡Ya cállate! = Shut up already!
Ya llegó el camión = The bus has arrived.
Ya nos vamos = We're leaving now, or we're ready to go.
About the alst one, we had some house guests from the US some years ago. Once they were going out with my paretns, so my dad told me" Diles que ya nos vamos." I had a hard time figuring out how to relay the message.
BTW that translation you quoted is terrible. The Spanish says "We're well aware you have musical shoes." I'd have gone with: "Sabemos que tienes zapatos musicales." But then the term "musical shoes" is rather baffling.
Quote: WizardPalabra: Ya
It's a core Indo-European word which comes down in all languages (not just Latin ones)
Ja Vol - German for "Yes Sir"
Yeah Verily - Middle English for an "Yes verray ", where "verray" is a middle English form of very meaning "true"
déjà vu - de means before , so it is a "before now" vision
Yeah - Modern English cheer
Non credo io già, che ve ne avréte a male - Italian (I do not think you will take it ill)
Derived words in English include: yup, yay, yea, aye, yea-haw, giddy-yup, uh-huh, yippee
They are all used for emphasis, or affirmation.
The word in Latin was iam
Palabra: empañar Empeñar
Today's word means "to insist." It can also mean to get into debt.
Ejemplo time.
Empeño me dejas pagar la propina. = I insist you let me pay the tip.
Quote: WizardFecha: 12 de Enero, 2012
Palabra: empañar
Today's word means "to insist." It can also mean to get into debt.
You make the cutest kind of misatkes sometimes :)
EmpAñar means "to fog." As when you breath on a glass and leave a layer of moisture on it.
EmpEñar does mean "to insist" and also "to pawn" which is related to debt (so it would be that specific deb, but I've never heard it sued that way), and to make an effort.
Quote:Empaño me dejas pagar la propina. = I insist you let me pay the tip.
Aside from the misspelling, the verb "empeñar" is used transtitively or applied to other people. Examples:
"Empeñé mi relog para pagar mi tarjeta" = "I pawned my wathc to pay off my credit card."
"Se empeñó mucho en el trabajo y logró un ascenso" = "She made a big effort at work and got a promotion."
I can't quite think how to use it to mean "to insist." The usual word for that is "Insistir."
Quote: NareedEmpEñar does mean "to insist" and also "to pawn" which is related to debt (so it would be that specific deb, but I've never heard it sued that way), and to make an effort
The verb empeñar means "to pawn" and has the same base cognate inside the word (peñ==pawn).
The verb desempeñar means "to redeem" from the pawnshop.
If you make someone into a pawn (or a peon). that is the core of the meaning "to insist".
If you use the verb in the pronomial or recursive sense: empeñarse you have "made a peon out of yourself" or a synonym would be endeudarse: "you have gotten yourself into debt".
Quote: pacomartinThe verb desempeñar means "to redeem" from the pawnshop.
I suppose it can be used that way, but that verb means "to perform." The associated noun, "desempeño," means "performance," but solely as regards actions or activities requiring a physical or mental effort. It does no apply to performing music, or a play and so on.
Quote: NareedI can't quite think how to use it to mean "to insist." The usual word for that is "Insistir."
Here is the passage from Ramona where I picked it up from. Remember, the English is the original. You can see the English uses the word "wanted."
Quote: EnglishFor a while, Willa Jean wanted Ramona to read aloud a few boring books the Kemps owned, the sort of books peple who did not know anything about children so often game them.
Quote: SpanishDurante una temporada, Will Jean se había empeñado en que Ramona le leyera en voz alta los libros aburridos que había en casa de los Kemp, los típicos libros que regalan a los niños las personas que no entienden nada de niños.
Going back to ya, here is another translated passage:
English: Fat chance.
Spanish: Ya lo creo.
Is is common for ya to imply sarcasm with whatever follows?
Quote: WizardEnglish: Fat chance.
Spanish: Ya lo creo.
The choice of this phrase for the translation seems like a poor decision.
"Ya lo creo" or "Of course I think that" would be a good translation for "you betcha" or some other equivalent English idiom.
I have no idea why in English we use "slim chance" and "fat chance" to almost the same thing. I've heard "Ni modo", but "no way" seems a more literal translation.
Quote: WizardHere is the passage from Ramona where I picked it up from. Remember, the English is the original. You can see the English uses the word "wanted."
And you can see it's used as a transitive verb. "Se había empeñado" That means something like "he had become insistent," or "he had been insistent," or "he was insitent." But not "he insisted."
Your translation is very much at odds with how I would have handled it. Not to mention sometimes if you turn the Spanish back into english, you don't get the same English as what you started with. I read an annecdote of an early electronic translator widget, which worked Enlish and Russian. If you put in "Out of sight, out of mind," turned it to russian, then fed the Russian in and turned it back to English, the result was "Invisible, insanity."
Whoops! I gotta get back to work.
Quote: NareedAnd you can see it's used as a transitive verb. "Se había empeñado" That means something like "he had become insistent," or "he had been insistent," or "he was insitent." But not "he insisted."
The example given in 501 Spanish verbs is:
Juan lo había perdido en la calle.
John had lost it in the street.
Even though no other past action is expressed it is assumed that John had lost something before some other past action
Presumably you would translate the sentence as "He had insisted" where it is implied that something occurred in the past after "the insistence".
"He had insisted that his son not drive, but he crashed the car anyway".
I am at a loss to explain why the translated went from the simple past in English to the compound past tense in Spanish. If the original had said:
For a while, Willa Jean had wanted Ramona to read aloud a few boring books the Kemps owned,
The Russian Invisible story on Snopes urban legen site was a favorite of one of the MIT trained scientists that worked with us. Every time he read something that he thought was incoherent he would say it was like the paragraph was machine translated into Russian and back again.
Quote: pacomartinThe Russian Invisible story on Snopes urban legen site was a favorite of one of the MIT trained scientists that worked with us. Every time he read something that he thought was incoherent he would say it was like the paragraph was machine translated into Russian and back again.
I read about it in "Isaac Asimov's Treasury of Humor" some years ago. I forget wehter he relayed it, or if he claimed it happened to him. The book is mostly made-up jokes, but the Good Doctor also included personal anecdotes (allegedly).
But it's not too unlikely. Some early experiences I had with amchine translators were awful that way. If you want to try en experiment, have the Wizard post a short paragraph of the Ramona book in Spanish. I'll translate it to English and we can see how well it matches the original. I'd put odds at 35% there will be one slight change in meaning at least.
Quote: pacomartinThe choice of this phrase for the translation seems like a poor decision.
"Ya lo creo" or "Of course I think that" would be a good translation for "you betcha" or some other equivalent English idiom.
It depends on the intonation. See "Presumed Innocent" when Harrison Ford's character says, with murderous rage: "You're right. You're absolutely right."
Quote:I have no idea why in English we use "slim chance" and "fat chance" to almost the same thing. I've heard "Ni modo", but "no way" seems a more literal translation.
"Ni modo" is one of those phrases peculiar to a culture. It means "there's nothing to be done about it." Russian has a word that means the same thing, and possibly for the same reason "nichevo."
If you want to say "no way!" then depending on your manners you'd say "¡No inventes!" If your manners are poor, you'd say "¡Ni madres!"
Quote: pacomartinI have no idea why in English we use "slim chance" and "fat chance" to almost the same thing.
I think "fat chance" is sarcastic. Like when something bad happens to you, especially after a long string of general bad luck, one might say "great" or "wonderful." In the future I plan to go over some idioms in Spanish where the actual meaning is the opposite of the literal word by word meaning.
On a change of topic, was anybody else bothered when Rick Perry said in the last debate, and I'm paraphrasing, "If we abandon Iraq, Iran will move in there literally at the speed of light." What annoys me is the abuse of the word "literally." In fact, he should have said "figurative."
Quote: WizardOn a change of topic, was anybody else bothered when Rick Perry said in the last debate, and I'm paraphrasing, "If we abandon Iraq, Iran will move in there literally at the speed of light." What annoys me is the abuse of the word "literally." In fact, he should have said "figurative."
There is a lot about that statement that is bothersome, and the poor English is not the only thing.
Can you imagine teaching ESL and trying to explain how presidential candidates sometimes mean the exact opposite of what they say.
Quote: WizardI think "fat chance" is sarcastic.
You don't say! :P
Sorry. I can't help myself when it comes to sarcasm.
Quote:Like when something bad happens to you, especially after a long string of general bad luck, one might say "great" or "wonderful." In the future I plan to go over some idioms in Spanish where the actual meaning is the opposite of the literal word by word meaning.
There is no widespread slang like that. But some epople say things like "¡Bien!" or "¡Bravo!" when somethign like that happens.
Quote:On a change of topic, was anybody else bothered when Rick Perry said in the last debate, and I'm paraphrasing, "If we abandon Iraq, Iran will move in there literally at the speed of light." What annoys me is the abuse of the word "literally."
And that literally puts you in company with Dorothy Gale (Gail?). And that's, literally, very good company. I mean, literally! ;)
I am reminded of the story of an English teacher who was telling a class that it is preferable to avoid double negatives in writings and speech. The teacher went on to say that there are many examples where a double negative can be properly interpreted as a positive, but there are no cases where a double positive means a negative. To this a student replied, "Yeah, right."Quote: WizardI think "fat chance" is sarcastic.
Palabra: Batería
Today's SWD means drums. I believe batería means both the singular drum, and the plural drums, but invite correction if I'm wrong. Like the English word sheep. I do wonder whether the plural form should be preceded by la or las.
A question for the advanced readers is what is the difference between batería and tambor.
Ejemplo time.
Por favor deja de tocar la batería, porque me estás dando un dolor de cabeza. = Please stop playing the drums, because you're giving me a headache.
Quote: WizardWhat annoys me is the abuse of the word "literally." In fact, he should have said "figurative."
OMG No Kidding, one of my pet peeves.
Quote: WizardFecha: 13 de Enero, 2012
Palabra: Batería
Today's SWD means drums. I believe batería means both the singular drum, and the plural drums, but invite correction if I'm wrong. Like the English word sheep. I do wonder whether the plural form should be preceded by la or las.
A question for the advanced readers is what is the difference between batería and tambor.
Ejemplo time.
Por favor deja de tocar las batería, porque me estás dando un dolor de cabeza. = Please stop playing the drums, because you're giving me a headache.
My fiance (Native speaker from Argentina) says she thinks that the word is not inclusive of both singular and plural so you would need to add an s at the end (She is 80% sure). She also says she thinks that there isn't a big difference between the two words there. In some regions a bateria can be like a set of drums that are plugged in, and a tambor is more of a handheld instrument sometimes (region dependent). That's all I could coax out of her.
Good night!
YoDR11
Quote: YoDiceRoll11A question for the advanced readers is what is the difference between batería and tambor.
Batería means drumset, and it can be plural if you mean more than one drumset.
2) Tom de piso (Floor tom)
3) Toms 1 y 2 (Toms)
4) Bombo ( Bass drum )
5) Caja (Hi-hat)
The other is not so much a modern day musical instrument, but a simple drum.
Tambien "batería" es un "conjunto de piezas de artillería dispuestas para hacer fuego" o "obra de fortificación destinada a contener algún número de piezas de artillería reunidas y a cubierto".
Quote: pacomartinThe other is not so much a modern day musical instrument, but a simple drum.
This is consistent with the usage in the book Olivia la Princesa, En la casa de Olivia, la princesa Estefanía jugó con Perry a ir a buscar el palito, y tocó la batería.
There is a picture of her playing a set of drums.
Quote: WizardToday's SWD means drums.
Among other things.
It also means a set of artillery pieces, an electrical battery, a set of cookware, a set of tests, and a few obscure meanings. You can notice the repetition of the word "set" in this laundry list of meanings.
In Mexico, by far, the most often sued meaning is "an electrical battery," thosugh thsoe are just as often called "pilas." Curious, though, a car abttery is always a batería. AA cells can be both.
Quote:I believe batería means both the singular drum, and the plural drums, but invite correction if I'm wrong.
As Paco noted, batería means a set of drums, like that used by a rock band and played as one instrument. The word for drum is tambor, the plural being tambores. It's only as a set that they're called "batería." The word is singular, BTW. A music store, for instance would have several "bateríaS" on display.
Quote:A question for the advanced readers is what is the difference between batería and tambor.
See above.
Of course there are different drums with different names. I hardly know any of them. The snare drum, I do recall, is called a "tarola," but don't out too much trust in that. My ill-conceived attempts at learning to play an isntrument revolved solely around the piano and guitar.
Quote:Por favor deja de tocar las batería, porque me estás dando un dolor de cabeza. = Please stop playing the drums, because you're giving me a headache.
LA batería. other than htat it's all fine.
Quote: WizardYoDice, welcome to the number one thread on the site. I hope you'll stick around and share the observations of your wife. I was just in Argentina two months ago.
Yeah I read through a lot of your trip posts, the Argentina ones seemed freaking cool. Can't wait to head down there. She said she's going to show me the country (in two to three years or so). Thanks, glad I stumbled on this site and forums. Seems like there are a lot more legit discussions here.
And the casino reviews are tops.
Quote: YoDiceRoll11Can't wait to head down there. She said she's going to show me the country (in two to three years or so).
The countries of the Southern Cone have relatively stable population growth without large scale immigration to the United States (like El Salvador). Particularly Argentina and Uruguay offers some of the same cultural attractions as Europe but at much lower cost.
As we discussed earlier, many of the countries in South America with stable population growth, and stable economies want the same freedom to travel to the USA without visas that Europeans, Japanese, and Australians now have.
BBC profile of Argentina
Population change by 2050 predicted by US census bureau for countries over 1 million population in Western Hemisphere
-17% Cuba
-17% Trinidad and Tobago
1% El Salvador
5% Uruguay
14% Chile
23% Jamaica
24% Colombia
25% Peru
26% Nicaragua
27% Brazil
27% Argentina
29% Mexico
31% Costa Rica
35% United States
35% Paraguay
36% Dominican Republic
36% Haiti
38% Panama
39% Ecuador
44% Venezuela
56% Bolivia
56% Honduras
63% Guatemala
Palabra: Masticar
Today's SWD means to chew, as in using your teeth.
A question for the advanced readers is whether it can be used to ponder something, as in "Let me chew on your question for a while."
Ejemplo time.
¡Que asco! Masticas con tu boca cerrada. = How disgusting. Chew with your mouth closed.
Quote: WizardA question for the advanced readers is whether it can be used to ponder something, as in "Let me chew on your question for a while."
No.
Quote:¡Que asco! Masticas con tu boca cerrada. = How disgusting. Chew with your mouth closed.
A letter can make a big difference. You said "How disgusting! You chew with your mouth closed."
The proper wording here is "Mastica," without the final "S." I'll leave it to Paco to determine what grammar is involved, if any.
Quote: NareedThe proper wording here is "Mastica," without the final "S." I'll leave it to Paco to determine what grammar is involved, if any.
I think I can explain it. Mastica is both the present form for el/ella/Ud., but also the imperative form for tú.
As a refresher, the imperative form is used when giving a command, as in ordering someone to chew with his mouth closed.
Quote: Imperative conjugation for MasticarYo: - (You can't order yourself to do something, except maybe in a split personality kind of situation)
Tú: mastica
El, ella, Ud.: mastique
Nosotros: mastiquemos
Ellos, ellas: mastiquen
Quote: WizardA question for the advanced readers is whether it can be used to ponder something, as in "Let me chew on your question for a while."
To "chew someone out", or "chewing on a problem" is relatively recent only seen in writing since WWII. It is unlikely that Spanish speakers would develop the same idiom.
Yes, Mike has the correct grammatical explanation. The proper verb mood is "Imperative" and not "Indicative". Hence the single "a", instead of "as".
Palabra: bisiesto
I'm not sure what bisiesto means by itself, but año bisiesto means leap year. I don't think it means leap, as in to jump. That would be saltar. Could it be derivative of siesta, which every Gringo knows means nap? The "bi" troubles me. Leap years happen every four years, and the prefix "bi" means two. This also makes me wonder what is the Spanish expression for "leap day." I probably should have saved all these questions for 2/29, but I'd probably forget.
Ejemplo time
No puedo creer que es un año bisiesto ya. = I can't believe it is leap year again.
Quote: WizardI'm not sure what bisiesto means by itself, but año bisiesto means leap year.
It is from the Latin word bissextus, literally "the twice sixth-day," because the sixth day before the Calends of March was doubled. In the English calendar we acknowledge that the extra day makes festival leap one extra day in the week.
The word has no modern use in Spanish except for the calendar.
Quote: pacomartinIt is from the Latin word bissextus, literally "the twice sixth-day," because the sixth day before the Calends of March was doubled. In the English calendar we acknowledge that the extra day makes festival leap one extra day in the week.
The word has no modern use in Spanish except for the calendar.
Hmm. That seems so lonely for a word to have only one usage. What if a doughnut shop had a promotion where every sixth time you ordered a doughnut they gave you two. Could the extra doughnut, or the entire promotion, be called a buñuelo bisiesto?
Quote: WizardHmm. That seems so lonely for a word to have only one usage. What if a doughnut shop had a promotion where every sixth time you ordered a doughnut they gave you two. Could the extra doughnut, or the entire promotion, be called a buñuelo bisiesto?
Aw! You were doing s well today...
"Buñuelo" is a type of pastry. But the word for "doughnut" is "dona."
Quote: WizardThat seems so lonely for a word to have only one usage. What if a doughnut shop had a promotion where every sixth time you ordered a doughnut they gave you two. Could the extra doughnut, or the entire promotion, be called a buñuelo bisiesto?
You are making me hungry
According to DRAE there is a little used colloquial phrase mudar alguien bisiesto
But I think it's meaning is very specifically tied to the decision by Julius Ceasar.
Quote: NareedThis is what buñuelos look like:
That seems to be one definition, but I don't concede that I'm wrong either.
Buñuelo
masculine noun
1. donut (cooking) (dulce); dumpling (de bacalao)
buñuelo de viento -> donut
Copyright © 2006 Chambers Harrap Publishers Limited
Buñuelo [boo-nyoo-ay’lo]
noun
1. Fritter made of flour and eggs, and fried in oil; pancake. (m)
2. Anything poorly done or spoiled; a failure. (Colloquial) (m)
Source: buñuelo from SpanistDict.com
