Lost in translation
Feb 14th 2020, 6:29 am
#1
BE Forum Addict
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2011
Location: Elorrio, Bizkaia
Posts: 1,030
Lost in translation
Here's a link to an interesting article in English about Spanish:
https://english.elpais.com/opinion/2...like-snow.html
Languages reflect the culture they relate to. Spanish has its own quirks, false friends for foreigners, and untranslatable words.
For instance, Spanish has no one word for "a whistleblower", "a toe", "a moth" or the evocative phrasal verb "to wind someone up". But then English has no one word for "un piropo", "una allubiada", "caudoloso", "continuismo". Obviously, we don't eat the same sort of beans as here, our rivers are generally much tamer than in Spain, and, usually our leaders do not cling to power at all costs like in some African or Latin American countries.
Spanish is also full of 'false friends' such as the verb "colapsar" which doesn't exactly mean 'collapse', but more 'to bering to a standstill'; "pretender" means to claim, not to "pretend", and "desinteresado" means selfless.
If that weren't enough, look at some of the (to me anyway) strange sounding Spanish words, such as "galibo" (sign on motorways), "okumen" (chipboard), "galipot" (tarmac), "gamuza" (chamois leather) or "la sala de estar" (a common room).
Long live our differences. Every language tells a story about the people and culture.
Do any of you have your own words to add?
https://english.elpais.com/opinion/2...like-snow.html
Languages reflect the culture they relate to. Spanish has its own quirks, false friends for foreigners, and untranslatable words.
For instance, Spanish has no one word for "a whistleblower", "a toe", "a moth" or the evocative phrasal verb "to wind someone up". But then English has no one word for "un piropo", "una allubiada", "caudoloso", "continuismo". Obviously, we don't eat the same sort of beans as here, our rivers are generally much tamer than in Spain, and, usually our leaders do not cling to power at all costs like in some African or Latin American countries.
Spanish is also full of 'false friends' such as the verb "colapsar" which doesn't exactly mean 'collapse', but more 'to bering to a standstill'; "pretender" means to claim, not to "pretend", and "desinteresado" means selfless.
If that weren't enough, look at some of the (to me anyway) strange sounding Spanish words, such as "galibo" (sign on motorways), "okumen" (chipboard), "galipot" (tarmac), "gamuza" (chamois leather) or "la sala de estar" (a common room).
Long live our differences. Every language tells a story about the people and culture.
Do any of you have your own words to add?
Feb 14th 2020, 8:17 am
#2
MODERATOR
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Costa Valencia
Posts: 14,800
Re: Lost in translation
One of my Spanish friends wrote on FB about how "alone" he felt when he was going into the operating theatre and all of his friends thought that he was referring to being "lonely" and no matter how often he tried to explain himself they really did not get it. Whereas when I read it I understood immediately. They only have one word for both totally different things. He asked why I understood him even though it was a foreign language and I explained that we have two different words so when I read his writeup it was easy for me.
Rosemary
Rosemary
Feb 14th 2020, 8:47 am
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,320
Re: Lost in translation
Curious got in a discussion yesterday explaining the difference between "shadow" and "shade" . In Spanish there is only one word "sombra". Final solution, moved our chairs to the shadow of the building so we were in the shade.
Feb 14th 2020, 9:34 am
#4
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 660
Re: Lost in translation
Alot of English men get pregnant when speaking with Spanish people
