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What does this mean in English?


k2tog

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I think we need a ruling on el miedo no anda en burro...

Okay,it's a little hard for me to articulate it,but I'll try to give you a couple of examples of its usage.

It might be directed at someone who acts as if they're muy valiente but when confronted with a real threat they run like hell and a burro is just way too slow for their get away,another example is when my 8 year old is slow to do his homework and his mom tells him that if he doesn't pick-up the pace he won't be allowed to use his (tablet),at which point he gets right to work and my wife remarks,ah,el miedo no anda en burro.In other words,fear can get you moving,fast.It's a well known old refran.

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  • 4 weeks later...

"As you are now, so once was I. As I am now, so you will be." It's an epitaph.

I suppose it could be an epitaph,but the context I heard it in was of an older person chiding a younger person for boasting of their youth.

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  • 1 month later...

Hmmmm. I don't know what "turron" is, and I don't trust the definition my dictionary gave me either. I could make a wild guess, but then I'd look like a fool, again, so instead I'll ask for a clue. Is the second question in anyway related to the first question?

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My dictionaries are failing me on "turrón". (If by any chance you use a Mac, to get the accent, it's OPTION+E, RELEASE THEM, then type whichever vowel.) My sources say turrón is either 1) a Spanish Christmas sweet similar to nougat made with almonds and honey, or 2) a cushy job; a job that requires no work yet yields profitable returns. I'm guessing the phrase has to do with the latter.

Tutear: Always appropriate with children, never appropriate with officials and professionals or anyone who is in a position of power over you. After that, it just depends...

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Romper el turrón means to start using 'tu' in your conversations with that person--i.e., stopping the formal usage of 'usted'. As are many Mexican sayings, this one is a play on words.

It's appropriate to tutear

--with children

--with young adults

--with people in your same age and socio-economic bracket

--with your household help

--to your pets

--with people older than you or people in positions of authority who have given you permission to use the 'tu' form in conversation with them

Many children are taught to use 'usted' when speaking with or to either of their parents. In some cases, this continues throughout their lives. Most people always speak with or to a parish priest or other religious authority using 'usted'. Using 'usted' is usually about respect for the other person, although in some cases it can be used otherwise--with irony, for example, or disdain. I have heard people talk to their dog as 'usted'.

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That's exactly what it means.

I've found that a lot of Mexicans,especially older ones,are reluctant to tutear even people in the same age and socio-economic bracket,like Travis mentioned, it just depends...

When a good friend and I became compadres I was told that we should no longer tutear each other,that was hard to get used to.

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I won't tutear with anyone my own age or older unless I ask permission first--or am given permission without asking.

My favorite story about the business of tutear features a friend of mine, who is almost 15 years older than I and truly a very important person in one of the worlds I frequent. She's a veritable grande dame and in addition is considered to be muy especial in the Mexican sense of the phrase**. I met her about 10 years ago and saw her fairly frequently (always in groups of others) for four or five years. She always addressed me as tu; I always addressed her as usted. I would not have dreamed of asking to tutear with her.

One weekend we were on a bus tour together (along with 80 other people) and I said something to her, again addressing her as usted. She took my arm and said, "Cristina, somos amigas desde hace cinco o seis años. Por favor, platícame de tu." ('Cristina, we have been friends with one another for five or six years. Please, talk to me with tu.') I almost fainted from that honor!

**(Muy especial usually equals being a royal bit##.)

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I won't tutear with anyone my own age or older unless I ask permission first--or am given permission without asking.

I'm the same way.I won't even tutear a (viene-viene)if he's my age or older,that said I do tuteo my suegra,but we're close.

It's an interesting topic,my wife has many friends in our neighborhood,most of them are older than she is and even when she has asked them to tutear her,she would never tutear them,they don't,friends her own age do.

Speaking of suegras;who can provide the punch line to this joke(Cual es el vino mas amargo)?No googling por favor.

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Dang. I've heard the joke, but I forget absolutely everything. Isn't it something like, "Mi suegra vino..."

Interestingly, I asked my Spanish teacher, and his brother, about romper el turrón today. Both are from Guadalajara, well educated, early thirties. Neither were familiar with it.

Navigating tutear is an interesting topic. As someone struggling to learn Spanish, and someone who is a very casual person from a very casual society, I find it difficult to practice the formalities. When I'm with someone and our relationship is part of that gray area, I generally beg forgiveness, and ask as politely as possible if I may tutear.

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Interestingly, I asked my Spanish teacher, and his brother, about romper el turrón today. Both are from Guadalajara, well educated, early thirties. Neither were familiar with it.

That is very strange,I first heard it used years ago in the very good Mexican movie (Un Conejo en la Luna),it's a well known expression.

I too find it difficult to practice the formalities,it's a foriegn concept to me but I try.

I wish there was more participation in this Learning Spanish sub-forum,it's an interesting and important subject for those of us who live here in Mexico.

Vino mi suegra is correct,Travis.

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