Posts

Showing posts from May, 2017

How do you say MADRUGADA in English?

Image
Forests look great during the day, but in the SMALL HOURS... You can't, not at least using one word. MADRUGADA is specifically the time between midnight and sunrise.   Dawn and Sunrise are good alternatives, but they are not necessarily what we know as MADRUGADA in Spanish. A better choice would be EARLY MORNING, or more informally the SMALL HOURS, or the WEE HOURS. 

How do you say APÁTRIDA in English?

Image
Einstein was STATELESS from 1896 to 1901. APÁTRIDA is an unusual word in Spanish (but it does exist). It is unusual because the condition it refers to is rarely seen: an APÁTRIDA is someone who lacks of citizenship for one reason or another (there are at least five of them) In English, APATRIDA is STATELESS, This condition is called Statelessness in English and Apatridia in Spanish. Though really Apatridia is even more unusual than APATRIDA in Spanish.

What is BUSHMEAT in Spanish?

Image
Amazingly, there are people who enjoy eating them. Sad but true. This one refers to a sad thing and that is the illegal trade of wild fauna, specifically African animals. Certainly there is illegal trade of animals from other parts of the world, but for some reason the term BUSHMEAT is  more commonly associated with African fauna. In this specific case wild animals are hunted not for their fur, but for their meat. BUSHMEAT literally means the meat of wild animals. It may also be called Game meat or Wildmeat.  There is not one word for this in Spanish. We only say CARNE DE ANIMALES SILVESTRES.  

What 's a ROBIN in Spanish?

Image
"C'mon Batman pick me! I'll become your best Robin ever!" ROBIN in Spanish is PETIRROJO, a small-sized bird mostly found in North America and Europe. It is easily distinguishable because of its red-feathered breast and face. As we know, ROBIN is also the name of Batman's famous sidekick. So, the question is: why do we say in Spanish Batman y ROBIN and not Batman y PETIRROJO? Well, perhaps the answer is that for a hero's name, ROBIN just sounds better than PETIRROJO, even in Spanish. Also, it's easier to remember.  It is the same with Batman: it sounds better than Hombre Murciélago.