Spanish Word of the Day

How would one translate this, El personaje de un muchaco grandullón y adobado, .... In particular, the last word.

Quote: Wizard

How would one translate this, El personaje de un muchaco grandullón y adobado, .... In particular, the last word.

You've misspelled the word. It should be "abobado"

abobado: adj. Que parece bobo

A cognate of Spanish word "bobo" is the English word "booby" and the word "boob".

Quote: Pacomartin

In reality most people around the world recognize words in context, and would much more likely to see "Nova" as a cognate of "Nueva" than as "no va".

Nova is Latin for new. In modern terms it means an exploding star. In astronomy it means a class of star that increases dramatically in brightness in a short period (not a regular variable star), and it might or might not be blowing up. When it does blow up, it's a Super Nova.

Why would new=exploding star?

Well, the first such observed phenomenon involved a Super Nova which had, til it blew, been invisible from Earth. The man who noted it and studied it, and this before the telescope was developed, Tycho Brahe, titled his paper "De Nova Stella," or "Concerning the New Star." So the name "Nova" stuck for these types of stars.

So there :P

Quote: Wizard

How would one translate this, El personaje de un muchaco grandullón y adobado, .... In particular, the last word.

Adobado means covered in adobo. Adobo is a thick paste made with chilies and other things. So I'm guessing Paco's intepretation is correct, in aprticualr in light of the other mispellings in the quote. To wit: El personaje de un muchacHo granduLón y aBobado.

Which would mean approximately, not knowing the context and all: the character of a gorilla-like, stupid young man.

You migt want to ask the author was they were smoking, too.

Quote: Nareed

Why would new=exploding star?

From ancient Greece to Brahe's time the idea that anything changed in the heavens was a radical idea. They certainly had no idea that it was exploding, just that it was different and it was not an atmospheric phenomena.

If you want to read Wizard's quotes in context they are in:
Cuentos que contaban nuestras abuelas (page 43)


According to the DRAE the word is spelled "grandullón" in Europe and "grandulón" in America. I assume you know that BrE and AmE have different standard spellings of many words.

Quote: Nareed

Adobado means covered in adobo. Adobo is a thick paste made with chilies and other things. So I'm guessing Paco's intepretation is correct, in aprticualr in light of the other mispellings in the quote. To wit: El personaje de un muchacHo granduLón y aBobado.

You're right, I misspelled it. It should have been abobado, which is the past participle of abobar. I omitted the H in muchacho too. However, the book does spell grandullón with two Ls. I can provide a screenshot to prove it. SpanishDict accepts that spelling as well.

Quote: Pacomartin

A cognate of Spanish word "bobo" is the English word "booby" and the word "boob".

Given the context, I was hoping for a better picture than that.

As seems typical, the translation follows the European spelling and word choice.

This statue is at Plaza at Lucchetti in San Juan, which seems upscale.

Sorry to bring up an old topic, but still am still struggling with the title of the book El Día Que Nevaron Tortillas.

A college-level Spanish text I've been working through says of the use of se:

Quote: Vistas, pages 350-351

Se also describes accidental or unplanned events. In this construction, the person who performs the action is de-emphasized, implying that the accidnt or unplanned event is not his or her direct responsibility. Note this construction.

Se me cayó la pluma = I dropped the pen.

In this type of construction, what would normally be the direct object of the sentence becomes the subject, and it agrees with the verb, not with the indirect object pronoun.

That seems to be what is going on in the Tortillas book. The day is de-emphasized, making the tortillas the subject, for which the verb must agree in number. However, if that is right, why isn't the title El Día Que Se Nevaron Tortillas?

Quote: Wizard

However, if that is right, why isn't the title El Día Que Se Nevaron Tortillas?

Google Translate certainly seems to have less trouble with the "se" in there.

Quote: Wizard

However, if that is right, why isn't the title El Día Que Se Nevaron Tortillas?

Because there is no action performed by, or on, any thing. In English you're asking why it shouldn't be "The day tortillas made themselves fall down like snow."