translation – Page 18 – don't confuse the narrator

possessed

Apostrophes almost always give Spaniards problems. But they – the Spaniards, not the apostrophes – do love the “genitivo sajón”, as they call it, and seldom miss an opportunity to use it, even when, as in the case of the club whose sign this is, it isn’t appropriate.

To be fair, it can be complicated trying to unravel who owns what.
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ephemera

Just a couple of hours to the east of us, in Madrid, the trees are already blossoming:

In fact, the blossoms are already shedding petals, which reminds me of Omar Khayyam:

And look a thousand Blossoms with the day
Woke – and a thousand scatter’d into clay

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small delights

After a frustrating meeting yesterday, I called in unannounced at the office where I worked briefly a couple of years ago. I was surprised to be greeted by one ex-colleague with “I was going to call you!” We had never been close while I was there, and our only contact had been through work, but her next sentence explained, “I bought one of your books.”

Not wanting to get my hopes up, I asked which one. (There is only one that is really mine, as the others are translations. I’m pleased to have my name on them, but it isn’t quite the same.)

“Pompas!”

maths matters

"el pollo, si 100% pollo, dos veces pollo" — It doesn't add up

Well, maths matters to me, which is why it bothered me when I saw this advert in Madrid.

The caption echoes a Spanish refrán, though I’m not sure which is the original version. I’ve found both “Lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno” (attributed to Baltasar Gracián), and “Lo bueno, si barato, dos veces bueno”.

Both are valid points, but in the Burger King ad, the sums don’t add up: Chicken, if it’s 100% chicken, is not twice chicken.

Gracián’s phrase is best translated as “Less is more”, and is excellent advice for writers. A more literal translation would be, “If it’s good, and it’s short, it’s doubly good.”

The quote is often followed up with something to the effect that “lo malo, si breve, no tan malo.” – “if it’s bad, and it’s short, it’s not so bad.”

Either way, I’d better stop now.

flobbalob, or words to that effect

According to the guide book I’m translating, the great Mosque-Cathedral in Córdoba boasts arcos polilobulados. Isn’t that a wonderful word? (Brits of a certain age will understand that it immediately made me think of Bill and Ben.)

Unfortunately, it’s the type of word that is liable to terrify a non-native reader: all those vowels, all those syllables… it must be complicated.

And, of course, it isn’t in the diccionario de la Real Academia, which makes it even more worrying.

This happens so often when you’re reading a foreign text: a word isn’t immediately obvious, so panic sets in.
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