Idiom: Can 'hard as nails' be translated as 'tan duro como clavos..' ?

Question

Hola,

I just want to know if it is possible to translate the English idiom'as hard as nails' literally into Spanish - as in 'tan duro como clavos' or does it just sound weird?

If so, can anyone suggest an appropriate Spanish idiom?

¡Muchas gracias!

PS. Just to clarify the context....

I wanted to translate the line: 'The stars, hard as nails [in the night sky]

(as in the astronomical sense of 'star', not in the showbiz sense!)

UPDATE: My Spanish teacher, who is a university lecturer and a native of Spain told me that translating it literally in this case is perfectly acceptable.

• I've read something like "duro como clavos" in a Spanish boxing website, & I'm just trying to look for it again. I'll post it when I find it. - Deanski Oct 21, 2009
• I can't find it, sorry, the site already removed it.. Tsk.. - Deanski Oct 21, 2009
• Maybe you´ve read that in a boxing site, but do Internet sports sites provide a reliable source of linguisitics proficiency? - mediterrunio Jan 12, 2010
• At least he is trying to help and is not being condescending... - kirstenalexa Jan 12, 2010
• condescending? I know what I´m talking about. On the contrary, your comment is not helping at all. - mediterrunio Jan 13, 2010

Answer 1

Es conveniente brindar más contexto para obtener buenas sugerencias. ´Duras como clavos´ es una perfecta PÉSIMA traducción. ¿Que quiere decir duras como clavos? ¿Son duros los clavos? ¡NO! Si generalmente se doblan. Los clavos son ´aburridos de chupar´, firmes si son de mesa, solidarios cuando sacan a otro clavo. Pero ¿duro como un clavo? Jamás escuché algo igual como expresión idiomática en español. ¨Duro como una piedra¨, ¨duro como una bigornia¨, ¨duro como una pija¨ sí son frases idiomáticas comunes.

Por otro lado, no estoy seguro de que nails en esta frase se refiera a clavos, sino a uñas. Y el significado de la frase no se refiere a la dureza material: ¨hard as nails¨ se refiere a ser insensible, cruel, obstinado, tenaz.

Más contexto, mejor traducción.

• I mean, you ask if it´s possible to translate an idiom ´literally´. The answer is you can´t really translate literally. In such case you are transcribing to a developing dialect called spanglish, highly rated in some circles. - mediterrunio Jan 12, 2010

Answer 2

Más duro que un clavo - I think that is a better form of words.

Answer 3

It's more idiomatic to say:

duro como una roca, duro como una piedra

• Mas duro que una piedra. Si lo piensas no usamos el comparativo para este caso concreto demasiado. - liloman Oct 21, 2009

Answer 4

On this topic, just wondering how you could tell someone 'to harden up'?

• You mean like, to toughen up??? - LAtINaPunKRO Oct 21, 2009
• Yeah :P If your friend's complaining about something you say 'harden up!' - 0075c9ad Oct 21, 2009
• it´s not on this topic but: ¨¨rescatate¨, ´bancatelas´, ´ponete las pilas´ are some great choices (In Argentina) - mediterrunio Jan 13, 2010

Answer 5

My Spanish teacher said that 'las estrellas tan duras como clavos' was fine after all!

Answer 6

Me again. Ok, maybe´ firmes como clavos´, in the sense that they seem to be fixed there, motionless, unchanged, eternal may sound better in this (brief) context. Duras como clavos sounds acceptable in Spanish but it´s not a common expression and I think you´re not saying the same thing as in English. Let´s take another example: a hard nut to crack. ´Una nuez dura de partir´ may sound acceptable, but if you look for an idiom in Spanish to translate that expression, that idiom would be ¨un hueso duro de roer¨.

Sometimes sounding acceptable is not acceptable enough.

• It is a translation of a literary text. Often writers use unusual phrasing for impact. To me saying the stars are 'hard as nails' sounds weird in English and the piece was written by a native English speaker. - kirstenalexa Jan 12, 2010
• you mean the translation should sound ´weird´ because to you the text sounds weird? - mediterrunio Jan 13, 2010
• That´s a translation approach that deserves discussing but it doesn´t answer the question ´how to translate the idiom.... - mediterrunio Jan 13, 2010