What does "no te peines en la cama" mean?

Question

I know the literal meaning is "don't comb your hair in bed" but I am wondering if there is a figurative meaning I don't know about. I want to do the song Lamento Boliviano with my class tomorrow and need to be sure I understand it correctly.

The full verse goes like this...

y yo te amaré
 te amaré por siempre
 nena, no te peines en la cama
 que los viajantes se
 van a atrasar...

Answer 1

There's an interesting question about this on Yahoo! Answers with a very informative answer. It appears that there's a superstition in Argentina that combing one's hair in bed means that "los viajantes se van a atrasar" (travelers will be delayed). You should read the answer for the full story though!

• That's interesting. So, it would mean don't do anything that will make your guests stay longer!! That's funny! - kdrinning Feb 15, 2012
• I'm having trouble with "viajantes" in that some information I'm finding leads me to think they're guests at someone's house, and other info is using it like a travelling sailesperson. - freeze10108 Feb 15, 2012
• Okay, I figured it out (though it shouldn't have taken me this long). Look in my answer for it. - freeze10108 Feb 15, 2012
• Great answer and find, thanks Freeze! - StuartSD Feb 15, 2012
• Thanks a lot! I think the kids will be interested in learning that. - kprange Feb 15, 2012

Answer 2

Hi Kprange, you're right on the literal meaning. I think it might mean something like "don't waste time/don't dawdle" (doing something as routine/casual as combing your hair in bed) in this context. As far as I know, this isn't an idiom, but that's the contextual meaning I took away from the verse. Good luck in class tomorrow and great question!

Answer 3

Don't comb your hair in the bed

Answer 4

dont comb your hair in bed