Pensamientos - Thoughts (20):Los muchachos ni siquiera necesitábamos ver a una mujer ....
The sentences I am going to post are by my one and only José Luis Alvite
, as sarcastic and ironic as usual
Instead of posting this a killer thread, I thought I might post one sentence every other day or so.
I would like you to post the translation and your opinion about the sentence. I will correct the translation, and if you post an opinion in Spanish correct major grammar mistakes. You can post in English, but let's get a lot of opinions on these controversial sentences.
And remember:
Alvite is sarcastic, always pessimistic, nothing is what it looks like
Here goes number 20.
Delicate this time, background story, in Spain in schools leaflets are given out to "teach" sex to children, as young as 7 years old.
This sentence is about Alvite telling us what they used to do when he was young and that they did not need any "instructions"
I love the phrase about the wind...so delicate. 
Los muchachos ni siquiera necesitábamos ver a una mujer desnuda para que nos hirviese la sangre. Nos bastaba con pasar por delante de la mercería y aspirar el delicado aroma de las puntillas. O pararnos a contemplar cómo movía la ropa femenina en los tendales la herniada hembra del viento.
12 Answers
As boys we did not even need to see the woman undress to make our blood boil. It was enough to just breath in the delicate aroma of the lace as we passed in front of the haberdashery, or to see how her feminine clothing rippled in the wind.
I'm all for teaching kids that young but not in the school, that is a parenting thing.
Debemos enseñar a los niños de esa edad pero no en la escuela, eso es una labor de los padres.
If it's ok to chime in here--I just want to say that I'm not at a level to translate this, but I truly appreciate this type of post. I really want to learn to read Spanish as well as speak it. This is very useful, as I can try and translate it, then read others' responses. I struggle with word order, so this type of post is educational on that topic as well. You can learn one hundred rules, but actually working with the language is so much more meaningful.
I'm working on the preterit and imperfect and so the use of bastaba from bastar is great to see in context.
And finally, as a literature nerd, I love this stuff.
Gracias.
Los muchachos ni siquiera necesitábamos ver a una mujer desnuda para que nos hirviese la sangre. Nos bastaba con pasar por delante de la mercería y aspirar el delicado aroma de las puntillas. O pararnos a contemplar cómo movía la ropa femenina en los tendales la herniada hembra del viento.
We young fellows (boys) didn't even need to see a naked woman to make our blood boil. It was enough just to pass by the clothing store and breathe the delicate scent of the lace. Or stop and notice how the feminine gusts of wind moved the women's clothing on the racks. (Yikes!)
Sí, los niños desde muy jóven saben bastante pero creo que es bueno enseñarles todo lo que se pueda en casa primero.
Los muchachos ni siquiera necesitábamos ver a una mujer desnuda para que nos hirviese la sangre. Nos bastaba con pasar por delante de la mercería y aspirar el delicado aroma de las puntillas. O pararnos a contemplar cómo movía la ropa femenina en los tendales la herniada hembra del viento.
As boys we didn't even need to see a naked woman to get all hot and bothered. It was enough for us to go by the clothing store and breath in the delicate aroma of the lace. Or stand there to look at how the women's clothing moved on the racks, the exhausted women of the wind.
Pues, me parece interesante que, en mi opinion, en inglés nunca diría "hervir la sangre" para significar algo aparte de "enojarse" si como el escritor está usando la frase me parece fuera de contexto. De todos modos, es una imagen chistosa, unos muchachos parados en la tienda calentándose sólo por estar cerca de la ropa de mujeres. De acuerdo que así son jóvenes...y algunos adultos que he conocido también...pues, mejor dicho: así son los hombres y no creo que sea algo que haya aprendido en la escuela
I have the same question for herniada. It's not herniated...so... I'm lost with this word. And so the phrase: "la herniada hembra del viento" is a complete mystery to me. How did Yesero get the answer?
When I think of somebody herniado, I think of somebody not walking straight, so the wind is doing this to the clothes:
so the clothes are not hanging straight, this is an image of course, I cannot be absolutely sure if he wanted to say that, but I thought yesero's interpretation was great, rippled in the wind, just my thought.
Like this flag, rippled in the wind. 
O pararnos a contemplar cómo movía la ropa femenina en los tendales la herniada hembra del viento.
Siempre a tu servicio 
Tendales en Lisboa:
We use the phrase: tender la ropa
This is from RAE
tendal.
- m. Conjunto de cosas tendidas para que se sequen.
Querida Heidita,
Por favor, explicarnos la ultima frase:
O pararnos a contemplar cómo movía la ropa femenina en los tendales la herniada hembra del viento.
Tendales- This isn't the clothes...so what is it? The dictionary defines it as a load, heap, awning.. even the RAE doesn't help. How does this word function in the sentence?
I have the same question for herniada. It's not herniated...so... I'm lost with this word. And so the phrase: "la herniada hembra del viento" is a complete mystery to me. How did Yesero get the answer?
It was an awesome thread. A real challenge!
[As] young men we did not even need to see a naked woman to get our blood boiling. It was enough to walk by the haberdashery and inhale the delicate fragrance of the lace. Or to stop us from contemplating how feminine clothing moved in the wind of the broken awning (?).
Desafortunadamente, leí los otros traducciones primero y ahora no es justo si traduzco la frase. Voy a hacerlo la próxima vez.
Mi opinión:
Qué maravilloso ser -- jóven y sentirse así. Descubrir el sexo opuesto es una de las experiencias más memorables de la vida.
Alvite escribe sobre esto en una manera muy romántica. Debido a sus palabras, puedo visualizar la escena.
La tradución ya está hecha, así solo voy a comentarlo:
¡Qué** lástima que este sentimiento no dure toda la vida!** ;(está limitado a los días de la juventud)!
What a pity this feeling doesn't last a lifetime!; (is limited to the young days)
The boys didn't even need to see a naked woman in order to make their blood boil. It was enough for us to pass by in front of the fabric shop and smell the delicate aroma of the lace. Or for us to stop and contemplate how the women's clothing was moving in the wind
¡Ay caramba! ¿Qué lengua es esta? Si no hubiera mirado -- la traducción de Yesero hablaría algo acerca de toldos y mujeres con heridas de ingle. --------
Me pongo en el rincón del burro.
This should be interesting,
Los muchachos ni siquiera necesitábamos ver a una mujer desnuda para que nos hirviese la sangre. Nos bastaba con pasar por delante de la mercería y aspirar el delicado aroma de las puntillas. O pararnos a contemplar cómo movía la ropa femenina en los tendales la herniada hembra del viento.
The boys don't even need to see a woman naked for them to get their heartbeats going (boil the blood but I thought it was a reference to getting excited about the learning process). They only need the haberdashery and breathe in the delicate aroma of their nails. (speaking to the boys simply seeing a girl--getting excited) Or stopping and seeing how the girls moved their clothing in the wind. (I'm not sure about ...en los tendales la herniada) I hope it's close. Can't wait to get feedback.
As for children learning about sex when they are 7 years old...no way!!! I truly feel being a teacher and a parent that this is the job of the parent and the school is in partnership with the parents. If the parents were on board with this decision, so be it but as for me, developmentally it's not appropriate.
