Pensamientos - Thoughts (35):Lo malo de envejecer es que ni siquiera te queda la esperanza de llegar a viejo.
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 as 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 35.
Lo malo de envejecer es que ni siquiera te queda la esperanza de llegar a viejo.
11 Answers
The bad thing about aging is that you don't even have the hope of growing old. 
I know what he's getting at, as time passes even hope becomes a victim of the inevitable. I suppose esperar here also carries the idea of "looking forward" to something.
So you could put it differently as in : "...you can't even look forward to growing old"
Sé a lo que va según pasa el tiempo hasta la esperanza se convierte en víctima de lo inevitable. Supongo que *Esperar aquí también lleva la idea de 'mirar hacia adelante' a algo.*
Growing old takes stoicism as opposed to hope/
Envejecer requiere estoicismo frente a la esperanza,
There's somthing wrong with that bit I think. Do correct me.
I always correct my threads birdy
Lo malo de envejecer es que ni siquiera te queda la esperanza de llegar a viejo.
The bad thing about getting old is that you no longer have the hope of becoming old.
Una cosa que todos esperamos es no morir jóven y cuando ya somos viejos -- esa esperanza ha desaparecido.
One thing we all hope for is not to die young and when we are old that hope has disappeared. (along with other things)
Lo malo de envejecer es que ni siquiera te queda la esperanza de llegar a viejo.
The problem with growing old is that you don't even have the hope of becoming an old man.
Español: Los viejos son sabios y respetados. Es un gran honor ser un sabio. Pero hay un problema: cuando se envejece también se tiene las preocupaciones de la vejez, uno -- es la preocupación de morir prematuramente.
English: Old men are wise and respected. It's a great honor to be an old wise man. But there is a problem: when one gets old one also has the worries of old age, one of those is the fear of dying prematurely.
The bad thing about getting old is we've been taken away the hope of getting old.
Mi comentario:
Todo lo que hacemos en esta vida es con una esperanza de vivir lo suficiente para disfrutar los resultados de nuestras acciones. Una vez que hayamos llegado a la vejez, nuestra lista de acciones y esperanzas se vuelve más y más corta. Probablemente la última esperanza es la de llegar al cielo.
Everything we do in this life, we do hoping to live long enough to enjoy the results of our actions. Once we've reached the old age, our list of actions and hopes becomes shorter every day. Probably the last hope is the one of joining the heaven.
Lo malo de envejecer es que ni siquiera te queda la esperanza de llegar a viejo.
The bad thing about getting old is that you are not even left with the hope of getting there!
La Verdad es que si no se muere, se va a envejecer. El ser humano prospera cuando tiene -- esperanza y se pierde esta esperanza de la que habla Alvite al alcanzar la vejez. Por mi parte creo que entonces hay que reponerla con otra esperanza - la de tener muchos años de ser anciano. 
It's true that if one doesn't die, one will age. Humans thrive when they have hope and one loses this particular hope of which Alvite speaks upon reaching old age. For my part, I believe that this must then be replaced with another hope - that of being very old for many years.
Lo malo de envejecer es que ni siquiera te queda la esperanza de llegar a viejo.
The bad thing about getting old is that you're not even left with the hope of getting to BE old.
Entiendo su humor cada vez mejor y sí que es cortante.
This must be tongue in cheek but it is funny.
The downside of aging is that even I can only hope to grow old.
Hay cosas peores que envejecer. lo mejor que se puede desear es -- poder envejecer
There are worse things than growing old. The best that one can hope for is to grow old.
I have a friend who simply abhors the idea of getting old. Come to think of it, I would love to witness a conversation between him and José Alvite....
The bad thing about aging is that you don't have the hope of becoming an old man. ???
I don't know what it means, it's confusing!
Although, I can probably hazard a guess: The negative aspect of aging is that you may not become what an old man represents: misery, becoming even more pessimistic and grumbling most of the time.
This could be the case with José as he is pessimistic (according to Heidi) and doesn't want to get to be sentimental.....??
Well, since you require a translation before one offers opinions, "The bad thing about growing old, is that you can no longer look forward to a "ripe old age". (This is intentionally a loose translation because a) the simple, straightforward translations have already been provided and b) the bare phrase "old age" in English does not tend to suggest something that one would "hope" for / look forward to.
If memory serves, I have seen references to t-shirts with the logo "Life sucks and then you die." (I've never seen the t-shirts, only references to their existence).
Hay pocas cosas que me provocan -- reír a carcajadas pero os agradezco -- haberme provisto con varias. Al tío José Luis Alvite por haberlas escrito y a ti por habernos comunicado sus comentarios.
The bad thing about growing old is that you don't even have old age to look forward to.
Soy demasiado jóven para pensar en la vejez.Y adémas, me asusta.
I'm too young to think about old age. Plus, it scares me.
