¿Soplar = dar cuerda a? De veras?

Question

¿Se puede usar la palabra "soplar" en vez de "dar cuerda a" cuando habla sobre de un reloj?

Estoy leyendo un libro en inglés y español. Dice: "Soplé uno y empezó a hacer tic-tac. Soplé otro, y también lo hizo, después se paró." En inglés: "I wound one and it started to tick. I wound another, and it started, then stopped."

"Soplar" es "to blow" en los diccionarios y me gustaria saber si también quiere decir "to wind".

Gracias.

Answer 1

You don't give much context, so it's hard to be sure. But I'd take it at face value. Some kind of "magic", like Uri Geller's feats:

"I blew on one and it started to go tick-tock. I blew on another one and it also did it, then stopped."

This is definitely not the standard way to wind a clock, in Spanish or English!

That's exactly how I read it before I read it in English. I'm beginning to doubt the magical translating powers of this translator ;) - alba3, Jan 26, 2011

Answer 2

Hola alba: La primera vez que lo oigo, me supongo que es una mala traducción.

en España:

Le di cuerda a uno y echó a andar...

Thanks. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who thought it was a bad translation. - alba3, Jan 26, 2011

Answer 3

I had a student whom I was teaching English write me an email. It read "I wait what you are doing fine." At first I was confused and then I realized that he was trying to say "I hope that you are doing fine." Of course due to the fact that "esperar" and "que" both have multiple meanings, and he put them in to a translator, the machine decided to spew out some nonsense.

It did cross my mind that the translator might have been confused b/w wind like blowing in the wind and wind like wind a clock...but this is a professionally translated published book... - alba3, Jan 26, 2011

hmm... interesting. Either way, that would make me question the methods to which they do their translations. Who is the publisher? - Beatrice-Codder, Jan 26, 2011