Picture of the Day: Balancing Bricks
Post your comments/titles/captions to this picture (both in Spanish and English) and vote for the ones you like. The best answer will be chosen tomorrow on the basis of the greatest number of votes as well as the language correctness.
RULES | |
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Captions should be a minimum of four words and a maximum of four sentences in length. |
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The sentences MUST be your own work: you cannot copy from the translator, books, or any other source. |
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Idioms and lyrics that do not translate should be avoided. |
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You can only answer once. |
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Answers must caption the picture in both English and Spanish. |
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You must correct your answer with any corrections that are given. |
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Sentences must be comprehensible after three or four reads. |
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Do not post pictures or unnecessary subject pronouns in Spanish. |
Answers that do not follow the rules will not be corrected or accepted.
My example:
On second thought, I should have grabbed the wheelbarrow.
Pensándolo bien, debería haber agarrado la carretilla.
22 Answers
Esta es la bicicleta que Jack construyó , después que terminó la casa. This is the bike that Jack built ,after he finished the house.
Si puedes hacer eso con ladrillos y una bicicleta, imagínate la casa que puedes construir.
If he can do that with bricks and a bicycle just imagine the house he can build.
El ingenio es arreglárselas arreglártelas con lo que tienes a la mano.
Ingenuity is making do with what you have at hand.
I don't like to think of the consequences if this bike bumps into an obstacle. No me gusta pensar en las consecuencias si esta bicicleta choca con un obstáculo.
Tendrá un problema cruzando la calle porque no puede ver el tráfico en dirección contraria ....
He will have a problem crossing the street, because he can't see the oncoming traffic ......
Why bother to buy a house and a bike when you can get the whole dealio all in one?
¿Por qué molestarse en comprar una casa y una bicicleta cuando se puede conseguir todo en uno?
Jim tomaba medidas extremas después de que su cirugía plástica fue un fracaso.
Jim went to extremes when his plastic surgery was a failure.
(**does this translate literally in Spanish? Did I use pret/imp correctly?)
Balance is always the trick to riding a bicycle.
El equilibrio es siempre el truco para montar en bicicleta.
Esto nunca pasaría en los Estados Unidos. Inmediatamente, la policía le daría una multa, le pondría las esposas en las muñecas, y lo llevaría a la cárcel.
This would never happen in America. Instantly the police would give you a ticket, put handcuffs around your wrists and bring you to jail.
(Imagine my disgust when I HAD to look up how to say "handcuffs" and it's esposas???? "Wives" are "handcuffs"??????? GGrrrr!!!!! Waiting to hear from Eddy on this one......)
En mi opinión está en camino de irse a través de un territorio, donde teme un ataque. Parece una pared defensiva.
In my opinion, he is on his way across a territory where he is afraid of an attack. It seems to be a defending wall.
My brother was following me with his bicycle loaded with twenty bags of cement, but his tires exploded from the weight.
Mi hermano me estaba siguiendo con su bicicleta que cargaba cargada con veinte bolsas de cemento, pero sus neumáticos explotó se explotaron debido del al peso.
Con lo alto que se ha puesto el precio de la gasolina últimamente, uno tiene que superar los gastos de transporte... 
Keeping in mind how much the price of gas has gone up lately, one has to be on top of the transportation costs...
Woman talking to her friend:
''Anyone who cycles like that has to be a brick short of a load!''
= Mujer hablando con su amiga:
(Con correciones
''¡Cualquier persona que va monte en bicicleta en esta manera le falta un hervor! (o le falta un tornillo!)''
Editor's note: I have not been able to find this expression in my Oxford Spanish dictionary, the Spanish Dict phrasebook or anywhere else yet. It means that someone is not the fully there eg She is not the brightest crayon in the box, He is
Update: Stadt found a good thread for me with similar expressions that they use in Spanish:
I have now two that are similar 'le falta un hervor' (he's not yet fully cooked)from Bil who is a native speaker I think and Ashlita (states: ''advanced'' on profile) Le falta un tornillo/tiene un tornillo suelto-
Corrijan mi Español, por favor :-
Original sentence:
¡Alguien (o cualquiera) que va (o que vaya?) en bicicleta en esta manera le falta un hervor! (o le falta un tornillo!)''
And for my next trick.....
Y para mi próximo truco ....
