"iluminados y capullos"

Question

The phrase is from an article in today's El Pais about Steve Jobs See 3rd Para Capullos is a new one for me. Seemingly a relatively polite way of rendering it into english is ....how succinctly and colourfully precise our language is

Isaacson describe al padre del Mac, del iPod, del iPhone y del iPad como un tipo contradictorio, complejo, fuerte y arrogante, pero también sensible, vulnerable y de lágrima fácil. Un romántico que podía ser déspota y cruel; alguien que dividía el mundo en clasificaciones binarias, entre "iluminados y capullos".

Answer 1

HI birdy, whereas capullo can have lots of meanings...the word you used in English only has one, and you should know better than using that on the forum by now!

Sorry I truly didn't know it was regarded as swearing. - lagartijaverde, Oct 30, 2011

Answer 2

Capullo also means twit or daft. However, in no sense of the imagination can Steve Jobs be described as either of these. As the old saying goes you can please some of the people all of the time or all of the people some of the time, etc ,etc, but as for him being an idiot, I don't think so.

I think that the author is saying Jobs classified other people as either bright or dumb. - Beatrice-Codder, Oct 29, 2011

I agree with Beatrice... - SusanaEspana, Oct 29, 2011