What does "no te peines en la cama" mean?

Question

I know the literal meaning is "don't comb your hair in bed" but I am wondering if there is a figurative meaning I don't know about. I want to do the song Lamento Boliviano with my class tomorrow and need to be sure I understand it correctly.

The full verse goes like this...

y yo te amaré? te amaré por siempre? nena, no te peines en la cama? que los viajantes se? van a atrasar...

Answer 1

There's an interesting question about this on Yahoo! Answers with a very informative answer. It appears that there's a superstition in Argentina that combing one's hair in bed means that "los viajantes se van a atrasar" (travelers will be delayed). You should read the answer for the full story though!

That's interesting. So, it would mean don't do anything that will make your guests stay longer!! That's funny! - kdrinning, Feb 15, 2012

I'm having trouble with "viajantes" in that some information I'm finding leads me to think they're guests at someone's house, and other info is using it like a travelling sailesperson. - freeze10108, Feb 15, 2012

Okay, I figured it out (though it shouldn't have taken me this long). Look in my answer for it. - freeze10108, Feb 15, 2012

Great answer and find, thanks Freeze! - StuartSD, Feb 15, 2012

Thanks a lot! I think the kids will be interested in learning that. - kprange, Feb 15, 2012

Answer 2

Hi Kprange, you're right on the literal meaning. I think it might mean something like "don't waste time/don't dawdle" (doing something as routine/casual as combing your hair in bed) in this context. As far as I know, this isn't an idiom, but that's the contextual meaning I took away from the verse. Good luck in class tomorrow and great question!

Answer 3

dont comb your hair in bed

Answer 4

Don't comb your hair in the bed