murmullo pegajoso
Here is another sentence from La sombra del viento that I'd like to ask for help with, please.
Compartimos aquella sopa de caldo de sobras con pan, rodeados por el murmullo pegajoso de los seriales de radio que se colaban a través de las ventanas abiertas a la plaza de la iglesia.
We shared the soup, a broth made from leftovers with bits of bread in it, surrounded by the sticky droning of radio soaps that filtered out through open windows into the church square.
The English sentence is from the English version of the book, which pretty obviously (in my opinion) wasn´t translated by a native English speaker. "sticky" for "pegajoso" doesn't make any sense here. The dictionary suggests "catchy," which might work, but it is flagged as Mexican usage and doesn't seem to quite go with "murmur" anyway. What do you think'
15 Answers
Heidita said:
Natasha said:
Gus said:
bread crumbs' soup .................sopa de caldo de pan de migajasmurmullo pegajoso de las radio novelas........... annoying murmurous of the radio soaps
I like that one. Overall, in the context of the story, I think it was annoying / insistent / tiresome. Thank you everybody!
I would never have come to that conclusion myself.
Pegajoso is something you cannot stop listening to.The sound of these soaps is sort of very monotonous...and in the end like a monotonous music.
I would not have thought of tiresome or annoying. Pegajoso is used like taht when referring to people.
Pedro es muy pesado..pegajoso como una lapa.
tiresome, stuck to you, annoying...
But Heidita . . . "monotonous" is basically a synonym for tiresome & insistent.
Natasha said:
Gus said:
bread crumbs' soup .................sopa de caldo de pan de migajasmurmullo pegajoso de las radio novelas........... annoying murmurous of the radio soaps
I like that one. Overall, in the context of the story, I think it was annoying / insistent / tiresome. Thank you everybody!
I would never have come to that conclusion myself.
Pegajoso is something you cannot stop listening to.The sound of these soaps is sort of very monotonous...and in the end like a monotonous music.
I would not have thought of tiresome or annoying. Pegajoso is used like taht when referring to people.
Pedro es muy pesado..pegajoso como una lapa.
tiresome, stuck to you, annoying...
Gus said:
bread crumbs' soup .................sopa de caldo de pan de migajas
murmullo pegajoso de las radio novelas........... annoying murmurous of the radio soaps
I like that one. Overall, in the context of the story, I think it was annoying / insistent / tiresome. Thank you everybody!
that flowed through the open windows ......... flotaban por las ventanas abiertas
into the atrium of the church..........................a la plaza de la iglesia.
bread crumbs' soup .................sopa de caldo de pan de migajas
murmullo pegajoso de las radio novelas........... annoying murmurous of the radio soaps
How about insistent/persistent'
I also saw catchy in my dictionary about one hour and a half ago but couldn't face getting "shot" down by James again.
Hey! I get shot down by Lazarus far more often than you get it from me. hehe
But why would I shoot you down for saying that? Natasha mentioned catchy in her original post, which is why I didn't mention it, and besides, as she said, it doesn't really fit here, since the context is a radio soap opera rather than music, and I think we only use catchy with music.
If I had been the translator, I would have been sorely tempted to use the word melodramatic here. Seems to fit the meaning and context to a T.
Heidita said:
Natasha said:
catchy," I think. Thanks!!
Yes, that's what I said..jeje
I also saw catchy in my dictionary about one hour and a half ago but couldn't face getting "shot" down by James again. hehehe
Natasha said:
catchy," I think. Thanks!!
Yes, that's what I said..jeje
Heidita said:
Can also mean "catching"...
Música pegajosa...you can't stop humming it.
"catchy," I think. Thanks!!
Can also mean "catchy"...
Música pegajosa...you can't stop humming it.
James Santiago said:
Ah. You wrote "The English sentence is from the English version of the book, which pretty obviously (in my opinion) wasn´t translated by a native English speaker," which I interpreted as "The English sentence is from the [original] English version of the book, which pretty obviously (in my opinion) wasn´t translated [into Spanish] by a native English speaker." Funny how language can be so tricky. As for pegajoso, my dictionary also gives "(meloso) sweet, cloying; (excesivamente meloso) mushy, gooey; (sobón) fresh, randy; (que atrae) tempting, alluring; (cargante) boring, tiresome."
I think all of those words could easily apply to a radio soap. You'll have to take your pick. But I agree with you that "sticky" was a poor choice.
LOL (laugh out loud). And people persist in thinking context doesn't matter . . .
Probably "tiresome," then, to fit with the "bored" feeling of the rest of the sentence. That wasn't in my paper dictionary or the one on this site, so thanks!
Ah. You wrote "The English sentence is from the English version of the book, which pretty obviously (in my opinion) wasn´t translated by a native English speaker," which I interpreted as "The English sentence is from the [original] English version of the book, which pretty obviously (in my opinion) wasn´t translated [into Spanish] by a native English speaker." Funny how language can be so tricky.
As for pegajoso, my dictionary also gives "(meloso) sweet, cloying; (excesivamente meloso) mushy, gooey; (sobón) fresh, randy; (que atrae) tempting, alluring; (cargante) boring, tiresome."
I think all of those words could easily apply to a radio soap. You'll have to take your pick. But I agree with you that "sticky" was a poor choice.
James Santiago said:
I don't even understand what sticky means in the original English. Do you?
The book was written in Spanish . . . My point is that "sticky" was a literal carry-over from the Spanish & it doesn't make any sense!
By the way, that is one reason I'm having so much trouble reading it. It doesn't follow the "rhythm" of English like translated books do. That, and the author loves to draw elaborate metaphors on every page . . .
I don't even understand what sticky means in the original English. Do you'
