Qué tontería

17:03 Apr 27 

'Some bad news, Liz - the lettuce is launching a book too, and apparently it's a gem'.

What would we say after hearing the joke? Something like, 'How stupid can you get?'

19:11 Apr 26 

It's comprehension of vernacular English that's needed here, but in fairness, I spent 5 years in Luxembourg as a British expat and I must admit that I started to forget, even in that short time, elements of my own language. Even other British/Irish/US expats had started to develop a "Eurenglish" or "Eurobabble" full of peculiarities.

15:50 Apr 26 

Like I said, at this point in my career I can decipher complex texts in a range of fields, and put them in clear English, but there are some apparently simple things that still have me scratching my head. For example, here, none of the suggestions are entirely convincing. It would seem to be simple. It's not. Interesting note: I am retranslating a movie script because the original translator missed a long list of nuances, often based on just tone, or an apparently insignificant preposition, and botched the translations. (The meaning of "Eres la polla" for example, has nothing to do with "Y una polla") The script is full of vulgar slang, and it would seem to be relatively easy, but it requires a complete mastery of the nuances of the Spanish, or the results are disastrous. Here, academic preparation is virtually useless. Total comprehension of Spanish (in this case, Peninsular, contemporary, among young people) is vital. What does PRO entail? You could have a PhD in Spanish Lit and completely botch this translation (which the first translator did)

15:21 Apr 26 

can sometimes be a matter requiring a little lateral thinking. Nothing "PRO" here other than the university of life...

07:38 Apr 26 

My mistake. I'll keep that in mind next time. Don't know if I can change it now.
After 30 years of speaking Spanish, and 20 translating, I realize these are the hardest questions, and the most interesting. Often there is just no satisfying way to translate it, which is frustrating, but also fascinating

07:30 Apr 26 

I perceive this kind of colloquial query as PRO level. It takes a lot of knowledge and experience to be able to choose the Goldilocks option for the target audience.