Help with Spanish Translation: la película de los ángeles.
 

In Madrid, we were sitting in a resturant and it started snowing. I caught the waiters eye, pointed out the window and said, !No creo eso! He replied, "Es la película de los ángeles."

Now, I get the literal meaning, 'It's the film of the angels'.

I thought the expression was quite poetic. Is there anyone in Spain who can tweak my translation so it's less literal and would reflect more of the meaning.

Muchas gracias por su ayuda
Sharon

The first definition of "pelicula" in the <<Diccionario en línea de la Real Academia Española>> - - http://buscon.rae.es/diccionario/drae.htm - - is:

1. f. Piel delgada y delicada.

Thus, I don't think there is a "more poetic" or "less literal" way to convey what the speaker was trying to say...

I think that in this context, the "film" refers to the little "flakes of skin" that we all shed daily (I would hate to say the "dandruff of the angels") - - or like we would say "I feel like there is a "film" over my eyes (when we first wake up).

Maybe the best way to say it is that "the angels are shaking their wings, to groom themselves, and what falls to the ground are snowflakes"...

but less wordy, maybe...

Maybe Ms. Coppola understood it best...

It gets Lost in Translation...

Best wishes,

Rex

Anyone have another thought on this? I almost posted right after my late night entry here, when I saw that pelicula can also be used to refer to the "peel" of a fruit...

These flakes of skin (for which we have no good single English word) might these not also be what we shed when we "peel" after a subnurn?

Remember peeling after sunburns? - - in the days before SPF 45 and MAM (mothers against melanoma) - - it was a regular staple of the annual family spring (or summer) trip to Florida!

Yes Rex, I remember sunburn! You didn't feel like you'd had your annual holiday if you hadn't peeled!

What were we thinking....

Kate
London
(actually there's a few of my fellow Brits who still think this is the case - the lobsters I like to distance myself from on the beach).

Perhaps a more poetic translation would be: it's the gossamer of the angels.

Perhaps he was simply saying that it wasn't really snowing -- that they were just filming a movie (pelicula) and creating fake snow (certainly less poetic, I know). That was my immedate take... ;)

By the way... he was being sarcastic.

That's not too bad, StCirq... the Germans, of course, would create a new compound word...

die lichtdurchlassigEngelsPelle

(the "light-through-letting-angels'-skin")

I didnt make up lichtdurchlassig, by the way - - that actually did come up as a legitimate translation of "diaphanous" on LEO - - http://dict.leo.org

why not simply angel feathers? perhaps it's idiomatic.

Well, I do not know Spanish, but since the French "des pellicules" can mean flakes of dandruff, I suspect that the Spanish "la pelicula" means the same. Not so poetic maybe, but kinda "cute," no? I hope there is a native Spanish speaker here who can tell us if I'm right. If no one else can verify I'll ask the Spanish teacher at the college where I teach Friday.

Betty,

I searched pretty extensively, and I cannot find anything but "caspa" used for "dandruff"...

but... (and I have to laugh - - no relation to this company...)

from http://www.rexsol.com/multilingual%2...panish/p3.html

Champú restaurador
(Restoring Shampoo)
Combina aceite de macadamia rico en ácido graso, que protege de manera natural el cabello y restaura la película hidrolipídica, y manteca lllip, que hidrata y nutre el cuero cabelludo y la fibra de queratina. Para cabello normal y seco.

Here, I would call <<película hidrolipídica>> the [hydrolipid] "layer" - - the company itself uses the word "film" on its English version of this product. Either way, it seems like a pseudo-scientific term (these are found often in hair and "beauty" care products)... and I can't even tell for sure if it is intended to refer to a "layer" of the hair itself, or the top layer of the scalp (skin).

Boy, do I need something better to do with my time before I head back to work for the evening!

Pedantically yours...

Rex

Rex, thanks bunches for the research. I've bookmarked the dictionary you referenced and will consult it in the future. I translated the tried and true old fashioned way with my Oxford compact Spanish-English dictionary.

I'm certain the comment was not made sarcastically. The man said it quite thoughtfully as he looked out the window. And, it was real, honest to goodness snow. It snowed off and on that afternoon along with a little rain. We had snow thanks to the cold weather and believe me, the snow was a blessed break from all the rain we met during our trip.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I'm on the edge of my seat awaiting Betty1's response.

To StCirq - I like the word gossamer. Quite good.

And, again to Rex, way to go with the German.

- Sharon

I met a woman at my church who is from Madrid. It refers to angel feathers falling as the angel's shake their wings.