This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. English to Spanish
  3. Poetry & Literature

groaning board

Spanish translation: la tabla plañidera (really!)

16:54 Jun 21, 2007
English to Spanish translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: groaning board
El contexto es el siguiente: "This part is out of question not the man in the moon, not the groaning-board, no the speaking of friar Bacon's brazen-head, no the inspiration of mother Shipton, nor the miracles of Dr. Faustus, things as certain as death and taxes, can be more firml believed."
egalobardes
Spanish translation:la tabla plañidera (really!)
Explanation:
No, this is not what is referred to at all. The text is an old one, and the "groaning board" is included as one of a list of unbelievable things. The following is a quote from an issue of the great English magazine Punch of 1899 (No. 44, footnote 432):

The following advertisement appeared in 1682: “At the sign of the wool-sack, in Newgate Market, is to be seen, a strange and wonderful thing, which is an elm-board, being touched with a hot iron, doth express itself, as if it were a man dying with groans, and trembling, to the great admiration of all the hearers, It hath been presented before the King and his nobles, and hath given great satisfaction. Vivat Rex”—(MSS Sloan 958.)

Sometimes, you really must do some digging, especially when we are dealing with literature of a past age. When I saw this phrase in a list of miraculous or incredible things, I said to myself, this is not a "groaning board" in the modern sense--there is something more here. So I dug around the invaluable internet and came up with the above. It is literally a "groaning board."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2007-06-21 19:33:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

See footnote 432. http://www.isaacbickerstaff.com/tatlervolume1.html


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2007-06-21 20:08:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I meant the Tatler, not Punch.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2007-06-21 23:11:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

None of the above suggestions seems to accord with the context at all. The text (in spite of all the mistakes which make it difficult to understand) enumerates a list of things which are hard to believe: the man in the moon, the bronze head that the legendary Friar Bacon made to speak, Mother Shipton ( a famous prophetess of the 1500's), Dr. Faustus--there's nothing in here that has anything to do with any feast or gluttony! Talk about context! We've got to do our research!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs (2007-06-22 11:21:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

For Francis Bacon's brazen head see: http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=baldwin&book=th...

For Mother Shipton see: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/shipton.html

For Dr. Faustus see: http://www.answers.com/topic/faust?cat=entertainment
Selected response from:

Kathleen Shelly
Local time: 14:27
Grading comment
Thank you
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +3comilona/festín
Patricia Baldwin
5la tabla plañidera (really!)
Kathleen Shelly
3 +1tablón quejador de Navidad
Cándida Artime Peñeñori
4gula
Refugio


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


27 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
comilona/festín


Explanation:
pigout, ...a huge amount of food served ...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2007-06-21 17:24:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The early Virginia (USA) pig-out known as the groaning board. The name stems from the reports that the table groans from the weight of all the food.

At this meal, you can dip your sippets (bread sticks) into Virginia peanut soup and chow down on salmagundi, an 18th century chef's salad. Meanwhile, the Williamsburg Madrigal Singers belt out Deck the Halls and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.



--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2007-06-21 17:25:40 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The dinner's master of ceremonies gleefully unreels puns, and to the chorus of protests from the diners, he asserts, "That's another reason why this feast is called the groaning board."

VARIANTE
La mesa de quejas


    Reference: http://www.sptimes.com/News/112501/Travel/Before_Christmas_w...
Patricia Baldwin
United States
Local time: 11:27
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  María Marta Semberoiz
32 mins
  -> Hello and Thank you for your agree.
agree  Egmont
45 mins
  -> Hi there and many thanks for your support!
agree  Maria_Elena Garcia Guevara
3 hrs
  -> Hello and Thank you for your agree.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

32 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
tablón quejador de Navidad


Explanation:

Dado el contexto de **the man in the moon, ...**, se refiere específicamente a la forma en que tradicionalmente se prepara cierta comilona navideña de tradición sureña.

Or for a melange of entertainment and feasting offered only at Christmas, reserve a seat at the early Virginia pig-out known as the groaning board. The name stems from the reports that the table groans from the weight of all the food. (http://www.sptimes.com/News/112501/Travel/Before_Christmas_w...

14-15 de Diciembre - Iredell House Groaning Board. Decoraciones de Navidad al estilo del siglo XVIII, música de clavicordio, y un tablón quejador de Navidad. (holiday groaning board). Las mesas están tan cargadas que se puede oir "quejar" a los tablones. 1:00-5:00 P.M. todos los días. Co-patrocinado por la "James Iredell Association" y "Historic Edenton State Historic Site." (http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/spanish/sections/hs/iredell/ir...




Cándida Artime Peñeñori
Cuba
Local time: 14:27
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 101

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  María Diehn: No tenía la menor idea de esto...Me convence su explicación. Interesante.
8 hrs
  -> Muchas gracias por el apoyo y el comentario. Saludos.
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
gula


Explanation:
I believe the groaning board here means the cardinal sin of gluttony.

gula

1. f. Desorden o exceso en la comida o bebida:
la gula es uno de los pecados capitales.

Refugio
Local time: 11:27
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 103
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
la tabla plañidera (really!)


Explanation:
No, this is not what is referred to at all. The text is an old one, and the "groaning board" is included as one of a list of unbelievable things. The following is a quote from an issue of the great English magazine Punch of 1899 (No. 44, footnote 432):

The following advertisement appeared in 1682: “At the sign of the wool-sack, in Newgate Market, is to be seen, a strange and wonderful thing, which is an elm-board, being touched with a hot iron, doth express itself, as if it were a man dying with groans, and trembling, to the great admiration of all the hearers, It hath been presented before the King and his nobles, and hath given great satisfaction. Vivat Rex”—(MSS Sloan 958.)

Sometimes, you really must do some digging, especially when we are dealing with literature of a past age. When I saw this phrase in a list of miraculous or incredible things, I said to myself, this is not a "groaning board" in the modern sense--there is something more here. So I dug around the invaluable internet and came up with the above. It is literally a "groaning board."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2007-06-21 19:33:13 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

See footnote 432. http://www.isaacbickerstaff.com/tatlervolume1.html


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2007-06-21 20:08:21 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, I meant the Tatler, not Punch.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2007-06-21 23:11:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

None of the above suggestions seems to accord with the context at all. The text (in spite of all the mistakes which make it difficult to understand) enumerates a list of things which are hard to believe: the man in the moon, the bronze head that the legendary Friar Bacon made to speak, Mother Shipton ( a famous prophetess of the 1500's), Dr. Faustus--there's nothing in here that has anything to do with any feast or gluttony! Talk about context! We've got to do our research!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs (2007-06-22 11:21:06 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

For Francis Bacon's brazen head see: http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=baldwin&book=th...

For Mother Shipton see: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/shipton.html

For Dr. Faustus see: http://www.answers.com/topic/faust?cat=entertainment

Example sentence(s):
  • http://www.isaacbickerstaff.com/tatlervolume1.html
Kathleen Shelly
Local time: 14:27
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Thank you
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search