Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Desjarreten a ese animal

English translation:

hamstring/hock that animal

Added to glossary by Elizabeth Medina
Dec 8, 2009 16:59
14 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term

Desjarreten a ese animal

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature El Matadero by Esteban Echeverría
Hi All,

I already know that it means: "cortén el corvejón...hágalo caer" but I am not sure of the best way to say it in English. "Cut that animal down", "Bring that animal down", "Make that animal fall"?

The context is that gauchos are trying to lassoo a raging bull inside a corral:

"Enlazaron muy luego por las astas al animal, que brincaba haciendo hincapié y lanzando roncos bramidos. Echáronle uno, dos, tres piales; pero infructuosos: al cuarto quedó prendido de una pata: su brío y su furia redoblaron: su lengua, estirándose convulsiva, arrojaba espuma, su nariz humo, sus ojos miradas encendidas.

-¡_Desjarreten a ese animal_! -exclamó una voz imperiosa. Matasiete se tiró al punto del caballo, cortóle el garrón de una cuchillada y gambeteando en torno de él con su enorme daga en mano, se la hundió al cabo hasta el puño en la garganta, mostrándola en seguida humeante y roja a los espectadores."

TIA,
Elizabeth

Discussion

ormiston Dec 10, 2009:
getting obsessive ! (from the matador's horse's mouth!) "The class of a matador is determined not by how quickly and accurately he was able to pull down a bull, and not by how skilfully he managed to avoid the sharp horns,.... so maybe pull down or overturn ??
Vicky Rengifo Dec 9, 2009:
Con todo gusto :)
Elizabeth Medina (asker) Dec 9, 2009:
You guys are great Vicky, Phil, and everyone really, your detective work and input are just so invaluable! I can't thank you guys enough. :D Vicky, I had searched for the Flores translation without any luck, GRX!!
Vicky Rengifo Dec 9, 2009:
Another point of reference Here's a link you might want to use as a point of reference
http://books.google.com.co/books?id=wSzt5jmcLz8C&pg=PA68&lpg...
philgoddard Dec 8, 2009:
Looks like someone else translated this text three years ago!
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=912466

Proposed translations

11 mins
Selected

hamstring the animal

tr.v., -strung (-strŭng'), -string·ing, -strings.

1. To cut the hamstring of (an animal or a person) and thereby cripple.
2. To destroy or hinder the efficiency of; frustrate: "These worthwhile books are often hamstrung by unimaginative formats and inaccurate art" (Don Lessem).

Veterinary Dictionary: hamstring

1. the two tendons behind the knee or stifle and their associated muscles (biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus).
2. the Achilles tendon. A hamstrung animal has this tendon ruptured.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
+3
5 mins

hamstring

desjarretear un animal=hamstring an animal= cripple the animal by by cutting its hamstring
Peer comment(s):

agree Andres Fekete : 1. Make ineffective or powerless
2 mins
Muchas gracias Andrés.
agree Emma Ratcliffe
6 hrs
Muchas gracias Emma.
agree Thayenga
15 hrs
Muchas gracias Thayenga.
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+1
6 mins

Take that animal down

...
Peer comment(s):

agree philgoddard : This is nice and colloquial, and it sounds like something someone would shout in the heat of the moment.
1 hr
Thanks, Phil! That's exactly the effect I wanted.
neutral ormiston : I would picture it cowering atop a corral post!
2 hrs
I thought of using "beast" myself, but as Phil put it, I felt it wasn't called for
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+1
30 mins

Bring the beast down!

hamstring is pretty precise way of doing it and it's not what's actually described here. And perhaps 'beast' gives a more noble ring to it..
Peer comment(s):

agree Evans (X) : I think that's more likely to be something that would be shouted, rather than the precise "hamstring", as you suggest.
22 mins
thanks Gilla (I agree!)
neutral philgoddard : I agree with Gilla, but would anyone really say "beast"?
1 hr
I thought it would gave it a more dramatic ring, but I may be out on a limb here!
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1 hr

Bring the animal to its knees

both metaphorically and literally. This expression also has a certain amount of emotional connotative meaning.

There is a high degree of excitement/arousal in the crowd, so I don't feel that the translation should sound too "clinical"
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20 hrs

hock the animal / the beast

Desjarretar equivale a lesionar el jarrete o corvejón (articulación de la pata trasera) para inmovilizarlo.
Hock: (noun) tarsal joint of the hind leg of hoofed mammals; corresponds to the human ankl
Hock: (verb) disable by cutting the hock
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