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  3. Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

trabajar con las uñas

English translation: scratching a living

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:trabajar con las uñas
English translation:scratching a living
Entered by: neith

23:35 Jan 26, 2007
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Spanish term or phrase: trabajar con las uñas
Se refiere a cuando se trabaja con dificultad ya que no se cuenta con los recursos, materiales o humanos, adecuados o los mismos no existen.
neith
Local time: 00:46
scratching a living
Explanation:
the idiomatic metaphors are unusually well matched!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2007-01-27 09:01:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I'm sick and tired of scratching a living. I am hungry but I'm not gonna give in. We're hungry but we won't give in. Hungry but we won't give in. ...
www.goldlyrics.com/song_lyrics/sade/diamond_life/when_am_i_... - 31k - Cached - Similar pages

Independent, The (London): Mea Culpa: Pity the barristers ... Full text of the article, 'Mea Culpa: Pity the barristers scratching a living at the coalface' from Independent, The (London), a publication in the field of ...
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021123/ai_n1... - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

The intraterrestrials - Deep in the Earth's crust, undreamt-of ... The intraterrestrials - Deep in the Earth's crust, undreamt-of life forms are scratching a living from little more than barren rock, discovers Stephanie ...
space.newscientist.com/channel/space-tech/astrobiology/mg15721245.000 - 25k - 25 Jan 2007 - Cached - Similar pages

Scotsman.com Living - KT Tunstall ... TWELVE months ago, she was still scratching a living performing in small pubs around Scotland. But last night, KT Tunstall crowned an outstanding year ...
living.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1020&format=rss - 8k
Selected response from:

Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:46
Grading comment
tks
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3scraping by [at work]
Patricia Rosas
4 +2eke out a hardscrabble existence
Refugio
3 +2working with the bare essentials
swisstell
5necessity is the mother of invention
Taña Dalglish
4 +1get by on a wing and a prayer
David Hollywood
5scratching a living
Carol Gullidge
4to do it bare-handed
Noni Gilbert Riley
4work with bare hands
TrueBaller
4nothing to work with
Tom2004


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
working with the bare essentials


Explanation:
a first suggestion

swisstell
Italy
Local time: 07:46
Native speaker of: German
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Maria Milagros Del Cid
2 hrs
agree  Margarita Gonzalez
2 hrs
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4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
to do it bare-handed


Explanation:
A similar image

Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 07:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
scraping by [at work]


Explanation:
when it would help to have the entire sentence.

Patricia Rosas
United States
Local time: 22:46
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 20

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gacela20
27 mins
  -> thank you!
agree  Janet Ross Snyder
49 mins
  -> thanks, too!
agree  Noni Gilbert Riley: I like this one.
8 hrs
  -> thanks!
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18 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
work with bare hands


Explanation:
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/with bare hands

TrueBaller
Local time: 01:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in AlbanianAlbanian
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45 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
nothing to work with


Explanation:
or working with nothing

Tom2004
Canada
Local time: 01:46
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
eke out a hardscrabble existence


Explanation:
a bare living gained by great labor

Refugio
Local time: 22:46
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 46

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Noni Gilbert Riley: #eke out an existence# enough (me UK ear doesn't know hardscrabble)
6 hrs
  -> It picks up on the uñas, with which ones "scrabbles" in the absence of tools. To eke out a living or an existence works too.
agree  Patricia Rosas: I like this one, too! (with or without "hardscrabble" -- depends on the sentence in which it appears...)
13 hrs
  -> Thanks, Patricia.
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
necessity is the mother of invention


Explanation:
Another option which I will throw into the mix:

With resourcefulness and ingenuity, one can find ways around many things, despite either very limited resources or materials at hand.

References:
necessity is the mother of invention: Information from Answers.com
necessity is the mother of invention Inventiveness and ingenuity are stimulated by difficulty. For example, The first prisoner to tie together.
www.answers.com/topic/necessity-is-the-mother-of-invention - 32k - Cached - Similar pages
[PDF]
“Necessity is the Mother of Invention” The Impact of the ...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Write the title, “Necessity Is the Mother of Invention: the Impact of the. Industrial Revolution” on the board. 2. Discuss and figure out definitions. ...
www.coreknowledge.org/CK/resrcs/lessons/62K_Necessity.pdf - Similar pages
Quote Details: Thorstein Veblen: Invention is the mother... - The ...
Invention is the mother of necessity. Thorstein Veblen ... It's a play on the original proverb, Necessity is the mother of invention. ...
www.quotationspage.com/quote/32058.html - 9k - Cached - Similar pages
Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention
If you want to invent something, think about what people need or what problems they have. Necessity is the mother of invention. ...
humanities.byu.edu/ELC/student/idioms/proverbs/necessity_invention.html - 2k - Cached - Similar pages


Taña Dalglish
Jamaica
Local time: 00:46
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 24
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
get by on a wing and a prayer


Explanation:
might do the trick

Small airports get by on wing and a prayer: Higher fares, fewer from Chicago Sun-Times in News & Society provided free by LookSmart Find Articles.
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060825/ai_n1... - 33k - Cached - Similar pages

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2007-01-27 02:14:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

The idiom 'On a wing and a prayer' for a desperate situation derives from a famous American World War Two song.
www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ona2.htm - 6k - Cached - Similar pages

David Hollywood
Local time: 02:46
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 72

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Raquel Dominguez: I like this!
7 hrs
  -> thanks rdom :)
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
scratching a living


Explanation:
the idiomatic metaphors are unusually well matched!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2007-01-27 09:01:55 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

I'm sick and tired of scratching a living. I am hungry but I'm not gonna give in. We're hungry but we won't give in. Hungry but we won't give in. ...
www.goldlyrics.com/song_lyrics/sade/diamond_life/when_am_i_... - 31k - Cached - Similar pages

Independent, The (London): Mea Culpa: Pity the barristers ... Full text of the article, 'Mea Culpa: Pity the barristers scratching a living at the coalface' from Independent, The (London), a publication in the field of ...
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021123/ai_n1... - 24k - Cached - Similar pages

The intraterrestrials - Deep in the Earth's crust, undreamt-of ... The intraterrestrials - Deep in the Earth's crust, undreamt-of life forms are scratching a living from little more than barren rock, discovers Stephanie ...
space.newscientist.com/channel/space-tech/astrobiology/mg15721245.000 - 25k - 25 Jan 2007 - Cached - Similar pages

Scotsman.com Living - KT Tunstall ... TWELVE months ago, she was still scratching a living performing in small pubs around Scotland. But last night, KT Tunstall crowned an outstanding year ...
living.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1020&format=rss - 8k


Carol Gullidge
United Kingdom
Local time: 06:46
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 138
Grading comment
tks
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



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