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legañas

English translation: his eyes were full of sleep

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:legañas
English translation:his eyes were full of sleep
Entered by: Rosina Peixoto

09:47 Jan 31, 2008
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Spanish term or phrase: legañas
Context:
Paquito estuvo de juerga toda la santa noche. Tenía que madrugar, pero ¡ni por ésas! A la mañana, se le pegaban las legañas.

"pegársele a uno las legañas" means you are very tired. It's a very graphic idea.

Please, how can I translate into English?
1) "tener legañas", as a physical and biological term
2) "pegársele a uno las legañas", in the metaphorical sense above.

Thanks in advance
Raul Martin
Spain
Local time: 23:54
his eyes were full of sleep
Explanation:
...
Selected response from:

Rosina Peixoto
Uruguay
Local time: 18:54
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +1he was bleary-eyed
María San Raimundo Vega
4 +2sleep
Paul Lambert
4 +2his eyes were full of sleep
Rosina Peixoto
5 +1his eyes seem glued shut
Jorge Mosquera
4 +1[in the morning] he could not force his eyes open
Nelida Kreer
4sleepy dust
Mar Brotons
4eye crust
Gregory Vigo
3leaden-eyed
Daniel Burns (X)


  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
he was bleary-eyed


Explanation:
Hi
It means being very tired as you said. The methaphorical and physical sense are both implied in "bleary-eyed" I guess.



María San Raimundo Vega
Spain
Local time: 23:54
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marisa Raich
5 mins
  -> gracias!
neutral  Jorge Mosquera: Yes, bleary-eyed does mean one is really tired, but beacuse of the redness in the eye caused precisely by the exhaustion or the lack of sleep. In my opinion, "pegarsele las legañas" does not precisely imply bleary-eyed.
9 hrs
  -> Si, creo que tienes razón, ¡gracias!
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4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
sleep


Explanation:
No sé lo que sería el término científico para legañas en inglés, pero nosotros decimos "sleep" -

The next morning his eyes were full of sleep/he had sleep in his eyes....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 mins (2008-01-31 09:53:39 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Ver http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_(disambiguation) :

The substance found in the corner of one's eye upon waking, which is a normal buildup of tears, mucus, and dirt that appears at the edge of the eyelids after sleep, otherwise known as rheum and sometimes inaccurately called mucopurulent discharge.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 mins (2008-01-31 09:55:27 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

It looks like rheum is the biological term, but in your context I'd stick with "sleep"

Paul Lambert
United States
Local time: 14:54
Native speaker of: English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Marisa Raich
5 mins
  -> Gracias Marisa ;o)
agree  JoseAlejandro: That's exactly what it is...good show, Paul!
6 hrs
  -> Thanks Jose Alejandro!
agree  Ximena P. Aguilar
1 day 17 hrs
disagree  Jorge Mosquera: "Legañas" does mean "sleep", but this is an idiomatic expression, very common in LA countries. Here, the word "sleep" does not fit.
4 days
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
his eyes were full of sleep


Explanation:
...

Rosina Peixoto
Uruguay
Local time: 18:54
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Gacela20
4 hrs
  -> Thanks Gacela
agree  Paul García: this is the closest, so far; it's the "sand" the sandman leaves in our eyes...
6 hrs
  -> Thanks Paul
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
sleepy dust


Explanation:
"Sleepy dust" is used as the physical and informal term for legañas.

For the metaphorical sense, there are many choices, including the answers provided by the other proz. Some more ideas:

"he was dead on his feet"
"he couldn´t keep his eyes open"


    Reference: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=490587
    Reference: http://www.answerbag.co.uk/q_view/532878
Mar Brotons
Spain
Local time: 23:54
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in CatalanCatalan
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
leaden-eyed


Explanation:
....

Daniel Burns (X)
Local time: 16:54
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
[in the morning] he could not force his eyes open


Explanation:

Here we say "lagañas", although both spellings are acceptable. It is the secretion of the eyes that keeps them stuck when you first wake up, and if not removed frequently solidifies in a sort of light scab. I usually wipe them off my cocker's eyes a couple of hundred times a day.....

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2008-01-31 13:16:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry, my explanation of "lagañas" pales against the description given by peers. Be that as it may, I am suggesting the above phrasing to convey the meaning without being too literal.

Nelida Kreer
Local time: 17:54
Native speaker of: Spanish
PRO pts in category: 19

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Robert West: I agree. You are conveying that his eyes were stuck with sleep.
41 mins
  -> Muchas gracias, Robert!!! Yes, you caught the exact drift of my thinking. Regards.
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
his eyes seem glued shut


Explanation:
or maybe "he could not make himself get up/wake up". "Pegársele la legañas" just means one is extremely tired and sleepy and pretty much unable to wake up, let alone get up. In the physical and biological sense, "legañas" translates as "rheum" or "rheumy eyes".
Cheers!

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2008-01-31 20:45:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Oh, sorry, I meant to say "his eyes SEEMED glued shut"... Lost my tense there for a while...


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheum
Jorge Mosquera
United States
Local time: 16:54
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  John Cutler: I would say it like this too. I think legañas is usually just translated as "the sleep" as in, "He wiped the sleep from his eyes".
12 mins
  -> Thanks John! I agree with you.
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4 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
eye crust


Explanation:
there are several more possible translations for this rather elusive term. eye batter, eye boogers or even eyarrhea, among others which I will not mention here but can be found in the urban dictionary on line. The reference below from answers.yahoo seems like the most useful to me.


    Reference: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=eye+batter
    Reference: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061007094100AA...
Gregory Vigo
Spain
Local time: 23:54
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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