Glossary entry (derived from question below)
español term or phrase:
Blanca es guapa pero no tiene de momento las agarraderas ni el estómago de pe.
inglés translation:
Blanca's good-looking but at the moment she hasn't got the appeal or the gutsiness of Pe
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Jul 20, 2012 16:34
12 yrs ago
1 viewer *
español term
Blanca es guapa pero no tiene de momento las agarraderas ni el estómago de pe.
español al inglés
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Jergas
Celebrity gossip
This appears in a response to an article about Almodóvar trying to find a Penelope Cruz clone for his new film. I am trying to extend my Spanish slang since I usually work with academic language and am familiar with Cuban and Venezuelan slang but not as fmailiar with that of Spain
Proposed translations
(inglés)
Change log
Jul 23, 2012 14:37: Charles Davis Created KOG entry
Proposed translations
2 días 17 horas
Selected
Blanca's good-looking but at the moment she hasn't got the appeal or the gutsiness of Pe
Many possible variants: "pretty" or "looks good" or even "beautiful" for "guapa"; "Pe's appeal or gutsiness", "the appeal or the gutsiness Pe has", "isn't yet as appealing or as gutsy as Pe" for the rest.
A different interpretation. This arises from consulting my Spanish wife. I first asked her what physical attribute "agarraderas" implies in Spain. She said it can imply the hips, the bottom or the breasts: it basically means flesh you can get hold of. However, when I asked her about the whole phrase and explained the context, she said without hesitation that it wasn't talking about physique at all. It was referring to the qualities mentioned above.
In any case, though it's quite true that Penélope Cruz, who used to be rather waif-like, has filled out with the passing years (especially since she had her baby) and is now more voluptuous, she's not that much fleshier than Blanca Suárez. I've been looking at pictures of the two (purely for research purposes, of course) and I wouldn't say that Blanca is much thinner or less curvy than Pe. At any rate, I don't think that's what you would pick out when comparing them in this context.
What I think it's saying is that physically Blanca has what it takes, but she currently lacks other qualities that make Pe special. Penélope Cruz is beautiful, but she's much more than a pretty face and body: she has a powerful screen presence and conveys great force of character. That's what marks her out and makes her so watchable.
I wondered about "agarraderas" anyway, but couldn't see what "estómago" might mean. My wife is quite clear that "agarraderas" means "gancho" and "estómago" means "fuerza, resistencia, un todoterreno". According to the RAE, "agarraderas" can figuratively mean:
"pl. coloq. Favor o influencia con que alguien cuenta para conseguir sus fines."
It's not influence here but appeal, including but not limited to sex appeal. It's a matter of screen presence, of pulling power, watchability.
"Tener estómago" can mean having a strong stomach, and by extension it means you can cope with whatever comes up. It's got an element of versatility and of staying power. But I think the best word is actually quite close to "estómago": gutsy, gutsiness. Almodóvar reportedly summed up Penélope's qualities as follows:
"Pedro Almodóvar once said, that his Spanish muse, Penélope Cruz, belongs to the "carnal, gutsy, cleavage-heaving, loud" Mediterranean school of acting, a style, also shared by Italian actor and yesteryear screen-scorcher Sophia Loren."
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-04/news-...
This actually points back to voluptuousness, but I'm sure that's not what "agarraderas" means in this particular case. This comment means that Blanca looks the part but doesn't yet have Penélope's power and screen presence.
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Note added at 2 days19 hrs (2012-07-23 11:35:06 GMT)
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For "de momento", you could say "as yet".
I think you're absolutely right to emphasise that slang is country-specific. This comment is made by a Spaniard for Spanish readers; it wouldn't necessarily have been said the same way in a Latin American country.
A different interpretation. This arises from consulting my Spanish wife. I first asked her what physical attribute "agarraderas" implies in Spain. She said it can imply the hips, the bottom or the breasts: it basically means flesh you can get hold of. However, when I asked her about the whole phrase and explained the context, she said without hesitation that it wasn't talking about physique at all. It was referring to the qualities mentioned above.
In any case, though it's quite true that Penélope Cruz, who used to be rather waif-like, has filled out with the passing years (especially since she had her baby) and is now more voluptuous, she's not that much fleshier than Blanca Suárez. I've been looking at pictures of the two (purely for research purposes, of course) and I wouldn't say that Blanca is much thinner or less curvy than Pe. At any rate, I don't think that's what you would pick out when comparing them in this context.
What I think it's saying is that physically Blanca has what it takes, but she currently lacks other qualities that make Pe special. Penélope Cruz is beautiful, but she's much more than a pretty face and body: she has a powerful screen presence and conveys great force of character. That's what marks her out and makes her so watchable.
I wondered about "agarraderas" anyway, but couldn't see what "estómago" might mean. My wife is quite clear that "agarraderas" means "gancho" and "estómago" means "fuerza, resistencia, un todoterreno". According to the RAE, "agarraderas" can figuratively mean:
"pl. coloq. Favor o influencia con que alguien cuenta para conseguir sus fines."
It's not influence here but appeal, including but not limited to sex appeal. It's a matter of screen presence, of pulling power, watchability.
"Tener estómago" can mean having a strong stomach, and by extension it means you can cope with whatever comes up. It's got an element of versatility and of staying power. But I think the best word is actually quite close to "estómago": gutsy, gutsiness. Almodóvar reportedly summed up Penélope's qualities as follows:
"Pedro Almodóvar once said, that his Spanish muse, Penélope Cruz, belongs to the "carnal, gutsy, cleavage-heaving, loud" Mediterranean school of acting, a style, also shared by Italian actor and yesteryear screen-scorcher Sophia Loren."
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-04/news-...
This actually points back to voluptuousness, but I'm sure that's not what "agarraderas" means in this particular case. This comment means that Blanca looks the part but doesn't yet have Penélope's power and screen presence.
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Note added at 2 days19 hrs (2012-07-23 11:35:06 GMT)
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For "de momento", you could say "as yet".
I think you're absolutely right to emphasise that slang is country-specific. This comment is made by a Spaniard for Spanish readers; it wouldn't necessarily have been said the same way in a Latin American country.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks so much. This is what I was looking for. I understood agarradera in the love handle way, English has that too although it is usually negative meaning rolls of fat around the hip area, so it kind of didn't make sense to talk of a beautiful actor that way-- but I intuited that the sentence meant something else and I was thinking of "pull", that Blanca didn't have the "pull" but since it was Spanish slang I wasn't sure. Thank you for your answer and to your Spanish wife for her help. I have a new word for gutsy now."
20 minutos
Blanca is pretty but does not have P's ass/butt nor her abs
'agarraderas' = butt
Blanca is pretty but does not have P's ass/butt nor her abs
http://merengala.blogspot.ca/2011/05/anteriormente-las-mujer...
Blanca is pretty but does not have P's ass/butt nor her abs
http://merengala.blogspot.ca/2011/05/anteriormente-las-mujer...
1 hora
Blanca's hot but at the moment she lacks Pe's butt and tummy
Another option. I prefer 'tummy' because 'abs' conjures images of six-packs, which is not what Almodovar is referring to.
+1
5 horas
Blanca is beautiful but for now/right now she doesn't have the hips or abs
Me parece que las agarraderas son las caderas.
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Note added at 9 hrs (2012-07-21 01:46:54 GMT)
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Y claro, otra opción sería "tummy" (or perhaps "nice, flat tummy/stomach"). :-)
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Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2012-07-21 23:19:46 GMT)
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Since "agarrar" denotes force, it only makes sense that "agarraderas" would refer to the hips, and (as Lorena's posting suggests) in the context of making love. Se habla de las agarraderas de la misma manera en la República Dominicana también. As for "de momento," this refers to the idea that this particular body part, for now (i.e., but in the future perhaps), is not at the level of someone like Penelope Cruz. Of course, they probably could have thought of someone else (que sí tiene de qué...) to make their point (como Jennifer Lopez). :-)
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Note added at 9 hrs (2012-07-21 01:46:54 GMT)
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Y claro, otra opción sería "tummy" (or perhaps "nice, flat tummy/stomach"). :-)
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Note added at 1 day6 hrs (2012-07-21 23:19:46 GMT)
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Since "agarrar" denotes force, it only makes sense that "agarraderas" would refer to the hips, and (as Lorena's posting suggests) in the context of making love. Se habla de las agarraderas de la misma manera en la República Dominicana también. As for "de momento," this refers to the idea that this particular body part, for now (i.e., but in the future perhaps), is not at the level of someone like Penelope Cruz. Of course, they probably could have thought of someone else (que sí tiene de qué...) to make their point (como Jennifer Lopez). :-)
Discussion
However, I don't think it means any of those things here. I've proposed an alternative interpretation.
Here an example from El Pais forum:
Yo, no se si por aprendizaje o por genética, siempre miro abajo y luego arriba. A las caderas les llamo "agarraderas"
http://lacomunidad.elpais.com/javier-de-murga/2012/1/12/desd...