Glossary entry

español term or phrase:

cemento pintarrajeado

inglés translation:

cement, poorly painted, in gaudy colors

Added to glossary by Barbara Cochran, MFA
May 13, 2022 18:24
2 yrs ago
23 viewers *
español term

cemento pintarrajeado

español al inglés Arte/Literatura Modismos / Máximas / Dichos
From a text about an Argentine artist. I understand that the reference is to law figurines:

Florencio Molina Campos detestaba el mal gusto, la chabacanería y la guarangada. Según su biógrafo, acuñó el término “moriscotano” para referirse a tales expresiones mientras contemplaba horrorizado como el gran Buenos Aires se poblaba de enanos, cisnes, flamencos y gauchitos de cemento pintarrajeado
Change log

May 15, 2022 20:19: Barbara Cochran, MFA Created KOG entry

May 20, 2022 13:22: Barbara Cochran, MFA changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/123909">Barbara Cochran, MFA's</a> old entry - "cemento pintarrajeado"" to ""cement, poorly painted in gaudy colors""

Discussion

Phoenix III May 15, 2022:
The term is quite popular in LA, some samples "ella caminaba contonéndose, con su cara pintarrajeada..." Meaning not only that her make up was done with bad taste, but poorly done, including the colors, etc.
AllegroTrans May 13, 2022:
Wendy What have you got so far?

Proposed translations

+2
4 horas
Selected

poorly painted, in gaudy colors

This covers the entire concept.
Peer comment(s):

agree JH Trads
3 horas
Thanks, JH Trads.
agree Phoenix III
1 día 15 horas
Thank you, Phoenix III.
neutral Andrew Bramhall : Not a phrase you're likely to hear that often; also open to doubt- is the quality of the paintwork itself poor, or is it the poor choice of colour combinations?
6 días
Sure it is. And like I said, it covers the enitre context.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I went with poorly painted. Thanks"
+1
13 minutos

gaudy cement

Presumably something similar to those gaudy cement garden gnomes found in the front gardens of (far too) many English country cottages.

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Note added at 18 mins (2022-05-13 18:42:28 GMT)
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".. CO gives “gallinitas pintarrajeadas” [gaudy little hens], a literal translation with an undertone suggesting a prostitute."

From ""Perplex'd in extreme", or (in)fidelity in translation: Reading and performing Shakespeare in contemporary Argentina" - https://memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/art_revistas/pr.9555/pr.95... - (page 7 of the PDF file)
Peer comment(s):

agree Muriel Vasconcellos
5 horas
Something went wrong...
1 hora

Badly painted cement

Pintarrajeado means poorly/badly/sloppily painted, as if by a child or an idiot.

pintarrajear
1. tr. coloq. Pintar sin arte, de uno o varios colores, algo. El niño pintarrajeó la pared.

2. tr. coloq. Pintar o maquillar en exceso a alguien, o una parte de su cuerpo. U. t. c. Prnl.
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4 horas

daubed cement

Painted by a dauber, someone who applies paint haphazardly, with no rhyme or reason, no pattern.
Something went wrong...
16 horas

poorly graffitied concrete /poorly tagged concrete

There is something I don't get about the text "gauchitos de cemento pintarrajeado"

I don't understand how a gauchito can be made of cemento"

Gauchito = Small Gaucho; Gaucho = inhabitant of the pampas

Cemento = concrete.

The author says how he was horrified to see how BBAAs was degrading because of the urban "fauna" (atypical population) that inhabited it.

Cemento pintarrajeado refers to poorly tagged graffities on the streets of BBAAs

Buenos Aires se poblaba de enanos, cisnes, flamencos y gauchitos de cemento pintarrajeado
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

3 horas
Reference:

Wendy, try looking up the word

Acepciones de Pintarrajeadas como plural del femenino de pintarrajeado

Categoría gramatical: participio de pintarrajear, verbo transitivo, verbo pronominal, adjetivo
Categorías gramaticales y tiempos verbales de pintarrajeadas explicados

Pintar mal, con descuido, manchar algo con colores o hacer garabatos.
Maquillarse la cara mal o demasiado.
Pintar algo sin cuidado ni arte.

Ejemplos con la palabra Pintarrajeadas

Entramos en el toldo, que era grande y cómodo, de techo y paredes pintarrajeadas.

Es la fábrica un casote cuadrangular, con grandes puertas y ventanas pintarrajeadas de azul.

El camarero hizo pasar al comedor cerrado a unas mujeres pintarrajeadas y con grandes sombreros, seguidas de unos jóvenes.



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Note added at 4 hrs (2022-05-13 22:48:30 GMT)
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pintarrajear
to daub
Dictionary
Conjugation
Examples
pintarrajear
transitive verb
1. (colloquial)
(general)
a. to daub
Cuando fui a por el carro esta mañana, me encontré con que la puerta del garaje estaba pintarrajeada con graffiti.I went to get the car this morning to find that the garage door had been daubed with graffiti.
b. to scribble
¿Quién ha pintarrajeado mi revista con los rotuladores? - ¡Yo no, mamá!Who's scribbled all over my magazine with the markers? - It wasn't me, Mom!
Copyright © Curiosity Media Inc.
Peer comments on this reference comment:

neutral Andrew Bramhall : What about " a botched paint job"?
6 días
Something went wrong...
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