Mucho ruido y pocas nueces

[María José]

Escrito originalmente por Tomisimo

You can say that again. And I've said it more than a few times too.

Thanks for the support, boss. And for the Happy Birthday message (even if you sent it to the wrong person and the wrong address).

[CrOtALiTo]

I don't agree with you, Mary this time I don't share the like idea with you, because I think that you are a example to follow for me, if I'm a idea quote errant, then I'm sorry, also I love the language as you, but sometimes I've not got time for my word, as I told you before, I'm computation engineer, and my job is fix equipment and networks in the companies, and course attend to the users very disgusted, mostly I have a few seconds for check my messages in Tomisimo, and later I've to go to attend to the users, well, I want to tell you is that I need to practice my English, to my English needs improved so much, in severals times I've told you the same, that if you want to chat with me, course when you've time for me, mostly I'm in the afternoons in my office, if you want to chat in another time, but don't worry if you can't to do it, I know understand you, you have a lot reason for to can to do it, well, I wish you the best in your life, I'll continue waiting the opportunity for chat with you, if I make a lot mistakes please you correct to me.

[María José]

Escrito originalmente por jchen

hey don't worry, I'm bad at Spanish too!

But you are very young and have your whole life ahead of you to learn.The sky is the limit.
Tienes toda la vida por delante para aprender.

[María José]

Escrito originalmente por CrOtALiTo

I don't agree with you, Mary this time I don't share the like idea with you, because I think that you are a example to follow for me, if I'm a idea quote errant, then I'm sorry, also I love the language as you, but sometimes I've not got time for my word, as I told you before, I'm computation engineer, and my job is fix equipment and networks in the companies, and course attend to the users very disgusted, mostly I have a few seconds for check my messages in Tomisimo, and later I've to go to attend to the users, well, I want to tell you is that I need to practice my English, to my English needs improved so much, in severals times I've told you the same, that if you want to chat with me, course when you've time for me, mostly I'm in the afternoons in my office, if you want to chat in another time, but don't worry if you can't to do it, I know understand you, you have a lot reason for to can to do it, well, I wish you the best in your life, I'll continue waiting the opportunity for chat with you, if I make a lot mistakes please you correct to me.

I'm sure we'll find time to chat, maybe when I don't have so many things going on. Take care.

[Estebannudos]

Picture a small box, like a cigar box, with a few, maybe two, walnuts. Shake the box...

[JPablo]

Good practical demonstration.

[aleCcowaN]

I'd rather say it depicts the noise you make with a nutcracker, implying that there's a lot of noise heard that has no proportion with the tiny amount of peeled nuts that we see in the bowl, what means a lot of action -or a fanfare promising a lot of action- that yields little result. By extension, it may be used with many criticism about a disproportion between cause and effect, being the latter the weak side.

The translation of Shakespeare's work as "Mucho ruido y pocas nueces" is what the translator chose around 1800, departing from it being a very old Spanish expression. Here's an example in CORDE:

"Y también sabe V. S. que todos los años es tan ordinario el mucho ruido de armada del Turco, como las pocas nueces de él, y ahora está ya el tiempo muy adelante, pues nos hallamos en fin de Agosto, y tendría larguísima y de evidente peligro la retirada, no le siendo posible el invernar en Argel; ni él sale con tantas fiestas que escriben pasarán de ciento y treinta. "

Carta de Diego de Amburcea a Esteban de Ibarra, 1608, España.

As "Much Ado About Nothing" was published in 1600, how come a translation made some 200 years later become a flexible use in Spain in 1608? Well "mucho ruido y pocas nueces" neither means specifically "much ado about nothing" nor comes from it, no matter a hundred dictionaries may say so.

[Estebannudos]

I still like the nuts-in-a-box idea; I think I heard it from a profesor madrileno here in Monterey in the 1960's. This way there's lots of noise from just a few nuts; nothing useful produced. With the nutcracker there's some product from each noise.

[aleCcowaN]

And what would be the situation depicted by the nuts-in-the-box analogy other than just a few nuts in a box? What would be the origin of that as it's not surprising that, say, a wooden box filled with a few nuts may make noise while shaken, while a wooden box full of nuts make almost none? What would be the meaning of this idiom in such a case?

Disproportion and contrast between actions and results is what is behind this saying, the same way a lot of cracking noises contradicts a yield of a few kernels in the bowl. That's why "mucho ruido y pocas nueces" means "such a fanfare about a minor accomplishment", "much ado about something of lesser importance", "a lot of talk but almost no action", "bold talking but careful action", "a lot of promises but nothing really kept", and a whole lot of variations.

[poli]

All bark and no bite.

All talk and no substance.

All talk and no action.

These are all common in English.