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El colmo...

 

An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not readily apparent based on the individual words in the expression. This forum is dedicated to discussing idioms and other sayings.


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  #11  
Old May 01, 2008, 08:14 AM
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Epitome is a thing or person that shows a stated quality to a very great degree: His behaviour was the epitome of bad manners= He had horrible manners.
You can also use the verb to epitomize: The strike epitomizes what is wrong with industrial relations in this country.
The meaning of the Spanish epítome is, I think, totally different: it's a summary of a long work.
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  #12  
Old May 01, 2008, 08:27 AM
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I believe these are other ways to use el colmo, in its negative sense (meaning the last straw):

I am at my wit's end.
I am at/on the brink (here, of a nervous breakdown, of quitting my job, etc.).
That was my last nerve. (You're on my last nerve.)
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. (Es la gota que colma el vaso.)
That took me over the edge.
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  #13  
Old May 01, 2008, 08:36 AM
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As you can see epitome and epitomize are, to my surprise, regional. Where I come from it's used, but where Alice had her adventure, it's best to find an alternate word: the essence, the height, perhaps prime example.(el ejemplar)
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  #14  
Old May 01, 2008, 08:37 AM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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Por cierto, el colmo de los colmos es perder un imperdible.
Y el colmo de un enano, que la policía le diga ¡alto!

Los chistes del colmo son todo un género.
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  #15  
Old May 01, 2008, 08:42 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
Por cierto, el colmo de los colmos es perder un imperdible.
Y el colmo de un enano, que la policía le diga ¡alto!

Los chistes del colmo son todo un género.

LOL (Laugh Out Loud)
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  #16  
Old May 01, 2008, 09:53 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
Por cierto, el colmo de los colmos es perder un imperdible.
Y el colmo de un enano, que la policía le diga ¡alto!

Los chistes del colmo son todo un género.
¿Sabéis cuál es el colmo de un ordenador? Tener miedo a los ratones.

Se encuentra otros chistes como estos here.
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  #17  
Old May 01, 2008, 09:54 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
Los chistes del colmo son todo un género.
El colmo de un albañíl es que se llame Armando Paredes.
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  #18  
Old May 02, 2008, 02:17 PM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poli View Post
Se puede usar esencia así. Ejemplo: Eso es la esencia de lo absurdo.
Se puede, pero suena algo rebuscado. Es más habitual decir: Es el colmo del absurdo.
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  #19  
Old May 10, 2008, 08:22 AM
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Estoy de acuerdo que "epitome" es una palabra más o menos común escucharse en inglés. Algunas alternativas son:

embodiment (menos común pero se entiende)
- "She is the embodiment of high fashion. She always looks like she just walked off the cover of Cosmo."

personification
- "That guy is the personification of infidelity. Every time I see him, he's with some other woman. I don't know how to tell June."

walking definition
- "You, sir, would be the walking definition of laziness if you ever got up off your ass to do anything."

Pero debo decir que estos son limitados a las personas, y "epitome" tiene un sentido más amplio.

Last edited by gatitoverde; May 10, 2008 at 08:28 AM.
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  #20  
Old May 10, 2008, 09:38 AM
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In the same vein as walking definition, we sometimes say poster child, dicho que procede de los pósteres de niños desamparados, o lo que sea. Es otra manera de decir el vivo ejemplo, o el estándar.
- Kenny G. is the poster child of smooth music.
- Michael Jackson is the poster boy of too much plastic surgery.
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chiste, colmo, funny, joke, last straw, wit's end

 

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