Cuando al tonto le da por las coles, hasta que no deja troncones.

[JPablo]

Esta es una expresión que creo habérsela oído decir a mi madre, maestra de escuela, directora del colegio en sus últimos años, y jubilada en la actualidad. Aunque el dicho es bastante 'auto-explanatorio', me resulta curioso que en una búsqueda de Google, no aparece sino una o dos veces.

(La idea es que cuando alguien le toma afición a una actividad, se queda un tanto "obsesionado" con ella, y no para de realizarla.) (Si a mí, que soy novato en estos forums o foros de Tomísimo, me da por hacer preguntas, una detrás de otra, podría aplicárseme el cuento..., digo, el dicho...)

Si alguien tiene una referencia de consulta, o sabe de algún sitio donde pueda haber nacido la locución, sería de agradecer. (Mi madre, siendo de Membrilla, La Mancha, siempre ha sido muy dicharachera, y reconozco que puede haber expresiones que sólo se han transmitido de forma verbal...)

Bueno, no me enrollo más, pero si alguien tiene un equivalente en inglés, o en español, insular, del cono sur... expresiones equivalentes en México, Managua o Tegucigalpa... siempre serán bienvenidas, pues aunque yo traduzco al español de la península (la Ibérica, la Piel de Toro, no la del Yucatán), también colaboro con otros traductores que hacen versiones para toda LatinoAmérica... y expresiones muy usadas y conocidas en mi tierra, no siempre se conocen o se usan en otras tierras hispanoamericanas...

En fin, lo dicho, ya me diréis (o escribiréis algo)... No sé por qué me he acordado de la expresión "puppy to the root" que quizá tendría una similitud en cuanto a la persistencia en realizar una actividad con ganas y entusiasmo, como un cachorrito intentando desenterrar una raíz, pero las connotaciones y el "flavour" son definitivamente distintos...

Bueno, para ser mi primer "post", ¡no me parece que haya dejado muchos troncones!
Un saludo a todos,
Pablo

[poli]

He's crossed the Rubican. Now,there's no turning back. es un dicho en inglés que acerca el dicho que dijo su mamá.

[JPablo]

Hi there, poli.
Thank you for the contribution. It is funny, I never thought of the expression the way you give it, but it definitely its point of agreement.
I am not totally sure if you mean "que se acerca al dicho que dijo su mamá" or "acerca del dicho que dijo su mamá". (Ie. "close to the saw his mom said" or "about the saw his mom said".)
Otherwise, in the "freedictionary" in the net they give this definition, for "cross the Rubicon" (quote) Fig. to do something that inevitably commits one to following a certain course of action. (Alludes to the crossing of the River Rubicon by Julius Caesar with his army, which involved him in a civil war in B.C. 49.) Jane crossed the Rubicon by signing the contract. Find another job before you cross the Rubicon and resign from this one. (unquote)
It reminds me that Julius C., reportedly said, "Alea jacta est" (the die is cast) as he led his army across the river Rubicon. (B.C. 49). And, yes, that is also a synonym of "a point of no return". The expression in Spanish, though, does not have this "transcendent" connotation. It is used more in a jocular manner, when yourself engage on an activity and keep doing it, and doing it... Like if you like, let's say a writer, such as Dan Brown, and you read all his books, one after the other, until you are waiting for the next one to come out... (hasta que no dejas troncón). Or when you are being facetiously critic of someone, who seems a bit obsessed with some activity, like "playing videogames" and/or "surfing the net non-stop"...
(As for "errors", just a couple of points. If you say "me ayuda si corrige mis errores" you are being polite, ie., "me ayuda si USTED corrige mis errores". If you want to be more friendly and colloquial you say "me ayuda si corrigeS mis errores" (the "S" is to indicate "TÚ" i.e., "si tú corriges mis errores". Both "usted" and "tú" are implied in the verb ending, and rarely said or written explicitly, unless you want to re-e-e-eally emphasize it.)
Rubican - correct Rubicón.
Now,there's - Now, there's (space after comma)
es un dicho - Es un dicho (upper case after a period)
(Hey!, you make me work like a proofreader... but I hope it helps!)

[poli]

I don't think there is a comical version of cross the Rubicon in English.

Off the wagon, used for lapsed recovering alcoholics and sometimes for
other obsessive habits, can sometimes be used comically.

Crossed the fine (as in from genuine interest and mania) can sometimes be
used comically, but not to the extent of the Spanish phrase.

[JPablo]

Thank you, poli. That is helpful. Is "Crossed the fine" used by itself, or you normally use it with "crossed the fine line between x and y"? Do you have some real examples in English for this expression? (In a Google search I mainly get "crossed the fine line") I found one that goes, "...cross the fine between acceptable and unacceptable behavior when you're wronged..." Any advice on how to use it in English? (Thank you for being there and communicating!)

[poli]

I don't proofread myself sometimes. That's why I wrote "crossed the fine" rather than crossed the fine line. I have heard "if you don't watch out you're gonna cross the fine line". Sometimes that's enough, but to be absolutely clear it can certainly be clarified as in "if you don't watch out you'll cross the fine line between "a joker and a real jerk." "a social drinker and the town drunkard" "nerd and geek" "envious and jealous". etc.

You may know that crossed the line means something different. If you
crossed the line, it means you have broken a rule. you've crossed
the line are fighting words.

[JPablo]

Thank you, poli. These examples help.

[CrOtALiTo]

Yes exactly I have heard before that expression in this side of the puddle.
But I'm a person who likes or enjoy to use them a lot of, at least here in Mexico that expression are very colloquial and doesn't so used for people.

Although there're people who speak in the same language, but they're habited to use them as a idiom daily in their speech.

Anyhow you expression is very interesting and very funny in the same mean.

[JPablo]

Thank you, CrOtALiTo,
It is funny, the other day I found a similar one, in the definition of "linde" by some guys from La Mancha (Campo de Criptana). They say, linde: Dícese de aquellas pequeñas fronteras que dilimitan las viñejas. También palabra utilizá pa'la expresión: "Cuando al tonto le da por la linde, la linde se acaba y el tonto sigue...", que viene a decir que cuando al tonto le da por algo, no hace na'más que cansinear y terquear.
It is funny how they write the "spoken" way they talk in La Mancha. (My Mom is from Membrilla, la Mancha, too.)
Good to get some feedback from you!