Picaresca

[Jane]

I was told that Picaresca means to buscar la trampa.
Does anyone have a different translation of the word?

[Rusty]

It could mean cunning or malicious, when used as an adjective; mischief, when used as a noun. It could also refer to the lifestyle of a vagabond / rogue.
It comes from the word pícaro (rogue).

A little lighter connotation would be rascal.

[Tomisimo]

In Spanish literature, if I remember right, the novel Lazarillo de Tormes is una novela picaresca. This genre is narrated in the first person as they go about having adventures. I think Tom Sawyer is somewhat similar.

[Alfonso]

I agree with David and Rusty. La novela picaresca is one of the novelistic genres of the Siglo de Oro español de las letras y las artes, that's to say, XVI and XVII centuries. But also, as Jane said, based on the subjects and characters of that genre, la picaresca is buscar la trampa to jump over rules, laws or whatever is not in your side.

• Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa.

El pícaro es la persona que encuentra pronto la forma de eludir la norma que no le favorece.
La picaresca es la situación, la trampa misma, la costumbre muy española de tratar de eludir las normas.

An example: once the driving alcoholic limits were seriously established and efficiently controlled in Spain, some people thought that the way not to be catched driving with some wines in excess, was to have a antacid pill in the car. If you were stopped by the police, you had only to take rapidly the pill, and the alcohol level wouldn't be detected by any testing machine (alcoholímetro). I don't know if this was true or false, but the way to try to cheat the police can be called picaresco.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

... An example: once the alcohol limits for driving were seriously established and efficiently controlled in Spain, some people thought that the way not to be caught while driving under the influence was to have a antacid pill in the car. If you were stopped by the police, you only had to take the pill quickly and the alcohol level wouldn't be detected by any testing machine (alcoholímetro). I don't know if this was true or false, but the way to try to cheat the police can be called picaresco.

Thanks, Alfonso, for the great information.

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Thanks, Alfonso, for the great information.

Hey, Rusty, don't trust me. Maybe the antacid pill won't work.
Thanks a lot for your corrections!

[María José]

A vocab question, Alfonso. What do you take antacid pills for? I mean their real purpose...

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by Gemma

A vocab question, Alfonso. What do you take antacid pills for? I mean their real purpose...

Actually, I never take antacid pills, but it's for digestion, for the stomach acidity. I don't master this vocabulary at all. Maybe I'm saying very silly things...

[María José]

Stomach acidity exists, but in everyday English you say heartburn. I don't know why but I have always loved this word.Any ideas why we say heartburn?(quiz question: 10 points for a correct answer) In Spanish it's ardor de estómago which is more logical.

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by Gemma

Stomach acidity exists, but in everyday English you say heartburn. I don't know why but I have always loved this word.Any ideas why we say heartburn? In Spanish it's ardor de estómago which is more logical.

English people think heart is in the stomach?

[María José]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

English people think the heart is in the stomach?

I hope not.
I guess the reason is the symptoms of a heart attack are sometimes similar to heartburn. Same kind of pain, and in the same place.

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot, Gemma. I didn't know it. I don't suffer yet from any of them...
Take care

[María José]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Thanks a lot, Gemma. I didn't know it. I haven't suffered from any of them yet...
Take care

Sé que las correcciones te sumen en una serie de dudas metafísicas, but it couldn't be helped.

[Alfonso]

Yeah, I've got some doubts. Actually they're not metaphysical, but grammatical.

• Why may I not use the present tense in such a sentence?
• Why yet must be at the end of the phrase instead of being after the verb? I know it shouldn't go before the verb. But I thought it was enough to put it after the verb, no matter whether the complements go after or before yet.

[María José]

You use the present perfect because what you are saying is that you haven't had any of those unpleasant experiences so far, up to the present moment.
Yet has to be at the end of that sentence, but I don't know why. Sorry, I've
never been good at explaining grammar. I tried to explain the Spanish subjunctive to a student yesterday and I made a mess of it. Or so they say.

[Jane]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

English people think heart is in the stomach?

It could well be...
I was told that the way to a man´s heart is through his stomach.

[Marsopa]

Actually, I think that yet is a lot more flexible than that, and that what Alfonso wrote sounds okay.

I don't yet suffer from any of them
I don't suffer yet from any of them.
I don't suffer from any of them yet.

They all sound fine to me, although the first option sounds more formal.

Marsopa

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by Marsopa

I don't yet suffer from any of them
I don't suffer yet from any of them.
I don't suffer from any of them yet.

All three of those sound find to me too, but the last one is the most normal way of saying it. (for me at least.)

[poli]

To complicate matters you can say, "I have yet to suffer from that."instead of "I haven't suffered from that yet"
By doing this, you are avoiding the double negative. It sounds kind of
British, but anyone can use it, and it will be understood.

Heartburn really isn't stomach pain, it's further up. It's esophogeal and closer to the heart. Doctors call it GERD (Gastro/esophogeal reflux disease)

[María José]

I don't know if your first option sounds British, Poli. To me it's simply very formal. Anyway that's what the Brits are famous for, I guess...