8 ago 2011

Indignados

Here are some slogans from the "indignados" in Spain. Translations are mine
1. "No somos antisistema, el sistema es anti-nosotros" [We aren't "anti-system"; the system is "anti-us.]
2. "Me sobra mes a final de sueldo" {I have month left after the end of my paycheck]
3. "No hay pan para tanto chorizo" [There is not bread enough for so much chorizo {chorizo = politician}
4. "¿Dónde está la izquierda? al fondo, a la derecha". (Where is the left? Go down, and to the right.]
5. "Si no nos dejáis soñar, no os dejaremos dormir". [If you {pl) don't let us dream, we won't let you sleep]
6. "Se alquila esclavo económico" [Cheap slave for rent]
7. "Se puede acampar para ver a Justin Bieber pero no para defender nuestros derechos" [They let us camp out in the street to see Justin Bieber, but not to defend our rights]
8. "Error 404: Democracia not found" [English in original]
9. "Error de sistema. Reinicie, por favor" [System error. Reboot please.]
10. "Esto no es una cuestión de izquierda contra derechas, es de los de abajo contra los de arriba" [It's not the right against the left, it's those on the bottom against those on top]
11. "Vivimos en un país donde los licenciados están en paro, el presidente de nuestro gobierno no sabe inglés...y la oposición tampoco" [We live in a country where college grads are unemployed, where the president of the government doesn't know English... and the opposition doesn't know English either]
12. "Mis sueños no caben en tus urnas" [My dreams don't fit in the ballot boxes.]
13. "Políticos: somos vuestros jefes y os estamos haciendo un ERE" [Politicians: we are your bosses and we are firing you]
14. "Nos mean y dicen que llueve! "[They piss on us and tell us it's raining]
15. "No falta el dinero. Sobran ladrones" [There enough money, but too many thieves]
16. "¿Qué tal os va por España"?- Pues no nos podemos quejar. O sea, que bien ¿no?- no, que no nos podemos quejar." [How is it going in Spain? Well, we can't complain. Or rather, "great," because we cannot complain]
17. "No es una crisis, es una estafa" [It's not a crisis, it's a fraud.]
18. "No apagues la televisión... Podrías pensar" [Don't turn off the t.v., you might accidentally think.]
19. " !!Tengo una carrera y como mortadela!!" [I have a college degree and I'm eating mortadella]
20. "Manos arriba, esto es un contrato" [Hands up! This is a work contract.]
21. "Ni cara A, ni cara B, queremos cambiar de disco" [Neither the A side or the B side: we want a different record.]
22. "Rebeldes sin casa" {Rebells without a house]
23. "Democracia, me gustas porque estás como ausente" [Democracy, I like you because it is as though you were absent {after Pablo Neruda: "Me gustas cuando callas porque estás como ausente}
24. "Nosotros buscamos razones, ellos victorias" {We are looking for reasons, they are looking for victories]
25. "Cuando los de abajo se mueven, los de arriba se tambalean" {When the ones on the bottom move, the ones on the top swing from side to side.


10 comentarios:

Nick dijo...

This is a good roundup of the top slogans.

Another popular one is "Sin casa, sin curro, sin pension. SIN MIEDO" ["No house, no job, no pension. NO FEAR" - ie, if you don't have anything, you're not afraid of anything.]

The "Sin Miedo" [Without Fear"] meme was widespread, especially because of the need for a brave non-violent response to generally brutal policing.

Could I add a bit to the translation of "No hay pan para tanto chorizo"? Only because I think it's funny.

Chorizo is the popular spicy sausage, and is also slang for thief. This gives the double meaning: there's not enough bread for all this spicy sausage / there's not enough bread for all these thieves. And the thieves in this case are (corrupt) politicians.

(If you went on a picnic, and you just had chorizo, you wouldn't have a meal - you need bread to go with it.)

("Chorizo" in this sense is interesting, because it comes from the caló word "choró" [thief] related to the Hindi-Urdu "chor".

http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltGUIBusUsual?TIPO_HTML=2&LEMA=choro

Chor is also a (UK) English word via Romani - eg. in Scots http://tinyurl.com/3p8debb)

Jonathan dijo...

How would you translate #13?

Professor Zero dijo...

This is such a great list!!!

Jonathan dijo...

I agree. If any readers have better translations that catch nuances I've missed, I'd welcome them. I can also try to explain to those with no Spanish if I the meaning is not transparent.

Jonathan dijo...

That's the one I'm still trying to figure out: "Politicians, we are your bosses and give you an R." But what does R stand for?

Vance Maverick dijo...

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expediente_de_regulaci%C3%B3n_de_empleo

meaning, I think, that the people is getting ready to fire the politicians.

Jonathan dijo...

That makes sense. I assumed it was some technical acronym having to do with firing someone, but I didn't know exactly what it stood for.

Saia Sikira dijo...

Hi!!! an ERE is throwing you away from your job without calling it by it's proper name. Anti-crisis measure.

Profesor F-B dijo...

Thanks for the compilation! Also a little note to number 20. "Manos arriba, esto es un atraco" (that rhymes with contrato) is a popular chant in Spanish soccer stadiums when the referee makes a lot of wrong calls against your team. It is commonly used when teams play against Real Madrid or Barcelona, since some referees are afraid to make calls against these teams. Again the same story, the elite against the people.
With your permission, I'll link your post from my blog.

Jonathan dijo...

No need to ask for permission. Anyone can link to anything on the internet. Thanks for the comment on #20.