May 5, 2023 22:03
1 yr ago
36 viewers *
Spanish term
el vacío lúgubre lo asfixiaba
Spanish to English
Other
Poetry & Literature
Ernesto debía mirar hacia otra parte. Lo intimidaban los ojos del hombre ciego. El vacío lúgubre (de esos ojos) lo asfixiaba.
Sugerencias bienvenidas. Muchas gracias de antemano!!!
Abrazo
Sugerencias bienvenidas. Muchas gracias de antemano!!!
Abrazo
Proposed translations
(English)
Proposed translations
+1
8 hrs
Selected
he found the mournful blankness suffocating
Another option, so many ways to say this ...
The blind man's eyes intimidated him, he found the mournful blankness (of that stare) suffocating
Plenty of valid synonyms to choose from for "vacio lúgubre", but I think "suffocate" conveys the meaning of "lo asfixiaba", as he's feeling intimidated and uncomfortable.
The blind man's eyes intimidated him, he found the mournful blankness (of that stare) suffocating
Plenty of valid synonyms to choose from for "vacio lúgubre", but I think "suffocate" conveys the meaning of "lo asfixiaba", as he's feeling intimidated and uncomfortable.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
philgoddard
6 hrs
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Thanks Phil!
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Adrian MM.
: > as opposed to the first rushed & 'forlorn' answer, this one appeals to me - NB again - as a published schoolboy poet in Surrey (Regency Press, London & New York, 1968) https://eng.proz.com/kudoz/spanish-to-english/art-literary/4...
8 hrs
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Thanks Adrian! Poet, that's interesting, and that's a lot of empties in the link from 20 years back!
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Andrew Bramhall
: A 'stare' can't suffocate.AMM sadly has ignored the def.article 'el', and read "EL vacío" as an adjective; no, it's emptINESS, and yet again falsely claims authorship of poetry volume (entitled Bluegrass Poetry) actually written by Ian Colin Jeffry in '68
12 hrs
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Unjustified. A figure of speech, on a par with "lo asfixiaba". Loads of examples https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/suffocation https://www.thehindu.com/features/education/issues/talking-p...
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks to all of you!!!"
13 mins
Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
United Kingdom
Flair and accuracy tailored to your text
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
70
The forlorn emptiness took his breath away
Ernesto had to look elsewhere. The blind man's eyes panicked him. The forlorn emptiness (of those eyes) took his breath away/ held him transfixed.
1 hr
the lugubrious/gloomy/dreary emptiness
pues parece otro caso en que se puede usar el mismo término, que debe ser algo culto o literario pero precisamente por eso puede valer bien
adjective
looking or sounding sad and dismal.
"his face looked even more lugubrious than usual"
buenas coincidencias
https://www.google.com/search?q="lugubrious eyes"&...
gloomy sugiere sombrío o melancólico
las coincidencias que salen de primeras son de una peli muy famosa ahora
adjective
looking or sounding sad and dismal.
"his face looked even more lugubrious than usual"
buenas coincidencias
https://www.google.com/search?q="lugubrious eyes"&...
gloomy sugiere sombrío o melancólico
las coincidencias que salen de primeras son de una peli muy famosa ahora
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Carol Gullidge
: You seem to have forgotten the verb!//Hmm! I'm not so sure that the verb really can simply be ignored here, no matter how important the rest of the sentence may be!
2 days 18 hrs
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bien visto, pero me parece que la duda se centra el adjetivo y el sustantivo.
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+1
9 hrs
His blank sorrowful gaze made him gasp
My stab at it. The terms relate to the blind man's eyes.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Andrew Bramhall
: Yes, something along those lines; @Marie- your response to me completely irrational.No feud between me amd AMM. He started it with his unnecessary dig at my answer, compounded by his lies which are irrelevant to your question's context anyway.
12 hrs
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-1
15 hrs
Laureano Brito
Brazil
Brazil
Brazil
He ain't heavy; He's my brother...
Native in: Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: Portuguese, English to Portuguese, Spanish to Portuguese, and 1 more.
the deathly emptiness (of those gaze) suffocated him
"Emptiness" being the impression caused on the character by the total absence of life in the blind man's eyes
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Note added at 15 horas (2023-05-06 13:53:47 GMT)
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* Obvious: "that gaze"
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Note added at 15 horas (2023-05-06 13:53:47 GMT)
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* Obvious: "that gaze"
Peer comment(s):
| disagree |
Carol Gullidge
: Very high confidence rating for an answer that is seriously ungrammatical (of those gaze)!/I'm glad you've corrected the mistake, but unfortunately it remains in the header term, which is what would end up in the Glossary if this Answer were to be chosen.
20 hrs
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| agree |
Tomasso
: sounds good to me, the deathly emptiness of his face was suffocating?
1 day 2 hrs
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| disagree |
Andrew Bramhall
: No; the emptiness of someone's facial expression cannot " suffocate" anyone; otherwise agree with Carol's comments.And 'lúgubre' dosn't mean ""deathly", sorry.
1 day 2 hrs
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+1
3 days 23 hrs
the sad emptiness ot his face shook him to the core
Ernesto debía mirar hacia otra parte. Lo intimidaban los ojos del hombre ciego. El vacío lúgubre (de esos ojos) lo asfixiaba.
Ernie had to look away, the sadness and emptiness of that face shook him to the core of his very existence.
Ernie had to look away, the sadness and emptiness of that face shook him to the core of his very existence.
16 days
Ana Jimenez H.
Native in Spanish
20+ yrs. working with texts and images
Native in: Spanish 
Works in: Spanish to English, English to Spanish
The dreary void of his sightless eyes suffocated him.
Through the use of "sightless eyes" I seek to describe the physicality of his condition.
Discussion
(Las palabras literales son sólo una aproximación a la realidad opinan algunos. )
Ernesto looked askance, those empty blind eyes caused him profound sadness.
Como traduce en Ernesto miraba con recelo, aquellos ojos ciegos y vacíos le causaban una profunda tristeza. Suene bien o es forzado, pues claro esta lejos de original.
Global web icon
https://www.modernliterature.org/poems-by-colin-ian-jeffery
Colin Ian Jeffery (born 1942) is from Surrey, England. He is a poet of our times and numerous collections of his poetry have been published. Colin was educated at St. John’s Church of England school in Caterham, and at seven went to the Modern School for Boys in Purely, and then on to Clarks College in Croydon.