Translation help needed

[Mac]

I realise that this site is not a translation service, but I really
could do with some help on a small matter. Each morning I start the
day with my 'Mafalda' calendar, a comic strip from 1980s Argentina
which has become something of a classic. Normally I have no trouble
understanding the (sometimes quite sophisticated) point, but today's
has me baffled.

Felipe, on his way to school, thinks he has forgotten some essential
items, but discovers that he has them after all. In the last frame he
reflects: "¿Justo a mi tenía que tocarme ser como yo?". What does
this mean? I know what all the words mean, but they don't make any
sense!

Gracias

Mac

[Roger Warwick]

We would say: "Just my luck (that) I had to be me!"

In Spanish, when something "touches" you, it can mean your luck or fate: something chosen by some higher power. It can also mean your turn, but in this particular phrase it indicates the (bad) luck element.

So in games, when it's your turn you say "¡Me toca!"

After winning a bottle of champagne in a raffle, you would say, "Me ha tocado una botella de cava"

If this year you have to stay and work while your colleagues take holidays in August, you would say "Me ha tocado quedarme a trabajar en agosto"

"tenía que" in this sense indicates inevitability: it had to be or happen. So "tenía que tocarme" means "it had to happen to me!", and we might say: "Just my luck!".

The "Justo a mí" part is just emphasis, a bit like "It had to be ME that it happened to", but in English the emphasis is already in the expression "Just my luck" and any more would sound stilted.

"ser como yo" obviously means "to be me".

Hope this convoluted explanation makes sense.

Roger.

[Mac]

¡Dios mio!

No wonder I couldn´t understand it. Thank you, Roger.

Mac

> > Mac- Ocultar texto de la cita -
>
> - Mostrar texto de la cita -

[mike james]

I promised to let the group know when the series "On the road again" (a
US take on Spain/food)
was on UK TV.
It is on UKTV Food (Sky 249 Virgin TV 260) starting Monday 5th Jan -
http://uktv.co.uk/food/homepage/sid/566
mikej
PS - Happy new year everyone.

[Mac]

On 31 dic 2008, 14:54, mike james <mike.ja...@infomaxgroup.co.uk>
wrote:

> I promised to let the group know when the series "On the road again" (a
> US take on Spain/food)
> was on UK TV.

> It is on UKTV Food (Sky 249 Virgin TV 260) starting Monday 5th Jan -http://uktv.co.uk/food/homepage/sid/566

> mikej
> PS - Happy new year everyone.

Y feliz año nuevo to you too, Mike, (and everyone) despite hijacking
this thread (which was finished anyway). However, anyone looking for
your notice may fail to see it if viewing in 'first message' mode on
Google Groups. Perhaps Roger could transfer it to the 'On the Road'
thread. I was beginning to think everyone had gone into hibernation
for the winter - it's certainly cold enough to induce that sort of
behaviour here in Scotland.

We're intending to get back to Spain later this month. The appalling
state of the £/€ exchange rate will make everything about 50% more
expensive, so I've had to go for the cheapest flights and car hire
possible, which, as always, means Malaga. It's going to be quite
difficult to find places in the area we haven't been to!

Cheers

Mac

[Roger Warwick]

> However, anyone looking for > your notice may fail to see it if viewing in 'first message' mode on > Google Groups. Perhaps Roger could transfer it to the 'On the Road' > thread.

I'm afraid Google Groups isn't like a forum, where you can splice and dice threads at will.

But I believe most people have their profiles set to getting each email individually in their Inbox, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo a todos!

Roger.