Feb 10, 2017 21:33
7 yrs ago
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Spanish term

que viene el veinte los veo

Spanish to English Art/Literary Poetry & Literature Los Ninís
More from the anthem of the Ninís:

La empresa tiro la orden
el cabo les dijo serio
estén listos pa las once
**que viene el veinte los veo**
los detalles por el radio
les explico en el camino
deben andar con cuidado
el Ivan así lo ha dicho
saben que nunca fallamos
somos como un reloj Suizo...
Change log

Feb 11, 2017 00:02: Patricia Ferreira Larrieux changed "Term asked" from "que biene el veinte los veo" to "que viene el veinte los veo"

Discussion

Muriel Vasconcellos (asker) Feb 14, 2017:
@Cecilia Thank you again. Though I had already delivered the translation, I sent the client a corrected copy first thing Monday morning and it wasn't too late.
Robert Carter Feb 12, 2017:
@Charles and Muriel Check out Celia's entry. It turns out neither Charles nor I were right, there's a mistake with the written lyrics, that's all.
Muriel Vasconcellos (asker) Feb 12, 2017:
@Charles I feel better after reading the Portuguese "translation" -- they got maybe half of it wrong. For example: 'they have false strawberries' for "tenemos finta de fresas". I would totally ignore that version.
Robert Carter Feb 11, 2017:
@Charles It occurred to me afterwards that this was someone's name or alias. I later asked my wife how she understood it, and she immediately assumed it was an "apodo". I've posted my answer below if you want to have a look.
One of the biggest problems with Muriel's text is that there was hardly any punctuation or capitalization. Saludos!
Charles Davis Feb 11, 2017:
On the other hand In this Portuguese translation of the lyrics "las once que viene el veinte" is interpreted as 11:20, but I'm pretty dubious about that:

"estén listos pa las once
eles estão prontos

que viene el veinte los veo
pa vem 1120"
http://www.letratraducao.com/letra-da-musica-alta-consigna ...
Charles Davis Feb 11, 2017:
I have a hunch, but it's not strong enough to be turned into a formal answer, that "el veinte" could mean "the time": so it would mean something like "the time is coming, I can see them". This would be taking "veinte" as referring to the 20-centavo coin used to make phone calls in the past. It is the origin of "caer el veinte", equivalent to the expression (UK at least) "the penny dropped":
http://algarabia.com/de-donde-viene/caer-el-veinte/

By extension, I think "le viene el veinte" could mean "his time has come". That's what it seems to mean here:
"A los otros, todavía no les viene el veinte, digamos a Lastiri."
http://www.diariocambio.com.mx/2014/opinion/por-las-entranas...

And "mientras nos dure el veinte" here could mean "while our time lasts":

"'Mientras nos dure el veinte'
¿No que el rock mexicano nos da sorpresas? [...]
Villoro en este Mientras nos dure el veinte (haciendo alusión a lo que duraba ese tiempo transcurrido cuando uno ponía una moneda de veinte centavos en los viejos teléfonos públicos) no canta [...]"
http://rollingstone.com.mx/blogs/mientras-nos-dure-el-veinte...

Proposed translations

+2
1 day 22 hrs
Selected

the 20th (district)/ Mazatlán

I could not make sense of this, so decided to listen to the corrido and discovered the words were slightly different. As a matter of fact, there are several versions around, with minor variations.
In the one I listened the singer says clearly "allá en el 20 los veo".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN7XG344ArQ
There is another written version that says:
"estén listos pa'las 11 que yo en el 20 los veo" (Be ready at 11 and I'll see you in the 20th).
Either makes more sense than the words quoted above, which I suspect are a flawed rendering of "que ahí en el 20 los veo".
In any case, I believe they are talking about a place, a rendezvous: the 20th disctrict, "distrito 20", which is the city of Mazatlán, in Sinaloa (Iván's stomping ground).
http://www.debate.com.mx/mazatlan/-En-calma-el-distrito-20-e...
"En calma el distrito 20 en la avenida Jabalines"
http://www.cee-sinaloa.org.mx/publico/CD Interactivo/conteni...
XX DISTRITO: Comprende parte de la ciudad de Mazatlán y de la Alcaldía Central y las sindicaturas de Villa Unión y El Roble, del Municipio de Mazatlán. Cabecera: la ciudad de Mazatlán.
Apologies for the late input!!



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Note added at 1 day23 hrs (2017-02-12 20:46:03 GMT) Post-grading
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Another written version stating "que yo en el 20 los veo". So may be that is what the singer is saying too. It can be confused with allá/ahí:
http://www.bumbablog.com/lyrics/?lyr=824941

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Note added at 3 days11 hrs (2017-02-14 09:11:07 GMT) Post-grading
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Thanks Muriel and Robert! I did not expect you to go through all that trouble! I hope it was in time for your translation Muriel! xx
Peer comment(s):

agree Robert Carter : Well done, Celia, I listened to the Carnaval version as well, you nailed it.
23 mins
Thanks Robert! I could not get it round my head!!
agree Charles Davis : ¡Olé!
4 hrs
Thanks Charles!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you so much for your dedication, Celia - that was brilliant! Together, Robert and I were able to re-open the question and award the points to you."
18 hrs

I can see they've got the message / have understood what's happening / are aware of the situation

I suggested in the discussion area that "veinte" might mean "time", as in "the time is coming/has come", but in the light of another example and a bit more consideration I don't think that's quite right.

I still think it has to do with the use of "veinte" derived from the 20-centavo coin used in the past to make a call from a public phone, most commonly found in the expression "caer el veinte". Here is the reference I posted before, where this expression is explained well:
http://algarabia.com/de-donde-viene/caer-el-veinte/

It's also in the very useful online Diccionario del español de México, of which I've made use before:

"veinte
"3 Caerle el veinte (Coloq) Comprender o recordar algo una persona repentinamente: “Le expliqué durante media hora, hasta que le cayó el veinte”, “A los treinta años nos cayó el veinte de que no nos querían”"
http://dem.colmex.mx/moduls/BuscadorAvanzado.aspx

As I said before, it reminds me irresistibly of "the penny dropped".

In the expression "Mientras nos dure el veinte", which I found in an article in Rolling Stone magazine (where it was explained as an allusion to "el tiempo transcurrido cuando uno ponía una moneda de veinte centavos en los viejos teléfonos públicos"), "veinte" did seem to mean "time". But I think this misled me.

"Venir el veinte" seems, from the few cases available, to be close to "caer el veinte". In other words, "le viene el veinte"/"le ha venido el veinte" seems to means "he/she understands/has understood", or "he/she has got the message". In the reference I quoted before, I now think that's the meaning. It's talking about the PRI in relation to the 2018 presidential election, and saying that some of them are aware of how things really are, but others, including Lastiri, are not. Let me give a bit more context:

"Es obvio que Lastiri tiene una mala lectura del futuro. Se está equivocando. [...]
Y el razonamiento, aunque descabellado, ya lo entendieron Blanca y Doger; por eso quieren el sacrificio, por eso apuestan al martirio y por eso mismo estarían pensando incluso en las mieles de la derrota. A los otros, todavía no les viene el veinte, digamos a Lastiri."
http://www.diariocambio.com.mx/2014/opinion/por-las-entranas...

It now seems obvious to me that "todavía no les viene el veinte" means "they still haven't got the message". This is confirmed by another example, again about the PRI:

"Ellos ya lo entendieron: Zavala, Doger, Amador, Islas y Morales, detrás de un gran líder estatal del PRI hay un gran líder político del estado. Y así tendrían que interpretarlo los potenciales relevos de Blanca: Javier García, Valentín Menéses, Mario Montero, Jorge Estefan, Pablo Fernández, Víctor Chedraui y el resto del pelotón. Pero, a los que no les ha venido el veinte es a los críticos y analistas de la política local que juegan con espejismos de una decisión no de encuestas, modos ni plazos."
http://www.quintacolumna.com.mx/2009/septiembre/columnistas/...

There are many ways you might express it, and I'm not totally sure what kind of expression best reflects the tone, but I'm fairly confident of the meaning.
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1 day 1 hr

"El Veinte"/"El 20" is coming, I'll see you [there]

I had this totally wrong previously, but it subsequently occurred to me that it could be a cartel member's alias. Often these songs have plenty of authentic details, "dog whistles" if you like, which only people with a certain level of knowledge about the scene will understand.

Not sure if we should translate the name (Twenty?), but this appears to refer to one of the now incarcerated lieutenants of the Sinaloa Cartel.

This looks to me like an order: "El 20 is coming, [you'd better] be there/show up".

CIUDAD DE MÉXICO. Jesús Peña, apodado ‘El 20’ y jefe de sicarios del Cártel de Sinaloa fue capturado esta tarde en Colonias de San Miguel, Culiacán.
http://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/sociedad/capturan-a-el-20-lid...

Early Thursday Jesus Peña, alias 'El 20' was arrested in Culiacan, Sinaloa. Peña is designated as the security chief of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada , a leader of cártel del Pacífico
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2014/02/reports-of-capture-of-...

http://www.milenio.com/policia/Cae-brazo-armado-Mayo-Zambada...
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