Good morning everybody,
One more week, one more Friday, one more bit of English…:
The action is set again in the Mallville Public Library. As you will remember from our last message, Mel, the library director, decided for the librarians to weed damaged books, as well as those that were never borrowed. Dewey continues looking for excuses in order not to have to clean out his section. Today, one of his reasons is that all of his books circulate. However, after a short reflection, he comes up with a quick solution: throw out all the longer books, because, as he argues, bigger books have less chance of being read.
http://www.overduemedia.com/archive.aspx?strip=20060330
Mel: - Have you removed the damaged books?
Dewey: - Yes.
Mel: - How about the ones that don’t get checked out?
Dewey: - They all get checked out.
Dewey (continuing): - You know, the larger the book the less likely it will actually be read.
Mel: - You can’t weed by size!
Dewey (thoughtful): - I’d make exceptions for the thicker vampire novels.
Traducción:
Una semana más, un viernes más, un trocito de inglés más…:
La acción transcurre nuevamente en la Biblioteca Pública de Mallville. Como recordaréis del dÃa pasado, Mel, la directora, decide que los bibliotecarios expurguen los libros estropeados y los que no tienen éxito en el préstamo. Dewey sigue buscando excusas para no tener que limpiar su sección. Hoy uno de sus argumentos es que todos sus libros salen en préstamo, aunque luego recapacita y ofrece una “solución” rápida: tirar los libros más gruesos, ya que, según él, es menos probable que se lean.
Mel: - ¿Has quitado los libros estropeados?
Dewey: - SÃ.
Mel: - Qué pasa con los que no salen en préstamo?
Dewey: - Todos salen en préstamo.
Dewey (continúa): - Ya sabes, cuanto mayor es el libro menor es la probabilidad real de que sea leÃdo.
Mel: - ¡No puedes expurgar por el tamaño!
Dewey (pensando): - HarÃa excepciones con las novelas más gruesas de vampiros.
Sobre el inglés:
Recordemos este vocabulario de hace 2 semanas:
to weed = expurgar (fig.); quitar las malas hierbas (literal). A weed = mala hierba, hierbajo.
to check out = sacar un libro en préstamo. También, to check out a book for someone = gestionar el préstamo de un libro para alguien.
Expresiones nuevas en este texto:
Clean out = vaciar: I cleaned out the storage room this morning.
Otras expresiones con “clean” en sentido figurado:
Clean up = ordenar: Please clean up the brochures on this shelf.
Clean off = quitar: Please clean the papers off your desk before the mayor arrives.
Come up with = sugerir: Dewey came up with a very interesting plan.
Otras expresiones con “come” en sentido figurado:
Come across = encontrar: The researcher came across an important manuscript from the 18th century mixed in with other material.
Come (a)round = ceder: After the publisher representative’s visit, we came around to accept the contract modifications that she proposed.
Come back = volver a la memoria: It came back to me that we had already weeded that section last year.
Come in = resultar: Our old microform reader came in useful for the historian with microfilms of old newspapers.
Come over = sobrevenir; invadir: Nostalgia came over them as they looked at pictures of the old library school.
Come through = pasar por; vencer: She came through her “oposición” exam in good spirits.
Come to = ascender: What did the annual periodicals invoice come to?
Come up = surgir: The topic of adopting MARC21 came up at the meeting.
Come up against = tropezar con algo: Every time we ask for a new photocopy machine, we come up against the budget director.
set in = transcurre en: The action of the film is set in 19th century Madrid.
throw out = echar, tirar: We can throw out the old furniture on Thursday, when the city trucks remove trash. La expression “throw away” tiene un significado parecido: “We threw away all of the papers on the desk”, pero suele referirse a una acción más cotidiana, mientras que la primera expresión se utiliza más cuando se retira material.
Hoy practicaremos también esta construcción inglesa:
“the (adjetivo comparativo) xxx the (adjetivo comparativo) yyy” = “cuanto (adjetivo comparativo) xxx (adjetivo comparativo) yyy”
- The more we all learn about one another, the less we will fight = Cuanto más aprendamos todos unos de los otros, menos nos pelearemos
- The better indexed an article, the better it will be retrieved = Cuanto mejor indexado un artÃculo mejor será recuperado
- The more people that participate in developing a standard, the more useful it becomes.
- The more controversial an issue, the more interesting it is.
- The better you speak English, the more likely you are to find a good job in England
- The worse you write your CV, the lesser are your chances for finding a job
Bye, bye!
