TRAD 6455-201, Spring 2022, 11th Assignment

Santiago Daponte Jiménez

Whereas register is largely the product of choices made by language users, dialect and sociolect are
forms of language that define speech communities and are used mostly instinctively. Define the
geographical area and social class of this extract from J.A. Mañas’ novel Historias del Kronen (Destino,
1994 1998). Is there any code-switching? Translate the text into a comparable stylistic level for English.

Me jode ir al Kronen los sábados por la tarde porque está siempre hasta el culo de gente. No hay ni una
puta mesa libre y hace un calor insoportable. Manolo, que está currrando en la barra, suda como un
cerdo. Tiene las pupilas dilatadas y nos da la mano, al vernos.

--Qué pasa, chavales. ¿Habéis visto el partido, troncos? --pregunta.

--Una puta mierda de equipo. Del uno al once, son todos una mierda --dice Roberto.

--Me han jodido el baño en Cibeles, tronco. Si esto sigue así, acabaré hacienda me del Atleti. A ver, ¿qué
queries? Pillamos un mini y unas bravas.

Roberto echa una ojeada a nuestro alrededor para ver si Pedro ha llegado. Luego, mira un reloj y dice :
joder con el Pedro, desde que tiene novia pasa de todo el mundo.

--¿Hemos que dado con alguien más?--pregunto.

--Si. Con Fierro, Raúl y con Yoni.

--¿Quién es Yoni?

--Un amigo de Raúl. Un tío guay, nada que ver con el pesado de Raúl.

I fucking hate having to go to the Kronen on Saturday afternoons, because it’s always packed

with an assload of people. There’s not a single free table and the heat is unbearable. Manolo,

who’s working at the bar, sweats like a pig. His pupils are dilated, and he shakes our hands when

he sees us.

--What’s up? Have you seen the game, pals? –he asks.

--They’re a fucking shitty team. From one to eleven, they’re all shit --says Roberto.

--So much for celebrating, man. If this keeps up, I’ll end up switching to Atlético Madrid. Let’s

see… What do you want? Hand us a fifth and some spicy potatoes.
Roberto eyes our surroundings to see if Pedro has arrived. Then, he looks at a clock and says:

Damn Pedro, ever since he got a girlfriend he just lets the world pass him by.

--Do we have plans with anyone else?—he asked.

--Yeah. With Fierro, Raúl and Yoni.

--Who’s Yoni?

--Raúl’s friend. He’s a great guy, nothing like that asshole Raúl.

Explanation:

This takes place in Madrid, and the speakers are all working class young adults. I went for a

domesticating translation, so the geography doesn’t really come across. For example, the phrase

“Me han jodido el baño en Cibeles,” is a local phrase that means Real Madrid lost, referring to

the fact that sometimes, fans of the team will celebrate a victory by bathing in the fountain in the

Plaza de Cibeles. A literal translation would be “They’ve fucked up my bath in Cibeles”.

Other things that were lost in translation are the word “Atleti” (a shortening of Atlético Madrid,

usually local to Madrid itself), the word “mini” (which refers to a 750 ml plastic glass; different

places in Spain have different words for it, but mini indicates it’s Madrid) and “bravas.”

(referring to papas bravas, a local dish that consists of fried potato cubes coated in mildly spicy

tomato sauce). I probably could have left bravas unstranslated, but I had already decided to do a

domesticating translation and wanted to stay consistent.

Lastly, there’s no code-switching as far as I can tell.