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Estar harto

Lesson 154. Expressions

Disputas - La Extraña Dama - Part 2

video thumbnail Length: 2:11
Difficulty: Difficulty
Caption:13, 14, 15, 16,17, 18

Provócame - Capítulo Seis - Part 1

video thumbnail Length: 3:05
Difficulty: Difficulty
Caption:33,34

In the Argentine drama Provócame, we hear an ugly exchange between Mariano and his mamá. First, she calls her son an imbecile and then, a little later, Mariano spits:

¡Estoy harto de que te metas en mis cosas, mamá!  
I'm sick of you sticking your nose in my business, mom!
Estoy harto de vos.  
"I'm fed up with you."
[Captions 33-4, Provócame > Capítulo Seis > 1]

Yes, he's had it up to here, as we might say in English. Hearing these lines, we were reminded of the theme song for another drama in our library: Disputas. The song goes like this:

Me llamas para decirme que te marchas...  
"You call me to tell me that you're leaving..."
que ya no aguantas más...  
"that you can't take it anymore... "
que ya estás harta de verle cada día...
"that you're fed up by seeing him each day... "
de compartir su cama...  
"of sharing his bed..."
[Captions 13-8, Disputas > La Extraña Dama > 2]

Did you notice it's "harta" instead of "harto" in the song? The "you" is obviously female. You see, "harto(a)" is an adjective that on its own means "full." It agrees with the person who's, well, had it.

In this song, a similar sentiment is expressed with "ya no aguantas más" ("you can't take it anymore"). We wrote about the verb
"aguantar" ("to endure, to bear, to stand, to put up with, to tolerate") before, in
this lesson. As it happens, we also hear the word uttered in the newest installment of Provócame by young Julieta who claims to be running a very high fever (40º C = 104º F!). She says:

No parece porque me aguanto
"It doesn't look like it because I tolerate it"
[Caption 46, Provócame > Capítulo Seis >1]

You see, Julieta is enduring her illness in a way someone who's fed up with sickness might not. In a sense, you can tolerate (aguantarse) something until you are sick of it (estar harto).

Aguantar: A whole lot to bear

Lesson 106. Vocabulary

Disputas - La Extraña Dama - Part 2

video thumbnail Length: 2:11
Difficulty: Difficulty
Caption:15

Tierra Envenenada - Desminando - Part 1

video thumbnail Length: 4:24
Difficulty: Difficulty
Caption:66

Here's a haunting description of what it's like to be out in a field, wounded by a land mine:

Y bueno, yo aguanté hasta cierta parte, y de ahí ya no pude, el dolor me dominó.
"And, well, I could take it until a certain point, and from there on I couldn't anymore; the pain dominated me."
[Caption 66, La Tierra Envenenada > Desminando > 1]

The verb aguantar is a synonym for soportar in this context. It means "to be able to endure," "to stand" or "to bear." You'll often see aguantar followed by hasta ("until") to set a limit for how much can be stood or endured. For example:

Hay que aguantar hasta mañana
"You [in an impersonal sense] have to put up with it until tomorrow."

You'll probably hear the verb aguantar used by students with heavy work loads and tough teachers, but the verb can describe truly horrific pain as well.

If you go back into the archives, you'll hear this verb used in the Disputas theme song, Me llamas, by
José Luis Perales.

me llamas... para decirme que te marchas, que ya no aguantas más... que ya estas harta...
"you call me... to tell me that you're leaving, that you can't take it anymore... that you're fed up..."
[Captions 13-16, Disputas > La Extraña Dama > 2]

Carmín: A color and a lipstick

Lesson 2. Vocabulary

Disputas - La Extraña Dama - Part 2

video thumbnail Length: 2:11
Difficulty: Difficulty
Caption:27,32

y te has pintado la sonrisa de carmín
[Caption 32, Disputas>La Extraña Dama>2]

You'll note that Perales also sings "Y te has pintado la sonrisa de carmín". In this case carmín refers to lipstick, so the phrase translates as "And you have painted a lipstick smile". Carmín can also refer to the color crimson (aka carmine), and sometimes to a type of wild rose. Lipstick, aside from carmín de labios, is also known as lápiz de labios. Bear it in mind next time you find some on the collar, yours or otherwise.

(Did you know that collar, in Spanish, is the same word as for neck: cuello?)

Estrenar: To use for the first time

Lesson 1. Vocabulary

Disputas - La Extraña Dama - Part 2

video thumbnail Length: 2:11
Difficulty: Difficulty
Caption:29

y aquel vestido que nunca estrenaste, lo estrenas hoy...
[caption 29, Disputas>La Extraña Dama>2]

Part 2 of Disputas, La Extraña Dama, spotlights Spaniard José Luis Perales' classic tune Me Llamas. In this plaintive ballad sung to a woman who's on her way out the door (and out of his life), José sings y aquel vestido que nunca estrenaste, lo estrenas hoy....

Here we find a great little verb, estrenar, which the dictionary tells us can mean "to use or wear for the very first time", or "to debut". So our phrase can be translated as "and that dress that you've never worn before, you debut it today..." As is so often the case with music and poetry, these verses, so lovely in Spanish, are difficult to translate elegantly into English.

Keep your eyes open, estrenar is often used in relation to the premiere of a film or the release of a book (or even a website). A quick web search of estrenar with either película or libro will give you ample example.