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indicado en la ingeniería básica
Asignación Zona

Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

Güero de rancho

English translation:

Blue-eyed peasant

Added to glossary by Kaiser_Soze
Oct 6, 2006 18:10
17 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term

Güero de rancho

Spanish to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings Term
It's a term used (I think) in Mexico only. It referrs to a blonde man or woman who was born in a small village or ranch where usually no one light-skinned nor blonde. A bit racist, yes, but it's in a screenplay I'm translating at the moment. It's the physical description of one of the characters.

Does anyone have the slightest clue how to say this in English or what would be a good equivalent for English speakers? Thank you, all.
Proposed translations (English)
3 Blue-eyed indigenous peasant
3 +1 Ideas: High-hat guy, barnyard class / Uptown guy, apple knocker type/ cow college BMOC
4 bottle blonde/bleach blonde
3 towhead hayseed
3 blue-eyed Indian
3 blond peasant
3 A sow's ear masquerading as a silk purse?

Discussion

Yolanda Bello Olvera Oct 8, 2006:
This kind of blonde is *not as civilized, polished and well rounded* as one would expect from someone less dark than the rest of the population. I think the phrase involves racism but class issues too.
bigedsenior Oct 7, 2006:
Perhaps someone like a blond John Malkovich (Lennie) in East of Eden.
Margaret Schroeder Oct 6, 2006:
It's also worth keeping in mind that not all "güeros" are necessarily blond and white; it's also used in a relative way. Plenty of people called "Güero" are merely less moreno than their fellows.
Kaiser_Soze (asker) Oct 6, 2006:
El nombre es inventado. Es una historia rara, de hecho, plagada de humor negro. La historia está basada en México completamente, así que en ese sentido tienes razón, lo peyorativo del término es cuestión de clases, no de razas. El asunto sigue siendo, cómo dar a entender tanto la discriminiación de clase como el tipo racial al que se refiere el autor, en una sola expresión.
Miguel Fuentes Oct 6, 2006:
La esencia de esta expresión no es racismo de raza-color: la discriminación es de clase social, indicada por el color de la piel. Dónde se sitúa la historia? Es raro el nombre Zaius. De dónde lo sacó el autor?
Kaiser_Soze (asker) Oct 6, 2006:
Ouch! You're right, half-breed could turn out way too offensive. Apparently there is nothing quite like the term we're looking for. Now, this is cool: we have the chance to create a translation instead of merely translating into an existing one.
Patricia Rosas Oct 6, 2006:
The only thing that comes to mind is the very offensive term 'half-breed" explained here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-breed
Can you use the Spanish and add a parenthetical note?
Kaiser_Soze (asker) Oct 6, 2006:
One more thing The reason it is important to find the right term is because the description of this character should help casting agents look for the right actor to play the role. By the way, it's been great reading all of your input. I appreciate it.
Kaiser_Soze (asker) Oct 6, 2006:
Sorry, ZAIUS being the name of the man. Now, the thing is that, as described by the author to me, he's referring to a specific combination of racial features between a Mexican indigenous and a blonde caucasian. It is important to me that I find a term that people in the USA would understand without further explanation, if such term exists of course.
Kaiser_Soze (asker) Oct 6, 2006:
It would be complicated to provide more context. The actual line reads: Un sujeto, ZAIUS, güero de rancho de no más de cuarenta, con una chamarra de cuero color miel de corte setentero, conduce la camioneta.
Patricia Rosas Oct 6, 2006:
After reading Margarita's comments, I agree that we really need more context. I'm not clear if this description is simply background for the script or a piece of dialogue.
Patricia Rosas Oct 6, 2006:
Another thought: Be careful in how you use "blonde" because that's the slang term for DUMB. If you said a "blonde bumpkin" I'd read it as "a dumb rustic". I'd stick with light-skinned, white-skinned, or fair-haired.
Margarita Gonzalez Oct 6, 2006:
indígenas. Más contexto podría ser útil, pues quizá sólo se refiera a alguien presuntuosa o que oculta o niega orígenes.
Margarita Gonzalez Oct 6, 2006:
Hasta donde sé, sólo se usa en México; no necesariamente se refiere a personas del ámbito rural, sino a cualquier "blanquito" que se dé aires de ser más de lo que es que, en México por desgracia muchas veces transita por la negación a sus orígenes
Patricia Rosas Oct 6, 2006:
You understood the question perfectly. But, unfortunately, "blonde bumpkin" won't work. (fwiw, bumpkin doesn't mean "dumb" but an "unsophisticated rustic") The "blonde among brunettes" loses something... I hope some others ProZers speak up! (good luck!)
Kaiser_Soze (asker) Oct 6, 2006:
Now, as far as I know, bumpkin refers to someone rather dumb. In this context, it's used to address an unusual physical characteristic. "A blonde among brunettes". Does blonde bumpkin ressemble this?
Kaiser_Soze (asker) Oct 6, 2006:
I'm not sure if I understand your question, but I think my answer would be yes, it is a unit (Güero-de-rancho), such as Teacher's pet, for instance. Did I get you right?
Patricia Rosas Oct 6, 2006:
I'm curious if it is meant as a unit, or if it is describing two separate characteristics? The second would be something I've definitely heard often--a light-skinned person, who is (pardon) a country bumpkin.

Proposed translations

2 days 7 hrs
Selected

Blue-eyed indigenous peasant

I would like to put together two of the previous suggestions. The indigenous (instead of Indian) is to avoid the possible choice for European peasants in America (say, the Mennonite people).
I also prefer the blueeye instead of the blond, because of the possible confusion to the casting agency of just using peroxide or other hair coloring products.

Tough phrase to translate... nice challenge.

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Note added at 2 days7 hrs (2006-10-09 01:42:39 GMT)
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http://www.backintyme.com/odr/about1779-60.html
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I'd like to thank you all for making a forum out of this question. It was utterly interesting reading all of your suggestions. It's been very hard making a choice but I finally decided to go with a mix of all answers: blue-eyed peasant, which I will use next to a brief explanation in brackets. Thank you Sanerik for coming up with the idea of putting them all together. Best regards!"
+1
51 mins

Ideas: High-hat guy, barnyard class / Uptown guy, apple knocker type/ cow college BMOC

Me gustó tu pregunta, te doy solo opciones porque esto es interpretativo por completo.
Güero es un racismo porque en México un güero pertenece a la clase alta (de ciudad) y es de los privilegiados sociales. Pero al decir "de rancho" lo echa todo abajo porque entonces el tipo es una farsa, como un "falso güero".
En inglés no hay una situación paralela exacta sobre racismo de color de piel y clase social, pero si se puede usar urbano vs. rural: como la frase es chusca y un poco humorística en español, tambien hay que tratar de hacerla así en inglés. Así que hay que empezarla con un hombre de clase alta y de inmediarto sorprender con un slang que lo "desinfle".
-BMOC es Big Man On Campus (de universidad) y cow college es una escuelita rural agricola. Lax otras están claras, I think.

best,
MAF
Note from asker:
Encontraste justo el sentido de la frase que yo no he podido explicar. Ahora, el único problema es que el texto es un guión de largometraje y esta descripción debe servirle a la gente que va a hacer el casting del actor. La cosa se ha puesto semánticamente muy compleja. :(
Peer comment(s):
agree Margarita Gonzalez : Muy buenas opciones, Mike, pero creo que más contexto ayudaría mucho.
6 mins
Muchas gracias MargaEsther!
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1 hr

towhead hayseed

...towhead is light yellow (blond)
...hayseed is a farmboy/person

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Note added at 1 hr (2006-10-06 19:53:25 GMT)
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towheadED hayseed
Note from asker:
You seem to be very close to what I'm looking for. Last question though: would a casting agent be able to visualize the physical aspect of the actor they should be looking for to play this role? It's the description of a character in a screenplay.
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3 hrs

blue-eyed Indian

This is just a suggestion. It would be immediately understandable to someone with no knowledge of Mexican racial/class identities, although it does lump together "Indian" and "people from the countryside" in a way that might be offensive to Mexicans!
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4 hrs

blond peasant

"Peasant" at least suggests the Latin American rural milieu. As long as your text is about Mexico, so that one doesn't conjure up an image of blond European peasants.

The following references are possibly from Latin American settings:

Are you familiar with tapas, he said, eating the asshole of the **young and blond peasant**, wondering why it tasted like **mexican** food. ...
www.sakakini.info/?feed=rss2&p=124

... and also the naked playfulness of **blonde peasant Cuban children in Pinar del Rio province** - these are disparate subjects that ...
www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A11OEUC2QTW6G4?ie=UTF8...



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8 hrs

A sow's ear masquerading as a silk purse?

Es puro y al amanecer cigarro?

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Note added at 8 horas (2006-10-07 02:59:04 GMT)
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Or, going for the physical: country boy trying to act like a city boy
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1 day 10 hrs

bottle blonde/bleach blonde

pretender ser lo que no es...negar el origen
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