Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
agarrar rabos
English translation:
grabs people by the tail
- The asker opted for community grading. The question was closed on 2015-09-03 16:54:09 based on peer agreement (or, if there were too few peer comments, asker preference.)
Aug 30, 2015 20:33
8 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term
agarrar rabos
May offend
Spanish to English
Art/Literary
Slang
Mexico
Context is an article about "reefer madness" and the hysteria with which marijuana came to be perceived in Mexico after the 19th century.
Surrounding text reads «¡La mariguana es mala, maléfica, aciaga y siniestra, mata, aniquila, devora, agarra los rabos, los zarandea y arroja los cuerpos a las calderas humeantes del infierno!»
I can figure out the rest.
Thanks in advance.
Surrounding text reads «¡La mariguana es mala, maléfica, aciaga y siniestra, mata, aniquila, devora, agarra los rabos, los zarandea y arroja los cuerpos a las calderas humeantes del infierno!»
I can figure out the rest.
Thanks in advance.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +3 | grabs people by the tail |
Charles Davis
|
Proposed translations
+3
1 hr
Selected
grabs people by the tail
I don't think this is actually offensive, though there's no doubt that if you google it you find yourself wading through a lot of porn in search of something useful. Maybe the expression has a colloquial meaning, but I can't find one. Obviously "rabo" has a vulgar slang meaning (two, in fact; it can also mean "nalgas"), and "agarrarlas alguien del rabo" means "encontrarse en situación de escasez económica" in Costa Rica, but I don't think any of this is relevant here.
I think it has its literal meaning, as part of a graphic evocation of what marihuana supposedly does to people: it "grabs them by the tail, swings them around and hurls their bodies into the steaming cauldrons of hell". It conjures up the idea of perdition via the drug "taking hold" of them, suggesting how it befuddles them. It also implies reducing people to an animal state, as you might grab an animal by the tail and swing it around (now that really is offensive).
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days20 hrs (2015-09-03 16:55:19 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the info! This is a very interesting subject. Maybe I'll check out this author.
I think it has its literal meaning, as part of a graphic evocation of what marihuana supposedly does to people: it "grabs them by the tail, swings them around and hurls their bodies into the steaming cauldrons of hell". It conjures up the idea of perdition via the drug "taking hold" of them, suggesting how it befuddles them. It also implies reducing people to an animal state, as you might grab an animal by the tail and swing it around (now that really is offensive).
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 days20 hrs (2015-09-03 16:55:19 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Thanks for the info! This is a very interesting subject. Maybe I'll check out this author.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "sounds about right. FYI, author is Jorge Garcia-Robles (though this is just a quote), who wrote «La bala perdida: William Burroughs en México». He has a new book out called «Anthology of Vice: The Adventures and Misadventures of Marijuana in Mexico�"
Something went wrong...