Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
no saca un perro de una milpa
English translation:
he is absolutely clueless
Added to glossary by
Thomas Walker
May 20, 2022 22:58
1 yr ago
43 viewers *
Spanish term
no saca un perro de una milpa
Spanish to English
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
I encountered this phrase in an opinion piece in a Mexican periodical. The piece is focused on Antony Blinken, Biden's Secretary of State. Here's the paragraph it occurs in:
"La ingenuidad del titular del Departamento de Estado es asombrosa. Peor aún: como diría el expresidente Fox, ***no saca un perro de una milpa***."
I have found several instances of the phrase in a Bing search, but none of them make clear to me what the meaning is, and I haven't found any discussions of English equivalents. ***You can't take a dog out of a corn field***???
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
"La ingenuidad del titular del Departamento de Estado es asombrosa. Peor aún: como diría el expresidente Fox, ***no saca un perro de una milpa***."
I have found several instances of the phrase in a Bing search, but none of them make clear to me what the meaning is, and I haven't found any discussions of English equivalents. ***You can't take a dog out of a corn field***???
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Proposed translations
(English)
1 +1 | he is absolutely clueless | andres-larsen |
3 | that prairie dog (AmE) hasn't got a prayer; prairie dog's (BrE) bark is worse than his bite | Adrian MM. |
References
This might help | Helena Chavarria |
Change log
May 21, 2022 11:23: philgoddard changed "Field (write-in)" from "current affairs" to "(none)"
Proposed translations
+1
13 hrs
Selected
he is absolutely clueless
besides being naive, he is absolutely clueless
Clueless definición y significado | Diccionario Inglés Collins
https://www.collinsdictionary.com › diccionario › ingles
If you describe someone as clueless, you are showing your disapproval of the fact that they do not know anything about a particular subject or that they are ...
Intuition - Page 82 -
https://books.google.com › books·
Carol Ericson · 2012 · Fiction
Two of them were clueless about Bree and the other one's mother had told her ... “I just didn't realize how naive young women could be. ... Not that he ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 hrs (2022-05-21 20:34:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
besides being naive, he doesn't have the foggiest idea or notion at all
not have the foggiest (idea/notion) Definitions and ...
https://www.macmillandictionary.com › ...
used for emphasizing that you do not know anything at all about something. I don't have the foggiest idea why he called me. Synonyms and related words.
Not to have the foggiest idea definición y significado - Collins ...
https://www.collinsdictionary.com › diccionario › ingles
Most doctors don't have the foggiest idea about migraines. I did not have the foggiest idea what he meant. I haven't the foggiest notion what she might like.
Significado de not have the foggiest (idea) en inglés
https://dictionary.cambridge.org › diccionario › ingles
11 may. 2022 — not have the foggiest (idea) Significado, definición, qué es not have the foggiest (idea): 1. to not know or understand something at all: 2.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 days (2022-05-27 13:40:29 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Glad to have been of help. Thanks and much appreciated.
Clueless definición y significado | Diccionario Inglés Collins
https://www.collinsdictionary.com › diccionario › ingles
If you describe someone as clueless, you are showing your disapproval of the fact that they do not know anything about a particular subject or that they are ...
Intuition - Page 82 -
https://books.google.com › books·
Carol Ericson · 2012 · Fiction
Two of them were clueless about Bree and the other one's mother had told her ... “I just didn't realize how naive young women could be. ... Not that he ...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 21 hrs (2022-05-21 20:34:48 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
besides being naive, he doesn't have the foggiest idea or notion at all
not have the foggiest (idea/notion) Definitions and ...
https://www.macmillandictionary.com › ...
used for emphasizing that you do not know anything at all about something. I don't have the foggiest idea why he called me. Synonyms and related words.
Not to have the foggiest idea definición y significado - Collins ...
https://www.collinsdictionary.com › diccionario › ingles
Most doctors don't have the foggiest idea about migraines. I did not have the foggiest idea what he meant. I haven't the foggiest notion what she might like.
Significado de not have the foggiest (idea) en inglés
https://dictionary.cambridge.org › diccionario › ingles
11 may. 2022 — not have the foggiest (idea) Significado, definición, qué es not have the foggiest (idea): 1. to not know or understand something at all: 2.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 days (2022-05-27 13:40:29 GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------
Glad to have been of help. Thanks and much appreciated.
Peer comment(s):
agree |
AllegroTrans
: This is a good starting point; hard to make a judgement call on the register that TomW needs, without knowing the wider context
35 mins
|
Thanks, also for your peer comment. Much appreciated!
|
|
neutral |
philgoddard
: This seems a bit bland for such a colorful Spanish expression.
1 hr
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks to everybody who participated. I agree with Phil that this is a little bland, but I also have struggled to find a more lively phrase, pretty much without success."
2 days 19 hrs
that prairie dog (AmE) hasn't got a prayer; prairie dog's (BrE) bark is worse than his bite
The BrE of couldn't organsie a p*ss up in a brewery had also been my first thought but Phil G. has stolen my thunder.
Prairie dog isn't really a dog but a rodent and prairie in a US American context encapsulates the miaze or corn field simile and the President Fox canine allusion
'He ain't nothing but a hound dog' - as in Elvis P's classic hit - might suggest a level of promiscuity and profligacy not there.
Bark worse than its bite: I'm unsure this works Transatlantically...
Over to ProZ regulars for constructive comments...
Prairie dog isn't really a dog but a rodent and prairie in a US American context encapsulates the miaze or corn field simile and the President Fox canine allusion
'He ain't nothing but a hound dog' - as in Elvis P's classic hit - might suggest a level of promiscuity and profligacy not there.
Bark worse than its bite: I'm unsure this works Transatlantically...
Over to ProZ regulars for constructive comments...
Example sentence:
What animal barks but isn't a dog? ... Today, we know these animals as prairie dogs, and they got their name from the barking heard by the settlers.
Is Hound Dog an insult? (slang) A promiscuous man.
Reference:
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/someone-s-bark-is-worse-than-their-bite
Reference comments
17 mins
Reference:
This might help
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/cant-cut-the-mustard...
Can’t Cut the Mustard
When you use the expression ‘Can’t Cut the Mustard’ you mean that someone is unable to succeed or meet expectations.
Example of use: “I really like Jake, but he just can’t cut the mustard.”
Interesting fact about Can’t Cut the Mustard
The phrase ‘can’t cut the mustard emerged in America at the end of the 1800s. The earliest printed example comes from an 1889 edition of The Ottowa Herald: “He tried to run the post office business under Cleveland’s administration, but “couldn’t cut the mustard.” The use of quotation marks indicates that the phrase was already a common one.
https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/phrases/cant-cut-the-...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 27 mins (2022-05-20 23:25:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
(02 de Diciembre, 2015).- El presidente nacional del Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), Agustín Basave, calificó al gobierno de Enrique Peña Nieto en sus primeros tres años como “corrupto”, “malo” e “inepto”, el cual no es capaz de “sacar un perro de una milpa”.
https://revoluciontrespuntocero.mx/corrupto-malo-e-inepto-el...
As with many slang and idiomatic phrases, the origin of cut the mustard isn’t so … clear-cut. But, let’s see if we can’t crack this etymological jar open just a bit.
What does “cut the mustard” mean?
To cut the mustard is “to reach or surpass the desired standard or performance” or more generally “to succeed, to have the ability to do something.” For instance, Beyoncé really cut the mustard in her new song.
Most often, the phrase is used in negative constructions for when something doesn’t live up to expectations or can’t do the job, e.g., The quarterback couldn’t cut the mustard in the playoffs.
When did we start saying “cut the mustard”?
Cut the mustard appears to be an American original. Evidence for the phrase can be found in a Galveston, Texas newspaper in 1891–92.
The author O. Henry—who spent many years in Texas, where he may have picked up the expression—used cut the mustard in his 1907 collection of short stories The Heart of the West: “I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard.”
What is the origin of the word mustard?
The word mustard itself goes back, via French, to the Latin mustum (English must), which was an altogether different substance. It was the juice squeezed from grapes before it was made into wine. Mustard is so named because the condiment was originally made by making mustards seeds into a paste with must.
What does mustard have to do with excellence?
It’s not clear exactly why we say cut the mustard. Some have proposed literal derivations, such as cutting down (harvesting) mustard plants. Others have suggested connections to the phrase pass muster, when a solider gets approval after troops are assembled together for inspection. Evidence for these origins are wanting.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/cut-the-mustard/
Tu no sirves ni para sacar un perro de una milpa.
You're not even good enough to retrieve a dog from an open field.
https://context.reverso.net/translation/spanish-english/un p...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2022-05-20 23:59:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Glad to be of help. I've also learnt something new, which is always a good thing :-)
Can’t Cut the Mustard
When you use the expression ‘Can’t Cut the Mustard’ you mean that someone is unable to succeed or meet expectations.
Example of use: “I really like Jake, but he just can’t cut the mustard.”
Interesting fact about Can’t Cut the Mustard
The phrase ‘can’t cut the mustard emerged in America at the end of the 1800s. The earliest printed example comes from an 1889 edition of The Ottowa Herald: “He tried to run the post office business under Cleveland’s administration, but “couldn’t cut the mustard.” The use of quotation marks indicates that the phrase was already a common one.
https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/phrases/cant-cut-the-...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 27 mins (2022-05-20 23:25:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
(02 de Diciembre, 2015).- El presidente nacional del Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), Agustín Basave, calificó al gobierno de Enrique Peña Nieto en sus primeros tres años como “corrupto”, “malo” e “inepto”, el cual no es capaz de “sacar un perro de una milpa”.
https://revoluciontrespuntocero.mx/corrupto-malo-e-inepto-el...
As with many slang and idiomatic phrases, the origin of cut the mustard isn’t so … clear-cut. But, let’s see if we can’t crack this etymological jar open just a bit.
What does “cut the mustard” mean?
To cut the mustard is “to reach or surpass the desired standard or performance” or more generally “to succeed, to have the ability to do something.” For instance, Beyoncé really cut the mustard in her new song.
Most often, the phrase is used in negative constructions for when something doesn’t live up to expectations or can’t do the job, e.g., The quarterback couldn’t cut the mustard in the playoffs.
When did we start saying “cut the mustard”?
Cut the mustard appears to be an American original. Evidence for the phrase can be found in a Galveston, Texas newspaper in 1891–92.
The author O. Henry—who spent many years in Texas, where he may have picked up the expression—used cut the mustard in his 1907 collection of short stories The Heart of the West: “I looked around and found a proposition that exactly cut the mustard.”
What is the origin of the word mustard?
The word mustard itself goes back, via French, to the Latin mustum (English must), which was an altogether different substance. It was the juice squeezed from grapes before it was made into wine. Mustard is so named because the condiment was originally made by making mustards seeds into a paste with must.
What does mustard have to do with excellence?
It’s not clear exactly why we say cut the mustard. Some have proposed literal derivations, such as cutting down (harvesting) mustard plants. Others have suggested connections to the phrase pass muster, when a solider gets approval after troops are assembled together for inspection. Evidence for these origins are wanting.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/cut-the-mustard/
Tu no sirves ni para sacar un perro de una milpa.
You're not even good enough to retrieve a dog from an open field.
https://context.reverso.net/translation/spanish-english/un p...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2022-05-20 23:59:15 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Glad to be of help. I've also learnt something new, which is always a good thing :-)
Note from asker:
Thanks, Helena. Being an etymology nerd myself, I really enjoyed your post here. A very helpful extended explanation. |
Peer comments on this reference comment:
neutral |
philgoddard
: I think this is too polite - they're saying he's useless.
15 hrs
|
I wouldn't know. I don't speak either Mexican Spanish or US English. Thanks for your opinion, Phil :-)
|
|
neutral |
AllegroTrans
: Agree with Phil. I think the "cut the mustard" saying is far too weak here
15 hrs
|
I wouldn't know. I don't speak either Mexican Spanish or US English. Thanks for your opinion, AllegroTrans :-)
|
|
agree |
Adrian MM.
: as we say at the Bar, this is within 'acceptable parameters'.
2 days 19 hrs
|
Discussion
One possibility is to leave it in Spanish with a brief explanation.
Or here are some synonyms for "couldn't organize a pissup in a brewery", which is perfect but too British:
http://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/couldn't_organise_a_piss-up_...
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/not-know...
http://www.teever.gob.mx/files/14-de-mayo-de-2021.pdf
"Además, AMLO tiene que meter la mano, pues nadie más lo hace. Tanto el Instituto Nacional Electoral, como el Tribunal Federal Electoral, no sacan un perro de una milpa, es decir, no sirven para nada."