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It is [b]echa[/b] la ley, from the verb "echar" (to throw or toss away). [b]Hecho[/b] (the masculine form of the past participle used as an adjective) comes from the verb "hacer" which means to do or to make. Hence "bien hecho" (well done), "tetas hechas" (fake tits, made tits, tits that have been done) or "trampa hecha" (a trick that has been done). When the past participle is used as an adjective, it must match the verb in number and gender, just like any other adjective. So:
Jamón cocido = cooked ham (masculine singular)
Huevos revueltos = scrambled eggs (masculine plural)
Calle destruida = a street that is all torn up (feminine singular)
Papas fritas = fried potatoes (feminine plural)
Another common expression using "echar" is "te echo por menos," which means "I miss you." I know a chica who sent this to a monger and he ran it through a translator and, based on the literal meaning of "echar" as to throw away, thought she was telling him to buzz off. I think the word "echarpe" (shawl) is also derived from echar; a shawl is something you throw around yourself. I could be wrong about that.
DR: "Vamos a ser ensalada," my friend. And ZM, I never forget the old adage, "A friend with weed is a friend indeed." I believe that can attributed to one of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, probably Freewheelin' Franklin, for those who are old enough to remember (the others were Phineas Freek and Fat Freddy). Now [b]that[/b] was back in the day.
[QUOTE=Dickhead]It is [b]echa[/b] la ley, from the verb "echar" (to throw or toss away). [b]Hecha[/b] (the feminine form of the past participle used as an adjective) comes from the verb "hacer" which means to do or to make. Hence "tetas hechas" (fake tits, made tits, tits that have been done) or "trampa hecha" (a trick that has been done) When the past participle is used as an adjective, it must match the verb in number and gender, just like any other adjective. So:
Jamón cocido = cooked ham (masculine singular)
Huevos revueltos = scrambled eggs (masculine plural)
Puta bien cogida = a well-fucked wh@re (feminine singular)
Papas fritas = fried potatoes (feminine plural)
Another common expression using "echar" is "te echo por menos," which means "I miss you." I know a chica who sent this to a monger and he ran it through a translator and, based on the literal meaning of "echar" as to throw away, thought she was telling him to buzz off. I think also the word "echarpe" (shawl) is derived from echar; a shawl is something you throw around yourself.
"Vamos a ser ensalada," my friend.[/QUOTE]According to Joe, who literally learned Castillano at her mother's breast unlike you who learned it at some gatto's breast, it is hecho la ley. When she first said it I asked her to explain, her translation "I (meaning we Argentines) make the law, I (we) make the trick / trap / justification for breaking." Clearly hecho, not echa.
It does explain a lot of behavior, since the idea that we make the laws, and they are there to serve me then I may break them when it suites me because obviously if I need to break it, it isn't serving me at the moment.
It also explains why some law breaking is not supported by society at large. Once at Cabildo why Lacroze I witnessed some pelotudo stealing a purse from a viajita in line for the bus. All of the people in line started yelling and pointing at the guy running away. A cop was about a half a block away and started chasing said pelotudo who as it turned out was the illegitimate child of Carl Lewis or something, he was so fucking fast it wasn't funny. Some kid coming by on a moto saw what happened, saw that the cop had no way of catching the pelotudo so he pulled up next to the cop, cop jumps on moto, kid takes off and in a great Starsky and Hutch moment the cop jumped off the moto to bring the miscreant to justice. Not robbing little old ladies is more like a law of God to Argies than a law of man like not smoking weed. So since it was one they didn't make, then it could not be broken with impunity, hence the civil involvement with the hated Mafia know as the PFA.
I'm not saying you're a dick head, just wrong nanananana. However for all the duffuses that are not privy to my relationship regarding the Spanish language and brother Dickhead, me correcting him is indeed a first and I do not suspect it will happen again anytime soon.
I still giggle about going to be the salad. Tommy thought it was pretty funny as well.
Again Jax off topic but a good story I hope I'm forgiven. Besides who ever gets to correct DH spanish, I couldn't help myself.
Mira vos. I called Gisell, who learned Spanish at her mom's tit and has even bigger tits than Jo's mom I am sure, and she confirmed you are correct that it comes from hacer and not echar, and gave a very similar explanation about "we make the law so we can throw it out." But she says it is "Hecha (not hecho) la ley, hecha la trampa" because both ley and trampa are feminine. Then she said, "Hecho el fuego, hecho el humo" to demonstrate the masculine / feminine thing. So we are both wrong, it seems. I can't make any grammatical sense out of this use of the past participle. The past participle as an adjective should follow the noun and not precede it. Gisell said she would call back and explain further.
Tomorrow I will consult with our maid, Mariana, who will probably have an extensive explanation involving "nosotros hablamos mal." Mariana is hesitant to correct my Spanish but does at times and I [b]think[/b] I now [b]sort of[/b] understand "llevar" versus "traer" thanks to her efforts. Gisell on the other hand corrects my Spanish all the time, in addition to pointing out any zits, shaving cuts, missing buttons, and so forth I may have. She justifies this by pointing out that she is the oldest in her family whereas I am the youngest in mine. Somehow this allows her to be my older sister despite the fact I am almost 22 years older than she is. I guess fucking your older sister is somewhat better than fucking your younger sister?
My exact question to her was, "¿(H)echa la ley; sale del verbo hacer o del verbo echar?" and after saying it came from "hacer," she immediately said: ¡"Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa"! So now I want to know why, when I tell people dinner is ready, they say "voy" (I am going) instead of "vengo" (I am coming). I had an extensive discussion of this with Gisell and Flor over at Gisell's place and I still can't make any sense out of it.
So this is all very unclear but one thing is abundantly clear: Gisell has some [b]big[/b] ol' fucking titties, is proud of them, and knows how to use them.
More to follow. Aqualung or any other native speakers, please feel free to educate me further.
Hecha (hacer verb)
The phrase means "they make the law, they make the trick" but doesn't sounds good in english, the asertive english traslation would be the phrase printed by the prodigy which by the way performed in Argentina "Fuck 'em and their law"
Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa means that for any law, there is a way to avoid the law.
But see, this is why it doesn't make sense to me. "They" make the law would be "hacen." "Hecha" is "made." Los que hacen la ley puedan tramparla, or some such, but I guess that is not as not as poetic.
Some things just don't translate, I guess. Thanks, MCSE.
It's "the law is made, the loophole is made"
Fuck me. It makes no sense.
Elmore Lenard said it best, "Don't let correct usage keep your language from singing, whenever possible stick to the rules except when breaking them sounds better." Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa is balanced, concise, and as Shakespeare would have said "Falls trippingly from the tongue."
Gysell does indeed have some tig ol bitties.
Elmore Leonard is a good writer but when discussing Gisell one must quote Emerson:
"Emerson big tits."
Hecha la ley hecha la trampa. Cualquier colectivo me deja en la puerta. Busco un Johnny para garchar en el locu. Andate cagá. Chupa la chuchi. Viste viste viste.
[QUOTE=Dickhead]
Hecha la ley hecha la trampa. Cualquier colectivo me deja en la puerta. Busco un Johnny para garchar en el locu. Andate cagá. Chupa la chuchi. Viste viste viste.[/QUOTE]Better Porteño: Cualquier bondi me deja bien;)
(it's "Andá a cagar")
[QUOTE=MCSE]Hecha (hacer verb)
The phrase means "they make the law, they make the trick" but doesn't sounds good in english, the asertive english traslation would be the phrase printed by the prodigy which by the way performed in Argentina "Fuck 'em and their law"
Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa means that for any law, there is a way to avoid the law.[/QUOTE]There is an old say in Greek very similar to that that goes like "The laws are made to be broken"
El Greco
[QUOTE=MCSE]Hecha (hacer verb)
The phrase means "they make the law, they make the trick" but doesn't sounds good in english, the asertive english traslation would be the phrase printed by the prodigy which by the way performed in Argentina "Fuck 'em and their law"
Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa means that for any law, there is a way to avoid the law.[/QUOTE]It appears the saying; "Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa" (Every law has a loophole) has a long historical use in Spain and Latin America. It first appeared in 1734 in the "Diccionario de la Real Academia Española" with the following definition; "A phrase that explains that enacting new laws, especially in trade and contracts, often give opportunity to maliciously delivered traps, or escape from the burdens imposed by the laws." (Frase con que se explica, que el aumentar nuevas leyes, especialmente en comercio why trato, suele dar ocasión para que discurran maliciosamente trampearlas, o evadirse de la carga que imponen.
In the Italian we have a similar saying; "Fatta la legge, pensata la malizia". It has the same meaning as, Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa", the skirting of the responsibility imposed by the law.
I think the best and creative use of the phrase; "Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa", is by a very bright young Italian, Fosco Maraini, who wrote the book, Secreto Tibet. In this book he describes Japanese monks who had a law to only eat meat from sea animals. So, the monks decided to call the wild boar (Jabali) wild whale (ballena silvestri) Fosco Maraini referred to this skirting of the law as, "Hecha la ley, hecha la trampa)
I find the differences between Anglo and Latin culture fascinating and wonder what role language plays in them. I'm not a linguest nor do I play one on television though it seems to me that the primary way we share our thoughts (speaking) would have a lot to do about how we construct our thoughts and habits.
I'm wondering about a similar phrase in English, a few come to mind "By hook or by crook" and "Where there is a will there is a way" but neither of them really imply irrelevance of law. They imply breaking it but at the same time they assert it's validity by saying you may have to break it. Hecha la lay to me implies that the law is meaningless, that the sayer has the right to break the law. Any ideas for similar phrases in English.
Another word usage that seems to capture Latin sociological thought to me is not differentiating between "earning" and "winning" there is a word for earn (I don't remember what it is and whenever I have asked a Spanish speaker they had to think about it as well) In common usage "cuanto ganas?" works for both "what did you win at the casino?" and "how much do you get paid at your job?"
Obviously this is off thread, but not off topic of the last few days.
Edit: very cool I posted this in the "cost of living" thread with the disclaimer of it being off topic and must have posted it as Jax was making this new thread as it went online. I formally retract my apology as I am now on topic.
[QUOTE=Daddy Rulz]I find the differences between Anglo and Latin culture fascinating and wonder what role language plays in them. I'm not a linguest nor do I play one on television though it seems to me that the primary way we share our thoughts (speaking) would have a lot to do about how we construct our thoughts and habits.[/QUOTE]DR-your curioisty has been shared by many for many years. I suggest you google "Whorf Hypothesis" if you want to delve into language and it's effect on thought (and subsequently, culture) Interesting reading, for as much of it as you can handle.:)