Al ras del piso

Argentina’s second non-binary march had virtually no help from the state: a couple of amps on loan from a Buenos Aires municipality, to be precise. Between heightened hostility and intense budget cuts by the government across the board, organizers told me that everything was al ras del piso, or very tight indeed, just about fundraising enough for the event to kick off. 

But I like the literal translation “flush with the floor” — not just floor-level, precisely on par with the ground, an accurate measurement of how low we are at the moment.

You may also be interested in: As far-right hostility rises, non-binary Argentines hold second march

Quid de la cuestión

The quid de la cuestión is the essence of a problem, the heart of the issue — a variant of “the truth of the milanesa,” if you will. If someone refers to the “‘what’ of the question” (quid being the Latin word for “what”), it’s usually to cut to the chase, i.e. “Well, the quid de the cuestión is this” or “Okay but what’s the quid de la cuestión?” 

In another bout of favoritism I’m including quid de la cuestión because when it came up in an editorial meeting I couldn’t help thinking how lovely it sounds in Spanish. The quid is pronounced “kid,” by the way, not the Latin or indeed British “kwid.” I’ve sometimes seen it written as kit de la cuestión as a result. 

Cero a la izquierda

This came up when translating Facundo’s profile on Federico Sturzenegger, where a journalist described him as a cero a la izquierda. Sturzenegger, not Facu, that is.

A “zero to the left” is a personal favorite, an evocative way of saying someone is useless, a nobody: adding a zero to the left of a value being, of course, redundant. Brutal, kind of endearing, and good for self-deprecation, Soy un cero a la izquierda para esto sounds better than “I’m bad at this.” 

Although we couldn’t find a literal translation both languages have an abundance of descriptive similes for an equivalent effect like “As useful as a chocolate teapot” or Tan útil como cenicero de motos (As useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle). I would absolutely love to know some of your favorites!

You may also be interested in: The phantom minister

Share your thoughts and translation hang-ups with us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!