los ratones le hubiesen comido su lengua na - What is the English translation? English translators help English translators with the translation of los ratones le hubiesen comido su lengua na

Conges terminology question

188 months ago

JENN64 asked this question:

Language pair:	Spanish > English
Subject:	Other
Level of diffculty:	Easy / medium
Word or term in question:	los ratones le hubiesen comido su lengua na
Context:	interrogándola en inglés, como si los ratones le hubiesen comido su lengua nativa.
Keywords:	expression

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Answers on this question

188 months ago

wrote:

afraid to speak in her native tongue

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188 months ago

wrote:

as if the cat had got your tongue

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Comments by other colleagues on this answer:

188 months ago

Peonia Kempenich wrote:

This is the equivalent in English: "Si decimos a un niño angloparlante que los ratones le han comido la lengua, de seguro nos corregirá y nos dirá que no han sido los ratones sino el gato (‘Has the cat got your tongue?’)."

188 months ago

wrote:

as if (the) rats had devoured her native tongue

My comment:

As if they were trying to take away his/her ability to express him/herself as clearly as possible

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188 months ago

Karin Monteiro-Zwahlen wrote:

they interrogated her in English as if their native tongue had been eaten by mice

My comment:

in this case and context a passive construction of the sentence sounds better to me (the active form is very spanish and often doesn't fit in other languages)

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188 months ago

chrisbritingles wrote:

they questioned her in English as if mice had eaten their tongues

My comment:

'they questioned her in a ''hap hazard manner'' meaning: no rhythm, direction or order to the questions or the interrogation

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