el vacío lúgubre lo asfixiaba

English translation: he found the mournful blankness suffocating

22:03 May 5, 2023
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Poetry & Literature
Spanish term or phrase: el vacío lúgubre lo asfixiaba
Ernesto debía mirar hacia otra parte. Lo intimidaban los ojos del hombre ciego. El vacío lúgubre (de esos ojos) lo asfixiaba.

Sugerencias bienvenidas. Muchas gracias de antemano!!!
Abrazo
Lakasa Stnorden
Local time: 06:54
English translation:he found the mournful blankness suffocating
Explanation:
Another option, so many ways to say this ...
The blind man's eyes intimidated him, he found the mournful blankness (of that stare) suffocating
Plenty of valid synonyms to choose from for "vacio lúgubre", but I think "suffocate" conveys the meaning of "lo asfixiaba", as he's feeling intimidated and uncomfortable.
Selected response from:

Marie Wilson
Spain
Local time: 11:54
Grading comment
Many thanks to all of you!!!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1the sad emptiness ot his face shook him to the core
Tomasso
3 +1he found the mournful blankness suffocating
Marie Wilson
3 +1His blank sorrowful gaze made him gasp
ormiston
4The dreary void of his sightless eyes suffocated him.
Ana Jimenez H.
3The forlorn emptiness took his breath away
Andrew Bramhall
3the lugubrious/gloomy/dreary emptiness
O G V
4 -1the deathly emptiness (of those gaze) suffocated him
Laureano Brito


Discussion entries: 7





  

Answers


13 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
The forlorn emptiness took his breath away


Explanation:
Ernesto had to look elsewhere. The blind man's eyes panicked him. The forlorn emptiness (of those eyes) took his breath away/ held him transfixed.

Andrew Bramhall
United Kingdom
Local time: 10:54
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 70
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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
the lugubrious/gloomy/dreary emptiness


Explanation:
pues parece otro caso en que se puede usar el mismo término, que debe ser algo culto o literario pero precisamente por eso puede valer bien

adjective
looking or sounding sad and dismal.
"his face looked even more lugubrious than usual"
buenas coincidencias

https://www.google.com/search?q="lugubrious eyes"&...

gloomy sugiere sombrío o melancólico

las coincidencias que salen de primeras son de una peli muy famosa ahora

O G V
Spain
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Carol Gullidge: You seem to have forgotten the verb!//Hmm! I'm not so sure that the verb really can simply be ignored here, no matter how important the rest of the sentence may be!
2 days 18 hrs
  -> bien visto, pero me parece que la duda se centra el adjetivo y el sustantivo.
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
he found the mournful blankness suffocating


Explanation:
Another option, so many ways to say this ...
The blind man's eyes intimidated him, he found the mournful blankness (of that stare) suffocating
Plenty of valid synonyms to choose from for "vacio lúgubre", but I think "suffocate" conveys the meaning of "lo asfixiaba", as he's feeling intimidated and uncomfortable.

Marie Wilson
Spain
Local time: 11:54
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 88
Grading comment
Many thanks to all of you!!!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  philgoddard
6 hrs
  -> Thanks Phil!

agree  Adrian MM.: > as opposed to the first rushed & 'forlorn' answer, this one appeals to me - NB again - as a published schoolboy poet in Surrey (Regency Press, London & New York, 1968) https://eng.proz.com/kudoz/spanish-to-english/art-literary/4...
8 hrs
  -> Thanks Adrian! Poet, that's interesting, and that's a lot of empties in the link from 20 years back!

disagree  Andrew Bramhall: A 'stare' can't suffocate.AMM sadly has ignored the def.article 'el', and read "EL vacío" as an adjective; no, it's emptINESS, and yet again falsely claims authorship of poetry volume (entitled Bluegrass Poetry) actually written by Ian Colin Jeffry in '68
12 hrs
  -> Unjustified. A figure of speech, on a par with "lo asfixiaba". Loads of examples https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/suffocation https://www.thehindu.com/features/education/issues/talking-p...
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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
His blank sorrowful gaze made him gasp


Explanation:
My stab at it. The terms relate to the blind man's eyes.

ormiston
Local time: 11:54
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 34

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andrew Bramhall: Yes, something along those lines; @Marie- your response to me completely irrational.No feud between me amd AMM. He started it with his unnecessary dig at my answer, compounded by his lies which are irrelevant to your question's context anyway.
12 hrs
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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): -1
the deathly emptiness (of those gaze) suffocated him


Explanation:
"Emptiness" being the impression caused on the character by the total absence of life in the blind man's eyes

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Note added at 15 horas (2023-05-06 13:53:47 GMT)
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* Obvious: "that gaze"

Laureano Brito
Brazil
Local time: 06:54
Native speaker of: Native in PortuguesePortuguese

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Carol Gullidge: Very high confidence rating for an answer that is seriously ungrammatical (of those gaze)!/I'm glad you've corrected the mistake, but unfortunately it remains in the header term, which is what would end up in the Glossary if this Answer were to be chosen.
20 hrs

agree  Tomasso: sounds good to me, the deathly emptiness of his face was suffocating?
1 day 2 hrs

disagree  Andrew Bramhall: No; the emptiness of someone's facial expression cannot " suffocate" anyone; otherwise agree with Carol's comments.And 'lúgubre' dosn't mean ""deathly", sorry.
1 day 2 hrs
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3 days 23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
the sad emptiness ot his face shook him to the core


Explanation:
Ernesto debía mirar hacia otra parte. Lo intimidaban los ojos del hombre ciego. El vacío lúgubre (de esos ojos) lo asfixiaba.

Ernie had to look away, the sadness and emptiness of that face shook him to the core of his very existence.

Tomasso
United States
Local time: 03:54
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andrew Bramhall: That's very good!
9 hrs
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16 days   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
The dreary void of his sightless eyes suffocated him.


Explanation:
Through the use of "sightless eyes" I seek to describe the physicality of his condition.

Ana Jimenez H.
Local time: 04:54
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
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