Una palabra muy útil. Me gusta mucho la palabra inglés “earworm”, que significa una canción que se vuelve pegado en tu cerebro y te pone loco porque no la puedes sacar de la cabeza. No he encontrado la palabra española equivalente para este término, solo unos usos de una traducción directa, es decir “gusano de oreja”.
Este artículo de GQ España en línea sintetiza los puntos salientes de un gusano de oreja, incluso un remedio. Según el articulo, “los sesudos neurocientíficos proponen una solución alternativa: piensen en otra melodía”. Aunque el autor no está de acuerdo que este remedio funciona, puedo atestiguar que sí, se funciona. He usado esta misma técnica muchas veces para liberarme de una canción instalada en el cerebro. El truco es elegir una canción aún más irritante que el gusano de oreja.
Cada diciembre, DJ Earworm elige las canciones pop más omnipresente del año para crear su própria mezcla de todos. Debajo es el video de 2012, “Shine Brighter”, pero yo prefiero la versión de año pasado, “World Go Boom!” La primera vez que oí “World Go Boom!”, el gusano de oreja fatal era “Moves Like Jagger” que está entrelazado durante todo. Te aconsejo que evites escucharlo, pero si quieres hacerlo aquí es el enlace.
As my reader(s) is well aware, I am fascinated and at times obsessed by words. The above video, courtesy of DJ Earworm, put me in mind (naturally) of the word “earworm,” defined as a song that constantly runs through your mind and you can’t rid yourself of, no matter how hard you try. Every December, the genius that is DJ Earworm creates a mashup of the year’s pop hits. Although this year’s version is good, I prefer last year’s mix, World Go Boom! Go ahead and click on the highlighted link…Just don’t say I didn’t warn you when the “mooo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooves” of “Moves Like Jagger” becomes your own personal earworm.
I had thought that the word “earworm” was universally known among US speakers of English, but apparently not. I tried it out on two young women in their late 20s whom I consider quite hip, and neither knew what it meant. I was shocked that their vocabulary was lacking such a useful and specific term. Of course, my own twenty-something, The Kid, is quite familiar with the word. Although it is said that nothing can rid you of an earworm, one recommendation is to hum an even more annoying tune for a minute or so. The Kid’s failproof song for this cure is, of all things, “The Wedding of the Painted Doll” from 1929.
With earworms, usually the song in question is some innocuous pop hit or commercial jingle, but I’ve also encountered earworms in the form of classical music. My personal earworm of last summer was the Brazilian pop song “Ai se eu te pego” (loosely translated as “When I Get My hands on You.” Listen at your own risk.
“Ai se eu te pego”, un gusano de oreja en portugués/“Ai se eu te pego,” an earworm in Portuguese
The Latino Vote/El Voto Latino
Wooing the Latino vote. Following this week’s presidential elections, the pundits had much to say about the Republican Party’s lack of diversity. US demographics are changing and the Latino vote (to name only one portion of the minority electorate) is only going to increase. In a recent campaign ad, President Obama courted Latino voters in his workmanlike Spanish. On first hearing, it may appear that he slips into Spanglish, but actually the “dreamers” the president cites are the young people affected by the bipartisan DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act.
Here’s a complete translation of the ad: “In the young people known as DREAMers, I see the same qualities Michelle and I try to instill in our daughters. They respect their parents. They study for a better life. And they want to contribute to the only country they know and love. As a father, they inspire me. And as president, their spirit reminds me that no obstacle is too great, no road too long.”
The GOP, for its part, is wasting no time licking its wounds but instead is looking to the 2014 election cycle and beyond. A story in today’s paper profiled a rising star with a familiar name who is winning attention among Latino Republicans. George P. Bush, grandson of one US president and nephew of another, plans a run for office in Texas. He is the son of former Florida governor Jeb Bush and his Mexican-born wife Columba. He and his siblings were once famously referred to by their grandfather George H.W. Bush as “the little brown ones.”
Time magazine looks positively prescient in this report from June 19, 2000: George Bush—all three generations of him—wants to woo Hispanic voters. Scarcely a week goes by when the Texas Governor—George W.—isn’t hola-ing and comos estas-ing his way through a Hispanic community center or a classroom filled with Hispanic children. And late last week in New York City, his campaign released its first television ads of the general election—ads starring
George P. Bush, the candidate’s charismatic 23-year-old Mexican-American nephew, in a direct pitch to New York’s Puerto Rican voting bloc. The star turn will not be his last. “You’re going to be seeing a lot more of him,” beams a campaign adviser.
El voto latino va a ser más importante con cada elección estadounidense. Después de sus pérdidas en las elecciones de la semana pasada, los Republicanos están buscando a nuevos candidatos para atraer y asegurar el voto latino. Pero el primer candidato a surgir no tiene un nombre nuevo sino uno muy familiar en la história de política Republicana. George P. Bush es el nieto de un presidente y el sobrino de otro. Como el hijo de Jeb Bush, el ex gobernador de Florida, y su esposa, Columba, una filantrópica que nació en México, el Bush menor viene de un linaje respetado y valioso a los Republicanos. Ellos esperan que George P. pueda ganar las corazones y los votos del electorado latino. No importa que el nuevo Bush no haya especificado cuál cargo él podría buscar.
Busqué en el Internet para encontrar un video de George P. Bush en donde hable español. El único video que encontré es una entrevista por Univisión en 2009 con dos nietos de presidentes, George P. Bush y Patrick Nugent, el nieto de Lyndon Johnson. El Sr. Nugent habla un español bastante bien mientras que el Sr. Bush titubea y tartamudea un poco. El éste tiene que recurrir al espanglish cuando relata una memoria de su juventud cuando visitó la Casa Blanca (a 7:23 en el video).
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