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There is an expression in Spanish to denote something that is absurd or unexpected. Usually it can be the maximum expression of expertise and talent.

I wondered about this mainly because in Spanish (In Colombia) at least we have some common jokes but I wondered how would you say that in English.

Joke 1:

¿Cuál es el colmo de un boxeador? .. .. Sacarse un moco con el guante.

Joke 2:

¿Cuál es el colmo de un futbolista? .. .. .. Meter un gol y fallarlo en el replay.

Google translate for Joke 2:

What is the height of a player? .. .. .. And failing to score a goal in the replay.

Which really has no sense whatsoever. Can someone explain a way to say this properly?

This is the definition of colmo in rae.

Jose Luis
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    Is this on-topic? It sounds more like an EL&U type of question, than a SL&U question. Unless your real question is "What does colmo mean?" – Flimzy Nov 24 '11 at 07:12
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    The question is about translating a spanish expression to english. How can this be off-topic?? Being a Spanish expression I don't really see it in EL&U. Unless there is another reason? Meta Topic – Jose Luis Nov 24 '11 at 07:16
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    To me, translating X to Y makes sense on Y's site. Which means "«any language» to Spanish" fits here. And "«any language» to English" fits on EL&U. Also, there are already many questions on EL&U that fit that pattern. – Flimzy Nov 24 '11 at 07:22
  • I browsed EL&U and found the following: META. That means the question would most likely be redirected here since part of it is asked in spanish. (And I don't see a way to ask it completely in english without spanish examples to clarify what I am asking) The fact that there are many questions on EL&U in that format doesn't mean they are accepted. There are list questions in SO. Doesn't mean they are normally allowed. – Jose Luis Nov 24 '11 at 07:23
  • I think for this question to be accepted on EL&U, a translation would have to be provided (perhaps a literal translation, or at least a Google Translate attempt)... then the EL&U folks would try to tackle how to make it more natural. (That seems to be the form most of the translation questions have taken.) – Flimzy Nov 24 '11 at 07:26
  • Google translate for a figure of speech?? Google translate is already bad at translating normally. But if that is the problem I have no issue on putting the translation on the question. You can try to relocate the question but in my opinion it is very relevant to THIS site, since it also potentially tackles a regionalism. – Jose Luis Nov 24 '11 at 07:30
  • let us continue this discussion in chat – Jose Luis Nov 24 '11 at 07:35
  • Relevant meta discussion: http://meta.spanish.stackexchange.com/q/80/12 – Flimzy Nov 24 '11 at 07:45
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this is asking for translation into English and this SE is the other way around. This should be asked in a SE about English language. – DGaleano Apr 04 '16 at 21:18
  • I agree with @Flimzy. There have been several other cases like this that have been ruled as off-topic. This is the only case that I have seen remains open. I guess we should be consistent. This does not help learning Spanish so it is off-topic. – DGaleano Apr 04 '16 at 21:20
  • @DGaleano Did you check the Meta Topic? There is no consensus yet for our community. So it is premature, you say there have been several other cases, would you mind giving some? (that were present in this SE) Feel free to contribute to the debate on meta about this, if you have several examples it's even better. – Jose Luis Apr 05 '16 at 07:26
  • @Joze: The closest we have to a consensus from that question is "questions about English are off-topic." It think that applies to this question. The only time a question asking "How do I translate X to English?" should be on-topic here is when it can be re-phrased to "What does X mean?" That's not the case here, as the explanation of what it means is the first part of the question. As such, this question could be asked nearly verbatim on EL&U or ELL, and would probably be accepted. – Flimzy Apr 05 '16 at 11:29
  • @Joze Just yesterday we closed then someone migrated this one. http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/317689/english-equivalent-of-argentine-persiana – DGaleano Apr 05 '16 at 13:40
  • @DGaleano That question was migrated because in my opinion it wasn't about a figure of speech that needs spanish speaking expertise. The picture speaks for itself. I still don't agree that this question would be accepted in ELL or ELU since you first have to understand what is the meaning of the figure of speech in order to try to translate it. How this usually works is not really about my opinion or yours or Flimzy's the community has to go to meta and reach a consensus which hasn't happened yet. – Jose Luis Apr 05 '16 at 14:16
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    @Joze I agree... it is not about my opinion or yours, that is why we vote each question. Some get closed, some don't. – DGaleano Apr 05 '16 at 21:08

9 Answers9

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I'm not a native speaker, but I think you could use the idiom:

To be the last/final straw

So it could be:

What is the last straw for a boxer?

Jose Luis
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Juanillo
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    Using "last straw" could work, but "last straw" usually implies that the person has experienced a multitude of problems already, and the last straw is the the hardship/annoyance that really pushes the person over the edge. From the translation of the jokes, I don't really see this implied. – Aprendedor Jun 03 '15 at 22:34
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For those two particular jokes I would use the form, "What's the highlight of a boxer's career?"

I can't think of an equivalent that one would apply to a person himself rather than his career, though.

Kef Schecter
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    In this case I would go with pinnacle, summit, apex, or zenith rather than highlight. Now that I answer it I think it might be good for E L & U ... – hippietrail Nov 27 '11 at 06:17
  • Those work too, but I think "highlight" is still fine (though it is indeed less literal). – Kef Schecter Nov 27 '11 at 16:50
  • I think there's a slight difference in meaning too between highlight vs the others though I can't find the words to express it and I don't know which would be closer to this use of colmo which I'm not familiar with. – hippietrail Nov 27 '11 at 18:17
  • no no, colmo is the opposite of highlight ... a Low-light if you will. like the worst thing that can happen (without being a real tragedy)... to a boxer? needing to wipe his nose with boxing gloves – Rostol Mar 14 '17 at 22:04
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Precisamente por esto es que mis hijos me dicen que no cuente chistes traducidos.

Cómo se traduciría

El colmo de los colmos:

Que el mudo le diga al sordo que el ciego lo está mirando

No me suena

The final straw of all the final straws:

Creo que prefiero

Irony of ironies:

user2757226
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Although this word has translation in Spanish, I think this word:

Irony

can be used for what you are trying to express.

For example:

What is the irony of a boxer?

I think "colmo" is one of the many word that does not have a direct translation in English, and this is why you need to find a word close to the meaning.

EDIT:

I looked the definition of irony on Google, and here is what I found:

The expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

After reading the last part of the definition, I thin that this word fits what you are looking for.

scubaFun
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My Nicaraguan friend just told me colmo can be translated as a funny coincidence, like it would be a colmo if an architect's name was Armando Paredes. In that case, I agree that "irony" would be the best translation.

Diego
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BurnerAccount
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what's the worst about being a boxer?

poking your nose with the gloves...

I am a native Spanish speaker, and this was a way that I could find in English to still have some sense and some humour on it.

I've never heard the "last straw" in a sentence, so I would give my opinion in that, since "colmo", you are referring as something bad about it.

At least we use "colmo" like that in México.

fedorqui
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Poncho
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    "What is" implies something that actually happens, so I don't think it's a good translation. – Adriano Varoli Piazza Apr 10 '14 at 15:49
  • well, certanly its not good trying to poke your nose with gloves, that's the joke – Poncho Apr 10 '14 at 15:51
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    No. What I mean is that "colmo" jokes expect and imply that the answer will not make sense. "What's the worst about being a boxer?" doesn't imply nonsense. The other person could well answer "The brain damage". – Adriano Varoli Piazza Apr 10 '14 at 17:23
  • Oh, I got it, certainly It does not imply nonsense, It could be used then as "You know what could be weird about being a boxer?--poking your nose with the gloves ", Not sure, but kinda does the job about being a weird question, I think... – Poncho Apr 11 '14 at 19:58
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I would translate it into 'Pet Peeve'. It makes more sense to me that way.

SamRan
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I know this is old, but it doesn't hurt to help: I am a native Spanish speaker and I've been fiddling with the language a little bit to find that the best translations would be "absurd" or, taking the word "combler" from the French language (that means filling, height or "colmo").

Personally, as everyday people use French words in the English language it'd be ok to use it, right?

So, in the end, it'd look like such:

What's the comble of a gardener? To have a daughter named Daisy and the other one Petunia.

Diego
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Vynile
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I saw a translation to "el colmo of..." long time ago. But you must have deep knowledge of the language. The "combler" is the closest you got and it is a good one. In fact, it is the one, but as the next entry says, "you cannot just borrow words and fit them into another language." The rest of the answers are not even close.

Julio Romero
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