Caray, Caray!

Hi, Melinama. I checked out your new venture...great ! As for catch phrases , these came to mind : ''Mi Vida'' ''Mi Alma'' ''Mi Nina'' ''Asi es asi sera'' ''Maldito Sea'' ''Que lastima'' ''Desgraciado''
 

"Esa por mas trapos finos que traiga y se disfrace disque mujer decente la perla frente nadie se la quita."

Melinama: Gardenia said that last Thursday. By consensus of readers, we translate it as "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."
 

No me tocas - because I LUuuuv when the heroine unfailingly gets in a huff and says not tonight nor any forseeable night.
 

Great idea melinama,
I added a few common phrases on the sight.
 

BTW, so glad that you used FC for your first picture.
 

Melinama, I checked out the new site...cool!

My favorite all time line was from Gata Salvage which is mentioned in the new site. I believe it was Camelia who asked Rosaura about what happened to Eva after the frantic airboat chase through the Everglades.

"A tu hermana Eva se la comieran los crocodrilos."

"The crocodiles ate your sister."

Carlos
 

I love this idea, Melinama! I've already bookmarked your site. As for common words/phrases one hears all the time on TNs, here are a few more:

¡suéltame!
¡lárgate!
¡callate!
¡vete al diablo!

And in addition to desgraciado, which susanlynn already mentioned, there's also canalla.

And let's not forget mujerzuela. I remember trying unsuccessfully to find it in the dictionary. I kept hearing it on the TNs, and I thought it was two words. I kept looking up suela, which I assumed was an adjective modifying mujer.

I suspect I'll think of more. :-)
 

Melinama – I read your site. What an absolute hoot! I’m forwarding the link to friends and family who wonder why I’m having so much fun with the telenovelas and with Caray Caray folks.

Here’s another biggie: Lo amo con todo, TODO mi corazon. (var: alma)
 

Vas a pagar MUY caro!

One thing that happens endlessly, but doesn't help with the language - the two people who are dying to see each other walking through the same store/street/etc seconds apart and not seeing each other.

Looking like they've seen a ghost every time someone says the slightest thing that was unexpected - and then everyone else not noticing the reaction.

I'll add more later as they come to mind.
 

"Me las vas a pagar, golpe a golpe!"

"Como asi?" "(Ay) Mi'jo"

Great Website! I think you're on to international stardom!
 

A while back on Cuidado we were making a list of stuff that almost always happens, checking off whether it had happened in Cuidado yet (that show went around in circles so much, a lot of it had happened two or three times already).

Some of the stuff was:

Someone falls down the stairs.

Someone fakes a pregnancy.

The priest knows something important, but can't tell because of the confessional seal.

Someone is kidnapped.

I'm sure I'll think of more later.
 

No me voy a quedar con los brazos cruzados! said in every telenovela I've ever watched.

Tienes que luchar por tu amor...same thing, always said.

And "perdoneme", said a gazillion times in every tn and darned near every episode.

Love the new site. Will become another addiction for many of us.
 

Oh, forgot...and "soltar la sopa" (spill the beans)...one of my favorites
 

These are very good ones! I am adding them to the "lens" as they come along. Thanks y'all! The advantage of a Squidoo lens is that things don't disappear under the weight of the coming days and weeks - they stay where you can see them!
 

Here's a line I hear only occasionally, but it's one of my favorites:

Me estás sacando de quicio

which means "you're making me crazy."
 

Another rule seems to be the virginal protagonista thing. At any rate, she can't have relations with another man AFTER meeting the protagonist. The rule does not apply to the man.
 

How about the ever popular : ''para siempre'' and ''nunca jamais'' . As for predictable plotlines, did you list COMA ?
 

These are fun!

I just remembered two others that are completely pointless words because they never have their desired effect, which however does not dampen their popularity: calmate! & tranquila!
 

I think another one is that a wedding must be thwarted or derailed at the last minute.
 

Proverbs - copied & compiled mostly from Telenovela-World Posts and perhaps some from here:

---New Novela on TV: We'll pray the Novelaholic's Prayer: "O Lord, please let this novela be good and if it's not, please let it be short."

---“Ultimos Capitulos" announced: They just announced it this morning. I guess that means only 4 more weeks of fast forwarding through this novela.”

---(from an American living in Spain):My favourite so far has been "Mundo de Fieras" where the white boy was actually black, the crazy girl was sane, the stiff was alive, which meant her husband wasn't her husband. The nun who looked after the sane crazy girl was in reality a pole-dancer, and her father wasn't even her father. Her godfather was her father, but she didn't know that because the stiff was supposed to be dead--even though he wasn't.
Confused? HA! Just think how small our little daily problems appear by comparison with those folks in Caracas...who, by the way, always live in the same big mansion...I do believe there's only one. (same mansion is used in every telenovela)

from Amor Real --- The reason they're doomed is because I've never, ever seen a novela where they start off with the protagonista's love story "already in progress."

from *any* telenovela:
"Mi(s) hijo(s)!"
"... veinte años ..." (what is it with 20 years???)

And in case you're interested:
Telenovela Fashion Rules
Author: Ruby.
Date: 01-13-04 22:04 PST

Rule #1: Bad girls always dress with big hair, little skirts. As a matter of fact, the length of their hair is ALWAYS longer than the length of their skirts.

Rule #2: The protagonista always gets her clothes at Goodwill or the Salvation Army. When she dresses up, she will go to Target, Wal-Mart, or some comparable budget shop.

Rule #3: The bigger the breast implant, the smaller the top.

Rule #4: The girl with the biggest breasts is the most evil viper in the story.

Rule #5: The protagonista will ALWAYS get a makeover at some point in the story.

Rule#6: The leading man always looks stylish not matter what his social standing happens to be.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And this gem from T-W:
Author: Kevin
Date: 03-26-04 10:25 PST

Here are some questions to answer to see if you have been watching too many novelas and now think you are living in one. Try not to answer too many "yes"

1. Is the woman whom you thought was your aunt/sister/maid/madrina really your mother?

2. Are your biological parents as opposed to the ones who raised you multi-millionaires?

3. Have you ever tried to change the results of a blood or DNA test?

4. Would your mother disapprove of you dating someone of a lower socio-economic class?

5. Do you try to look for the best in people who A) tell lies about you B) frame you for crimes you did not commit? C) try to kill you?

6. Do you spend your days crying because people are so mean?

7. Have you ever faked a pregnancy/blindness/paralysis?

8. Did you not know you were pregnant until you mysteriously fainted?
8a. If so, did all your friends and relatives come to the hospital?

9. Have you ever told anyone: "vas a llorar lagrimas de sangre"?

10. When you eavesdrop, do you only hear juicy secrets rather than banal chitchat?

11. If you are an identical twin, has your twin ever taken your place?

12. Could your twin be described as evil?

13. Has your once-rich-but-now-bankrupt family ever tried to pressure you to marry just cement their financial position?

14. When you got married, did you expect to see the word "fin" appear when you kissed your spouse?

15. How could you miss one of my favorite threat/exclamations: ¡No sabes de que estoy capaz!
~ ~ ~ ~

Hope you can use some of this.
:-D
 

I don't know if this counts as a telenovela rule, but there are little horse statues everywhere! Everyone has them, no matter what the settings or characters are! Alpha males especially must have one.
 

I thought of another dicho: "Nos van a pagar con la misma moneda."
 

Doris, that "are you watching too many TNs" test was hysterical! Thanks for posting it!
 

In the Famous Deaths portion I wanted to leave the one from Pasión, but couldn't remember the who & the details.
I think it was Lisabeta that was taken from her buggy, raped & left to wander some deserted place. Anyone remember?
Anyway, I thought it was a little harsh for her offenses.
 

Someone is dead, dying, robbed, raped, swindled, kidnapped, drugged, & NOBODY calls the police.
 

These are a riot! I've put a lot of them on the lens already. I especially liked Kevin's quiz, so so true!
 

Melinama,
Do you prefer we post them here first & you add them to the lens, so we don't have repetition?
 

I like having them here, also so people who are reading the list here can get inspired!! Thanks!
 

Variopinta, another fairly bad death was Alberto LaFont in Pasión. He sort of died the death by inches. Something happened to his arm, then, I think, Ric Ric Ric did something to his leg, which had to be amputated. Finally, his head was cut off when his crimes were brought to light. Anybody else have a better grasp on the details?
 

What a fantastic site!!

I've heard the word esquincle (sp)in every TN I've ever watched.

Caborita
 

Just thought of another phrase (dicho) that always seems to come up in these"

Genio y figura hasta la sepultura.

Tal palo tal astilla.
 

Hijo de tigre sale pintado.
 

déjame or déjame en paz, solo/a etc. Another classic novela line usually spoken when, well, the hero wants to be left alone to sort out their troubles.


Oh, and orange juice (or some other kind of fruit juice) is a running theme in novelas. Too bad nobody likes to drink the stuff when offered a glass.
Alexis
 

Te amo, te quiero followed by te odio in the next episode.
 

How do I find these on the lens?
 

Shame on me. I didn't scroll down far enough.
 

Only slightly OT. Someone mentioned a few weeks ago about a new telenovelas book coming out 9/9. It's by Ilan Stavans, a Jewish Mexican who now teaches Latin American culture at Amherst. I read his Dictionary Days and he's a wonderful author (Cheryl and other logophiles here, check it out!). His perspective on Latino culture should make his telenovelas book very good.
 

Melinama, I think one of your dichos needs a slight correction:

the one about the monkey dressed up in silk: Believe it should be mona se queda.
 

thanks, novelera, I've just been cheerfully copying these into my "lense" without really thinking about them. Appreciate the help, everybody!
 

"Si serás...", "No pos...", "Órale apúrate", "Esa naca/naco", "La andrajosa/andrajoso", "Híjole", "Quiubo mi cuate".

Some proverbs:

"Mas sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo"

"Donde hubo fuego, cenizas quedan"

"El que a buen árbol se arrima... buena sombra le cobija" (they almost never say the last part in novelas)

"Hablando del rey de Roma y que se asoma"

"Despues de la tempestad siempre llega la calma"

"No por mucho madrugar amanece mas temprano"

"¿A quién le dan pan que llore?"

"A caballo dado no se le ve el colmillo".

Melinama I don't know if anybody has ever watched this novelas, but I saw that you have the death of Enrique de Martino in "El Maleficio", wich is a very old novela, so I thought I'd share some of the deaths that I remember the most, if you don't want to use them because they haven't aired them in the US that's fine:

the deaths that I remember the most are in the end of "Te Sigo Amando" when the villain portrayed by Sergio Goyri was about to run from justice on a horse but his mother shoots him in the chest with a shotgun.

And also in "Muchachitas" the bad guy faked his death to leave the country and he makes arrangements to be unconciously buried with an oxygen tank on his feeth and his mother was supposed to dig up the grave to get him out, but she goes crazy and believes he is dead for real so he wakes up when the oxigen is finishing and dies of asphyxia while his mother cries for him above.

In the final episode of "Sin Pecado Concebido" the villain (played by Itati Cantoral) gets stuck inside a burning granary and she starts screaming for her grandmother, who was outside, to help her, but her grandma decided to let her die and she dies a slow death while both of them cry and ask for god to forgive them for their sins.

In final episode of "Desencuentro", the main couple Ernesto Laguardia and Daniela Castro get married and are about to live happily ever after but he is a fireman and goes to save a family in a burning building and dies during his assignment.

Jarocha
 

Wow, great page!

I ditto whoever said to add the two Pasión deaths in there. I think Variopinta and Noverela got the basic details right.

I recall Lisabeta being raped and then wandering through some sort of wasteland along, and LaFont got his head chopped off, and they actually showed the head fall. Ack! That scarred me.
 

Hey! You're back.

On Acorralada, Diego was eaten by sharks when he ran into the ocean to get away from the police. To add insult to injury, the other characters had to spend the entire next episode passing along the news (and the actors had to try not to laugh). My husband learned what "tiburones" meant that day.

Another telenovela rule: if there's a pool, at least two people will fight right next to it and fall in. Swimsuits are only for sunbathing--no one ever gets into the pool with one.
 

What a cool project. I can't think of much to add except for a few deaths:

In Mundo de Fieras, Joselyn jumps off a building, and as she lay dying on the ground, she repents all of her misdeeds. Kind of disappointing, but this was from the same producer who had Feo in FELS merely shoot himself instead of meeting the much more elaborate and appropriate death that we, the dedicated viewers, had concocted for him as a group. (It involved abuse from multiple women, animals, and meteorological phenomena.) That was REALLY disappointing.

Also in FELS, Ruth got stabbed to death while having sex with Feo. Kind of redundant if you ask me.

What's his name in Heridas got killed getting hit by an ugly car, and his heart (which we didn't think he had) was transplanted into a more deserving character.

In Pasion, Jorge died of a heart attack on the very day that he vowed to make a happy new life with his family. Guess he should have thought of that before he abused his power to torment everyone in town for 20 years or more...

In Destilando Amor, Francisco de la Vega died slowly and painfully from severe burns sustained in a car accident. I think he stole the car from his babymama. His final words were agonized screams for his mother's forgiveness, but she wasn't there to hear him, because he had banished her from his life by publicly telling his in-laws that she was just his confused crazy old nana and not his mom.
 

If Sergio Sendel appears in a novela, he will take his anger out on a telephone.
 

Melinama, this so much fun!

My favorite dicho is:
"Mala hierba nunca muere" ( I love this dicho!!)
Also "No es santo de mi devocíon" (Santiago en Mañana es para Siempre)and
"Todos los hombres son malos, pero hay peores" (Alejandra in "Amarte es mi Pecado").
Finally, "hay niveles", referrng to a situation of "we're all equal, but some are more equal", or some have more access to favors, etc.

A telenovela interior decorating convention is that the non-wealthy people have a picture(if not an altar) of La Virgen de Guadalupe in their houses in a prominent place, but the wealthy almost never. There are exceptions, pero....
 

This isn’t a saying, but it applies to our topic… I can’t remember where I read this line, and it’s highly likely it was on Caray Caray. Anyway, it was about learning Spanish by watching telenovelas and went something like this: Where else can you watch beautiful people shag and stab each other all the while helpfully repeating Spanish phrases?
 

Hi, Melinama!

Here's a few that I've noticed over the years.

* almost every one of the telenovelas that Fernando's been in, he's always had at least one scene with a horse.

* every telenovela english or spanish contains the following settings: a medical facility (hospital/psych. ward); a police station and jail; a morgue and cemetery; and a church.

Jody :)