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conducta quirúrgica en segundo tiempo
Soda Fresca
Jan 26, 2019 18:18
5 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term

Le tiene comido el seso

Spanish to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings Description of items on a video game.
The meaning is like brainwashed but the register should be much more colloquial. Thanks!

Context:
Estamos hablando de explotación, amigo. Nosotros, las lámparas del turno de noche, tenemos nuestros derechos. ¿Qué es esto de pasarse las horas leyendo hasta el amanecer? Ese detective le tiene comido el seso a Jacob.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +6 has been messing with his head/mind/brain(s)
4 +2 has been doing his head in
4 ...is obsessed with...
3 makes him lose his mind
3 it's taken over his mind

Discussion

philgoddard Jan 26, 2019:
Thanks, Judith.
Barbara Cochran, MFA Jan 26, 2019:
"playing tricks on his mind"?
Judith Armele (asker) Jan 26, 2019:
The game is about discovering why Jacob disappeared. It is kind of a tribute to Virginia Wolf's Jacob's Room. You play by clicking on the items in the room and they will tell you their story pretty much in a humorously way. This item is the lamp.
Judith Armele (asker) Jan 26, 2019:
I have been thinking: That detective is playing with Jacob´s mind. But I am not sure.
Judith Armele (asker) Jan 26, 2019:
@phil Jacob is the main character of the video game and the detective is the main character of a book Jacob has been reading in the game. The meaning is as Margaret suggested, he is obsessed with the book and the detective and that is why the lamp (that is an item of the video game) is complaining of exploitation: he reads all the night. What I was trying to find is some colloquial idiom to match the tone of the post.

Hope this explains it a little bit.
philgoddard Jan 26, 2019:
Judith You say it means brainwashed, implying he's controlling his mind. What exactly is going on here - who is Jacob, and who is the detective?

Proposed translations

+6
1 hr
Selected

has been messing with his head/mind/brain(s)

This would be a US alternative. 'Messing with his head/mind' is recognized in dictionary, but in this context I like 'brain(s)' better.

Merriam-Webster International:
mess with someone's mind/head idiom
Definition of mess with someone's mind/head
informal
: to cause someone to feel confused
The movie messes with your mind and you don't find out what's going on until the end.

Examples:

Is Dabo's fashion sense messing with his brain? - Tiger Boards ...
https://www.tigernet.com/.../Is-Dabos-fashion-sense-messing-...

https://m.facebook.com/dccomics/photos/a...307511.../1015613...
Detective Chimp is the smartest ape around, but the impending invasion of the Dark Multiverse is seriously messing with his brain in this Den of Geek US...
Peer comment(s):
agree Charles Davis
11 mins
Thank you, Charles. I'm flattered!
agree Marie Wilson
27 mins
Thanks, Marie!
agree philgoddard : A good idea that works on both sides of the pond.
4 hrs
Thank you, Phil!
agree neilmac
13 hrs
Thank you, Neil!
agree Thayenga : Messing with his brain. :)
13 hrs
Thank you, Thayenga!
agree Lorraine Valarino
16 hrs
Thank you, Lorraine!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you very much, Muriel!"
6 mins

makes him lose his mind

One option
Something went wrong...
+2
27 mins

has been doing his head in

Although most dictionary definitions will try to define this expression as irritating, frustrating or angering, it can be used with a wider sense of putting thoughts into someone's head, whether by nagging or merely by suggestion. I think this latter meaning could work in the query context. In my hometown of Glasgow, we tend to say "nipping someone's head" with the same meaning.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 29 mins (2019-01-26 18:48:25 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"That detective's been doing Jacob's head in…".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 30 mins (2019-01-26 18:49:44 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Another option could be "That detective's been putting thoughts into Jake's head..."
Reference:

http://https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/do-someone-s-head-in

Peer comment(s):
agree Marie Wilson : Doing his head in was my first thought.
22 mins
neutral philgoddard : This is suitably colloquial, but British. And your second suggestion seems to have a different meaning to the first.
25 mins
agree Lucy Breen : Yes, doing his head in is what I would say
51 mins
neutral Charles Davis : I think the dictionary definitions are right; to me it implies annoyance, confusion, frustration, but not so much obsession, which I think this what "comerle el seso" means here. And it is very British, which may or may not matter.
1 hr
Something went wrong...
1 hr

...is obsessed with...

Since the idea is that Jacob stays up all night reading (can’t put the book down). I would interchange subject and object:
“Jacob is obsessed with that detective”.
Something went wrong...
11 mins

it's taken over his mind

My interpretation.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2019-01-26 21:38:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or "it hijacked his mind".
Something went wrong...
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