Woe be upon ye

Spanish translation: ¡Ay de vosotros!

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:Woe be upon ye
Spanish translation:¡Ay de vosotros!
Entered by: Mónica Algazi

18:59 Jan 21, 2013
English to Spanish translations [PRO]
History
English term or phrase: Woe be upon ye
In the year 1 Reed, men of a hitherto unseen kind appeared from beyond, from where the Sun rises. Their skin was white, hair grew on their faces, and their bodies were encased in iron. What they brought with them was war, sorrow, disease, and ruination. Woe be upon ye, o Aztecs! For the god of white men defeated your gods, put your temples to the torch and condemned your people to suffering and death.

thanks!
Analia Cassano
Argentina
Local time: 09:01
Ay de vosotros,
Explanation:
aztecas
Selected response from:

Mónica Algazi
Uruguay
Local time: 09:01
Grading comment
gracias a todos!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +8Ay de vosotros,
Mónica Algazi
3 +2¡Ay de ustedes!
Noni Gilbert Riley
4¡Malditos sean!
Veronica Sardon


  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +8
woe be upon ye
Ay de vosotros,


Explanation:
aztecas

Mónica Algazi
Uruguay
Local time: 09:01
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 28
Grading comment
gracias a todos!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Patricia Honrubia: Creo que el uso de de vosotros es más apropiado ya que ustedes no se utiliza habitualmentevhasta finales del siglo XVII.
39 mins
  -> Gracias, Patricia.

agree  Rodrigo Fontes (X): La expresión usa un lenguaje bíblico. Dependiendo de la forma de español a la que se traduzca, tanto "vosotros" como "ustedes" son formas válidas. Me inclino por la primera, más neutra.
52 mins
  -> Gracias, Rodrigo.

agree  Alejandro Alcaraz Sintes: Lo de "vosotros" y "ustedes" depende de cuál ha usado el traductor antes. Yo lo pondría entre puntos de exclamación. La frase es muy correcta en este contexto. ('¡Ay de vosotros, escribas y fariseos...'!, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees!'")
57 mins
  -> De acuerdo. Gracias, Alejandro.

agree  Oliver Romero
2 hrs
  -> Gracias, Oliver.

agree  Beatriz Ramírez de Haro: Vosotros
3 hrs
  -> Gracias, Beatriz.

agree  anademahomar
5 hrs
  -> Gracias, Ana.

agree  Christine Walsh: Suena bien en el contexto
6 hrs
  -> Gracias, Christine.

agree  maria condo
15 hrs
  -> Gracias, María.
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
woe be upon ye
¡Malditos sean!


Explanation:
That would be my suggestion, off the top of my head. "Maldito" in this sense means precisely that you wish someone, in this case the Aztecs, all sorts of woe...

Veronica Sardon
Argentina
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in SpanishSpanish
PRO pts in category: 4

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Noni Gilbert Riley: I don't think it's necessarily a curse, more an observation of how bad the things were for them.
2 mins
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10 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +2
woe be upon ye
¡Ay de ustedes!


Explanation:
= woe on you = woe to you!

Lenguaje arcaico.

¡Ay de vos! quizá - o incluso ¡Ay de vuestras mercedes!



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Note added at 11 mins (2013-01-21 19:11:05 GMT)
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Justamente quería evitar la forma de vosotros, pensando que no sería correcto para español de Latino América, pero veo que me equivocaba!

Noni Gilbert Riley
Spain
Local time: 13:01
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 31

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  DLyons: Yes, this is La Biblia de las Américas. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mateo 23&version...
16 mins
  -> Thanks.

agree  Mike Yarnold (X): woe betide you = ¡ay de ti
5 hrs
  -> Thanks Mike.
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