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L.V.T.
así y más extenso consta
May 20, 2023 19:11
12 mos ago
32 viewers *
Spanish term

deformas la boca

Spanish to English Other Poetry & Literature
destapas el lápiz de labios, deformas la boca y te pintas.

Un hombre mira una mujer por el espejo retrovisor y describe la escena.

Muchas gracias de antemano.
Proposed translations (English)
3 +2 your distort your mouth
4 +1 You pucker
4 Twist the lips
3 +1 You pout your lips
3 scrunch up your lips

Discussion

Domini Lucas May 22, 2023:
@ormiston Kind of you, but I don't think I can post twice?
ormiston May 22, 2023:
Domini I think your 'contort' is good and should be posted!
Cecilia Gowar May 22, 2023:
I believe the point here is that unless you want to/were asked to edit a text, you need to stick to the original.
In this case, the writer chose to use a certain word which is not ambiguous, despite not being the usual one associated with the action described. He/she could have said ¨pout/twist/grimace/contort¨ and did not.

Moreover, such word used has a perfect equivalent in English. The RAE defines ¨deformar¨ as ¨Hacer que algo pierda su forma regular o natural¨ while Cambridge dictionary defines ¨distort¨as ¨to change the shape of something so that it looks strange or unnatural¨.

By the way pouting/puckering is not what you do when applying liptstick.
Domini Lucas May 22, 2023:
contort contort comes up as a synonym of deform, encapsulating distort, twist out of shape,... https://www.dictionary.com/browse/contort. It may flow better than distort, with the same meaning?
Domini Lucas May 22, 2023:
general comment I think part of the problem is we're all imagining the shape the lips are taking to apply the lipstick, pout, twist, scrunch, pucker, etc. In the end I'm not sure it says that and that maybe something along the line of distort is most accurate to the original. Except that it is more like "distort the shape of your mouth" which is too wordy. With twist, for example, I thought it might be twist to one side, but it doesn't specify that either. Even twist out of shape is probably more specific than deformas.

Proposed translations

+2
37 mins
Selected

your distort your mouth

One option. A bit odd but so is the Spanish original.
Peer comment(s):
agree Marie Wilson : It's what it says..
16 hrs
Thanks Marie, it is.
agree Jennifer Levey
18 hrs
Thanks Jennifer
neutral ormiston : 'Your distort' is even odder!
22 hrs
disagree Andrew Bramhall : That happens through the expression of extreme emotion, not intentionally as here
1 day 12 hrs
neutral Domini Lucas : I suspect this is the nearest as per my discussion entry, but agree it's not quite there. Contort?
1 day 16 hrs
agree Adoración Bodoque Martínez : https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contort#:~:text=d...
1 day 18 hrs
¡Gracias Adoración!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
38 mins

Twist the lips

My cent
Peer comment(s):
neutral Carol Gullidge : I don’t think you “twist” the lips in order to apply lipstick!
26 mins
Something went wrong...
1 hr

scrunch up your lips

Just a thought to throw into the mix. Also not what we usually say re lips, but Collins cites The Guardian using it for the face His face scrunched up in thought.


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2023-05-20 20:55:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

We do say purse your lips, but that can indicate disapproval, though not always. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/purse.

It can mean to contract (the mouth, lips, etc) into a small rounded shape (definition 6 in Collins quote above). But in Spanish that would have been fruncir los labios (Collins Spanish-to-English dictionary - handheld)

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2023-05-20 20:57:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

and I agree with Cecilia that something extra/odd is needed here, rather than a usual expression for lips.
Reference:

http://https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/scrunch-up

Peer comment(s):
neutral Jennifer Levey : 'scrunch up' would surely be counterproductive in that scenario, where she is about to apply lipstick.
17 hrs
Possibly. I think it's like pucker, etc. See my discussion entry.
Something went wrong...
+1
4 hrs

You pucker

"You take the cap off your lipstick, you pucker your lips, and apply it";

'puckering' is the face you pull when puckering up to kiss someone, or contorting your lips to gain easy access to all areas of your lips in order to apply lipstick everywhere on them. The male equivalent is the faces we men pull when wet shaving, to make sure we get easy access to all our whiskers, so as not to miss any!
Peer comment(s):
agree Yvonne Gallagher
1 hr
Thanks!
neutral Cecilia Gowar : Neither, you either leave them relaxed (particularly if they are firm and it's a wand not a lipstick) or stretch them following your hand movements.
2 hrs
No, you pucker your lips, not your mouth, surely?
agree neilmac
8 hrs
Thanks Neilmac!
disagree Jennifer Levey : That's not what 'pucker' means. See https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pucker pucker - vt - to contract into folds or wrinkles
12 hrs
That's what it's called in English, regardless of accuracy or lack thereof to the dictionary definition.
Something went wrong...
+1
1 day 43 mins

You pout your lips

POUT | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
il y a 5 jours — Caroline pouts her lips when she's putting on lipstick. ...

Could be this kind of grimace.
Peer comment(s):
agree Mónica Hanlan
14 hrs
Something went wrong...
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