# pedirle peras al olmo



## Eustache

_Pedirle peras al olmo._

es que vi en el diccionario de wordreference que se dice: to ask for the moon

pero si yo expresara: I'm asking pears to the elm, es entendible?...


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## Leopold

No soy nativo, ni especialmente ducho en la lengua en cuestión, admitámoslo, pero no creo que se entendiese, a no ser que se formulara en un contexto _muy_ clarificador.

Leo


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## salomon

En un diccionario de modismos que tengo (2001 modismos españoles e ingleses, Eugene Savaiano y Lynn Winget, Barron's educational series) traducen pedirle peras al olmo como: to expect the impossible


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## araceli

Hola gente:

Encontré en un libro viejo estos dichos equivalentes:

To cry the moon: pedir la luna, desear cosa imposible o de difícil consecución.
To reach for the moon: pedir la luna, pedir lo imposible.

Saludos.


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## jacinta

How about "make a silk purse out of a pig's ear". This is a common saying when we are asking the impossible.


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## Eustache

jeje pueblo gracias por los comentarios!!! pero no me queda claro... yes/no question! si digo: I'm asking pears to the elm se entiende o no?



> "make a silk purse out of a pig's ear".


 
Hi jacinta!, ese me gustó!


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## EVAVIGIL

No, no se entiende.
EVA.


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## Eustache

gracias!!!!!


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## hermionemcr

*Nota del moderador*: se unieron dos hilos con el mismo tema



How would you translate 
"no le pidas peras al olmo"
or
"no podes pedirle peras al olmo"

This is what i think it would be the best translation but I'm not sure

"don't ask pears to grow on elms"
or
"you can't ask pears to grow on elms"

Thanks.
sab


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## patman0623

"no le pidas peras al olmo" : "don't ask _(for) _pears to grow on elms"  
"no puedes pedirle peras al olmo": "you can't ask _(for) _ pears to grow on elms". 
(_for_ es opcional en los dos casos, pero me parece mejor dejarlo en la frase).

Estos son correctos, a menos de que las frases de arriba son dichos comunes que no conozco; en este caso, una traducción literal tal vez no es buena.


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## Cilantro y Perejil

I would translate "pedir" as "to ask for"
Also, from the Spanish sentence, it sounds like you're not supposed to ask the Elm tree to give you pears (as opposed to not telling the pears to grow on Elms)  It's a subtle differnece.

Here's how I would translate the phrases:
Don't ask the elm tree for pears.
You can't ask the elm tree for pears.

CyP


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## jokie46

"pedir peras al olmo" es decir pedir algo imposible, como pedir a alguien la luna, pero no recuerdo como se traduce.
Ciao


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## patman0623

One thing that comes to mind, is, _possibly_, "don't try to pull a hen's teeth". Actually, the phrase isn't exactly that, but this is the closest equivalent I can come up with.


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## velero

You mustn't expect pears from an elm.
_'Don't expect the impossible.'_


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## TaniaF

Buenos días,

soy nueva en el foro y necesito ayuda. Estoy preparándome para el examen DELE y tengo dos preguntas cuyas respuestas (claves) no encajan bien con lo que he aprendido.

1. Eduardo opina que solicitar ahora un aumento de sueldo es *pedirle peras al olmo*.

a) no servirá de nada b) es engorroso c) es conviencente

Pues, yo diría que la respuesta es A, porque "pedirle peras al olmo" es algo imposible y que no resulta natural. Sin embargo en la clave del libro, la respuesta es B - es engorroso, es decir "pedirle peras al olmo" es dificultoso y molesto. No entiendo por qué.


Por favor, ayúdenme, quien pueda.

Muchas gracias.


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## translator.cat

Tienes razón. "Pedir peras al olmo", como la frase indica muy gráficamente, significa "pedir una cosa imposible".


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## Lenora

Correcto. La respuesta correcta es la A. 

Logicamente, que un olmo de peras es imposible, de ahí la comparación. 

¡Suerte con tu examen!

 Lenora


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## EVAVIGIL

Hola, TaniaF.

Te copio la explicación del Diccionario de la Real Academia Española:


> *
> pedir peras al olmo.*
> 
> 1. loc. verb. coloq. Esperar en vano de alguien lo que naturalmente no puede provenir de su educación, de su carácter o de su conducta.



Un saludo.

Eva


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## TaniaF

Muchas gracias. Estoy de acuerdo, pero me parece supermisterioso que el libro que supuestamente te prepara para el examen de DELE, te dé una respuesta incorrecta. Si alguien lo tiene, el título es "El cronómetro: Manual de preparación del DELE superior". En página 86 se puede ver que "pedirle peras al olmo" es "engorroso". Qué escribo en el examen si sale esto...?


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## Roberto_Mendoza

Lo que pasa es que los exámenes estandarizados o de opción múltiple en ocasiones contienen errores. Saludos.


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## acme_54

Eustache said:


> jeje pueblo gracias por los comentarios!!! pero no me queda claro... yes/no question! si digo: I'm asking pears to the elm se entiende o no?
> 
> 
> 
> Hi jacinta!, ese me gustó!


¡Ojo! The idiom "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" is NOT a suitable translation. Se parece más al refrán "aunque la mona viste de seda, mona se queda" ...


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## franzjekill

Ya estaba recogido en un refranero de lenguas romances muchos años antes de que se escribiera el Quijote. Cervantes lo utilizó varias veces en su novela. La traducción es de dominio público, así que no veo problema en reproducir un par de párrafos aquí:

"That which you, sir, our deliverer, demand of us, is of all impossibilities the most impossible to comply with, because we cannot go together along the roads, but only singly and separate, and each one his own way, endeavouring to hide ourselves in the bowels of the earth to escape the Holy Brotherhood, which, no doubt, will come out in search of us. What your worship may do, and fairly do, is to change this service and tribute as regards the lady Dulcinea del Toboso for a certain quantity of ave-marias and credos which we will say for your worship's intention, and this is a condition that
can be complied with by night as by day, running or resting, in peace or in war; but to imagine that we are going now to return to the flesh-pots
of Egypt, I mean to take up our chain and set out for El Toboso, is to imagine that it is now night, though it is not yet ten in the morning, *and to ask this of us is like asking pears of the elm tree.*"
CHAPTER XXII. OF THE FREEDOM DON QUIXOTE CONFERRED ON SEVERAL UNFORTUNATES WHO AGAINST THEIR WILL WERE BEING CARRIED WHERE THEY HAD NO WISH TO GO


"I'd like to see him," said Sancho; "but to fancy I'm going to mount him, either in the saddle or on the croup,* is to ask pears of the elm tree.*
CHAPTER XL. OF MATTERS RELATING AND BELONGING TO THIS ADVENTURE AND TO THIS MEMORABLE HISTORY

Aun en inglés, conserva la gracia. Y por supuesto que opino que sí, que se entiende perfectamente.


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## acme_54

acme_54 said:


> ¡Ojo! The idiom "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" is NOT a suitable translation. Se parece más al refrán "aunque la mona viste de seda, mona se queda" ...


 Únicamente se entiende de la misma manera que se entiende a Tarzan cuando dice "Tarzan matar"...  Si insistes en emplear las peras del refranero original, "Don't ask the elm tree to give you pears" o algo parecido podría servir, por muy desaconsejable que sea.

Una opción más rentable puede ser:  "You can't have the moon on a stick"  (Moon-on-a-stick dictionary definition | moon-on-a-stick defined)


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## acme_54

franzjekill said:


> Ya estaba recogido en un refranero de lenguas romances muchos años antes de que se escribiera el Quijote. Cervantes lo utilizó varias veces en su novela. La traducción es de dominio público, así que no veo problema en reproducir un par de párrafos aquí:
> 
> ... "I'd like to see him," said Sancho; "but to fancy I'm going to mount him, either in the saddle or on the croup,* is to ask pears of the elm tree.*
> CHAPTER XL. OF MATTERS RELATING AND BELONGING TO THIS ADVENTURE AND TO THIS MEMORABLE HISTORY
> 
> Aun en inglés, conserva la gracia. Y por supuesto que opino que sí, que se entiende perfectamente.



Funciona sí, en un texto literario que es el Quijote. Sin embargo, para los contextos más actuales, otra traducción resultaría más asequible, comprensible y versátil.


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## franzjekill

acme_54 said:


> Funciona sí, en un texto literario que es el Quijote. Sin embargo, para los contextos más actuales, otra traducción resultaría más asequible, comprensible y versátil.


No lo discuto, pero que se diga que no se entiende me parece excesivo.


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## eno2

Me gusta mucho la definición de DLE citado por EVAVIGIL


> pedir peras al olmo.
> 1. loc. verb. coloq. Esperar en vano de alguien lo que naturalmente no puede provenir de su educación, de su carácter o de su conducta.


porque enfatiza *la naturaleza diferente* de la segunda cosa que se está preguntando de la primera, hasta el punto de rendir un resultado totalmente imposible. Lo mismo vale para cosas y situaciones que tienen un naturaleza diferente, además de para personas.

Ahora, la traducción 'it's impossible' no esta mal, pero también es sosa (flat), porque no tiene la información ni  la connotación de 'naturaleza diferente'  y porque no es un modismo.

Po eso me gusta mucho más *asking pears of the elm tree.*"


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## lauranazario

eno2 said:


> Me gusta mucho la definición de DLE citado por EVAVIGIL
> porque enfatiza *la naturaleza diferente* de la segunda cosa que se está preguntando de la primera, hasta el punto de rendir un resultado totalmente imposible. Lo mismo vale para cosas y situaciones que tienen un naturaleza diferente, además de para personas.
> 
> Ahora, la traducción 'it's impossible' no esta mal, pero también es sosa (flat), porque no tiene la información ni  la connotación de 'naturaleza diferente'  y porque no es un modismo.
> 
> Po eso me gusta mucho más *asking pears of the elm tree.*"


Wait, eno2... just because you happen to "like" something doesn't mean that it's right/correct! 

A widely accepted equivalency for _perdirle peras al olmo_ is that's asking the impossible (as in you cannot ask an elm tree to produce pears since it's botanically impossible)

If you want a coined phrase that conveys the same sense of relative "impossibility", you can use it's like getting blood from a stone. See also  source #2.

saludos,
LN


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## acme_54

Another expression in English that means more or less the same thing is "you can't get blood out of a stone"... oops! I've just realised that lauranzario has posted a link to the same expression above... sorry folks!


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## OtroLencho

lauranazario said:


> ...relative "impossibility", you can use it's like getting blood from a stone. See also  source #2.


Interesting, I've always heard "...you can't get blood from a turnip."


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## Cos Miami

En determinados contextos (no en todos), normalmente cuando estás solicitando o reclamando algo a una persona que 1) no tiene la posición profesional, o 2) el conocimiento, o 3) que no es su departamento, o 4) que es un mero intermediario, en ese contexto se usa mucho "*you're barking up the wrong tree*".

En otros contextos, como esperar que un niño de 1 año hable, no funciona esta traducción.


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## keyl

It's interesting the amount of proverbs and idiomatic expressions I've run into my professional life as an interpreter or translator in the past. I kept lots of note on them, some still unresolved (specially many that use fish and fishing references in English, as a judge was very fond of fishing and always came up with all these puzzling utterances). I agree with Laura Nazario, and I have translated "pedirle peras al olmo" as "you can't get blood from a stone". I think "You can't get blood from a turnip" is also quite clear and neither need a wider context to be fully understood. They are "self-contained"

I appreciate the post by acme_54 regarding "Don Quixote" Very interesting. I read it in Spanish many years ago, but it never occurred to me to check how it's been translated into English. However, the expression "asking pears of an elm tree" is here supported by the context of their larger conversation and I'm not sure that to most of the English-speaking public it would make much sense. It is not "self-contained" -it depends upon its larger context-.Now, that may be simply because you never hear it in conversation among English-speaking people. Never ever. I think if all the people from this forum started to use it in our conversations, it could eventually become "trendy" and independent by itself... that's how language catches on and evolves, after all. Somebody with enough influence says something everybody else starts repeating.

"You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" I think is also an equivalent. And nop, I do not agree with it being "aunque la mona se vista de seda mona queda". To me that would be "a hog in armor is still but a hog" or "a hog dressed in silk, is still a hog" It's a different connotation and a different meaning.

And though close somewhat in meaning "*you're barking up the wrong tree*" is not exactly the same. Cos Miami has given good examples of when it can be used, but I think it is restricted to interactions with people from whom we are asking things they cannot or do not want to  give, while "pedirle peras al olmo" and "draw blood from a stone" can also refer to circumstances that have limitations that make satisfying our need/want impossible.


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## horsewishr

keyl said:


> I agree with Laura Nazario, and I have translated "pedirle peras al olmo" as "you can't get blood from a stone.”
> 
> .  .  .
> 
> 
> And though close somewhat in meaning "*you're barking up the wrong tree*" is not exactly the same. Cos Miami has given good examples of when it can be used, but I think it is restricted to interactions with people from whom we are asking things they cannot or do not want to  give, while "pedirle peras al olmo" and "draw blood from a stone" can also refer to circumstances that have limitations that make satisfying our need/want impossible.



“You can’t get blood from a stone/turnip” almost always refers to money.  It insinuates that you’re trying to get money from someone who has none, or who is unwilling to share.  

“You’re barking up the wrong tree” means you’re requesting something from an inappropriate source.  To me, this seems like a perfect translation for “pedirle peras al olmo”—although perhaps the Spanish phrase has a more narrow application??


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## keyl

“You can’t get blood from a stone/turnip” almost always refers to money.  It insinuates that you’re trying to get money from someone who has none, or who is unwilling to share" 

I'm not so sure about that. One of my friends uses it often with people. I  can recall  her referring to a certain person who I felt was lacking on effort to do something that didn't have to do with money. "You can't get blood from a turnip". 

“You’re barking up the wrong tree” means you’re requesting something from an inappropriate source.  To me, this seems like a perfect translation for “pedirle peras al olmo”—although perhaps the Spanish phrase has a more narrow application??

On the contrary: in Spanish it refers not only to the act of requesting something from an inappropriate source (person or institution) but also, to expect from a situation something the situation is not capable of giving. For instance, you work in a certain field with good returns in the USA and you get x amount of money / year. Working in a poor country would take you 5 years  to make the same amount (and you might end up losing your savings to devaluation or a bank freeze). This is a clear "pedirle peras al olmo" situation.


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