# Hacer leña del arbol caìdo



## Frutillita

Hola, me pueden ayudar a traducir esta frase al inglès.

La frase es "hacer leña del arbol caìdo" (o sea tomar provecho de una situaciòn desafortunada).

Gracias


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## sumacero

"when life gives you lemons, make lemonade"

)


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## aurilla

"hacer leña del árbol caído" means to "kick him when he's down"


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## saia

Mira este link: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=29346


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## sumacero

!Jaj! Es una frase nueva para mi tambien! Gracias por ensen~arme su significado real! Mejor es sentirme avergonzada en este ambito que en otro lugar mas adelante!


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## costarriqueño tú sabes

Frutillita said:


> Hola/Hi , me pueden ayudar a traducir esta frase al inglès?
> 
> La frase es "hacer leña del arbol caìdo" (o sea tomar provecho de una situaciòn desafortunada).
> 
> Gracias


 
to make wood/firewood out of the fallen tree.


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## LaReinita

costarriqueño tú sabes said:


> to make wood/firewood out of the fallen tree.


 
This is exactly what I had said, but according to the other thread Frutillita started this actually means something completely different.


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## Frutillita

Muchas gracias a todos por las respuestas!!!

Thank you very much !!


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## Loob

"Every cloud has a silver lining"?

or perhaps

"It's an ill wind that blows no one any good"


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## i heart queso

I don't think that second proverb is anywhere near what Frutillita was looking for.  "Every cloud has a silver lining" is a bit better but I don't think it quite works either.  If I think of anything...


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## krolaina

Te paso este hilo.
Saludos


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## Frutillita

Gracias a todos por las respuestas!!!


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## Soy Yo

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?


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## Loob

Did we reach a conclusion?


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## costarriqueño tú sabes

jaja lo siento, eso fue lo que pensé.


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## Loob

I love "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", which seems to be very close to the Spanish proverb.

The only problem for me is that we don't say it this side of the pond!

Loob


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## Hari Seldon

I think the english idiom "add fuel to the fire" would be a good translation.


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## micafe

El significado de ese refrán en español se refiere a sacar ventaja del más desvalido. 
El árbol se cayó, entonces hacemos leña con él. 
Aprovecharse de alguien que está en peores circunstancias.

Encontré esto en Internet: 

Everyone gives a push to a falling man. 
Where the hedge is lowest, men may soonest over. 
Every one leaps over the dyke where it is lowest. 
A low hedge is easily leaped. 
When the ox falls, there are many that will help to kill him. 
When the tree is fallen, every man goeth to it with his hatchet.


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## adonis

Usamos esta expresión en español cuando nos referimos a sacar partido de una situación difícil o de debilidad de otra persona
Creo que se asemeja mas.

"to make a windfall from another's misfortune".
"Take the best of a bad lot"

This is my try!


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## krolaina

Soy Yo said:


> When life gives you lemons, make lemonade?


 
Hola Soy Yo.
Seguro que has escuchado "a mal tiempo, buena cara". Esa sería la traducción.
Saludos.


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## i heart queso

Soy Yo's expression seems the closest to the Spanish. Adonis' suggestions also sound good to me. The others (sorry Micafe) either aren't used enough or don't seem equivalent.  I can't think of another saying that means "make the best of it".


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## Loob

I'm still rather confused: is "Hacer leña del arbol caído" a good thing to do, or a bad thing?


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## Jellby

Loob said:


> I'm still rather confused: is "Hacer leña del arbol caído" a good thing to do, or a bad thing?



It's a bad thing, it doesn't mean to get something good out of a bad situation, but to take advantage of other people's disgrace.

See this other thread:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=29346


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## Loob

Thanks, Jellby - now I understand it! 

I agree with the other thread that the closest proverb is probably "Don't kick a man when he's down".

The phrase "to take advantage [of]" can also, just by itself, have a negative connotation in some contexts.


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## neal41

I am not a native speaker of Spanish and have no experience as to how this saying is actually used.  The most reasonable interpretation would seem to be "Make the best of a bad situation."  It's unfortunate that the tree fell down and we are sad about it, but let's lessen the loss by getting something useful, namely, firewood, out of it.

"Don't kick a man when he is down." means something entirely different.  It could mean:  if you have already attained some legitimate goal and have hurt someone else in the process, don't continue to hurt him just to be mean.

It is interesting to me that native speakers don't agree as to what the saying means, and the lesson that I draw from that is that if you want to communicate effectively, it is often better to speak clearly, plainly, and directly.


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## neal41

I now realize that I didn´t read Jellby's post with sufficent care, and I didn't read the contents of the other thread.  Having now read it, I think Jellby's interpretation makes sense.  The form of the saying in El País is "Del árbol caído todos hacen leña."  That the subject is 'todos' is significant.  It isn't just the owner of the tree who makes firewood from his own tree.  Everybody takes advantage of the situation to get as much as he can.  In other words if you become defenseless for some reason, everyone will take advantage of you.  The form "Hacer leña del árbol caído" doesn't convey that meaning so clearly.


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## Jellby

I think the meaning is not so much that everyone can take advantage from a tree that belongs to someone else. As I feel it, it's like the tree represents someone (or some situation) and then making firewood out of it means splitting it, breaking it into pieces... something not very nice for the tree, I guess. So it's not the owner who "feels attacked", it's the tree (that's how I see it).


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## micafe

Jellby said:


> I think the meaning is not so much that everyone can take advantage from a tree that belongs to someone else. As I feel it, it's like the tree represents someone (or some situation) and then making firewood out of it means splitting it, breaking it into pieces... something not very nice for the tree, I guess. So it's not the owner who "feels attacked", it's the tree (that's how I see it).


 
 

That's the sense of the saying. For example, a person is in a bad economic situation, and people take advantage of him by buying his property very cheap or things like that. 

Some forists have the meaning totally backwards.


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## Camui

neal41 said:


> "Don't kick a man when he is down." means something entirely different.  It could mean:  if you have already attained some legitimate goal and have hurt someone else in the process, don't continue to hurt him just to be mean.



El refran también se puede usar así y de hecho se usa así, te pongo un ejemplo

-Sabía que tu mujer que iba a engañar.
(a lo que alguien podría decir)
-No hace falta que hagas leña del árbol caído...


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## i heart queso

Huiiii I was way out in left field on that one.  But seems like a bunch of us were, so I guess I don't feel too stupid. 

Now it's definitely sounding like 'to kick someone when they're down'.

Phew.  Nos ha costado.


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## Loob

You're right, that was a real toughie!

Loob


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## Jellby

Camui said:


> El refran también se puede usar así y de hecho se usa así, te pongo un ejemplo
> 
> -Sabía que tu mujer que iba a engañar.
> (a lo que alguien podría decir)
> -No hace falta que hagas leña del árbol caído...



En esas circunstancias también se dice "echar sal en la herida" o "meter el dedo en el ojo".


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## i heart queso

Then we have another option: "to rub salt in the wound".  

I don't think I've heard "to stick your finger in someone's eye". jaja


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## Soy Yo

Loob said:


> I love "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", which seems to be very close to the Spanish proverb.
> 
> The only problem for me is that we don't say it this side of the pond!
> 
> Loob


 
A ese lado del charco dicen "If life gives you lemons, just sit down and have a nice cup of tea (with lemon, of course)."  Just kidding...pero Loob estoy de acuerdo con que eso de lemonade es algo bastante nuevo aquí...probablemente se ha hecho popular después de la WWII.


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## chileno

Claro, aprovecharse de la desgracia ajena.


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## DelaChón

Es algo negativo porque suele usarse casi siempre para introducir un tema controvertido del que cuesta hablar por un motivo dado ("No quiero hacer leña del árbol caído pero...") y/o para solicitar dejar un tema ("Bueno, ya basta, no hay que hacer leña del árbol caído").


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## keyl

"Add fuel to the fire" and "make firewood out of the fallen tree" or "kicking the man who is down" are the correct equivalents. Negative connotation, as it has been remarked, which means taking advantage of somebody who is already in unfortunate circumstances, sometimes even with a clear desire to cause that person harm.


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## Lyrica_Soundbite

Creo que el problema es el siguiente:


cyberpedant said:


> There does not seem to be a consensus among the natives about the meaning of the phrase "hacer leña" de algo.



Yo interpreto la frase como "sacar algún provecho de alguien que ha caído en desgracia". Hay otros que lo interpretan como "ser cruel cuando alguien ha caído en desgracia", en cuyo caso la frase tiene más equivalentes:


Jellby said:


> En esas circunstancias también se dice "echar sal en la herida" o "meter el dedo en el ojo".



"Hacer leña del árbol caído" se usa mucho cuando un famoso está en su peor momento y los programas de chimentos hablan solo de eso.


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