# moreno claro (color de tez)



## Marissita

Hola,

Estoy traduciendo un texto al ingles y queria saber la mejor traduccion para color de la tez: "moreno claro."  

Gracias!

-Marissa


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## 50something

I'd say "light brunette" or "light brown-skinned".


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## Marissita

Gracias!  muy amable!


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## Soy Yo

o "light-skinned brunette"?


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## 50something

"light-skinned brunette" esta mucho mejor Soy-Yo. I'd go for that one.

Gary


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## Barbara S.

I don't like brunette. Light-skinned brown skin implies dark hair. Moreno in Mexico has a different meaning than moreno in Spain. A white skinned person with brown hair in Spain is a moreno. A moreno in Mexico is someone with very dark skin (and, of course, dark hair). By the way, moreno comes from the word "moro" Moor. Black people used to be called Moors in English.


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## Soy Yo

I agree with you that "moreno" has different meanings in different places.   Perhaps I made the mistake of following cochabamba's lead with "brunette."

Do you have other suggestions?  Light-skinned mulatto?    Light-skinned mestizo?  Light-skinned black?


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## westopia

light-brown skin ???


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## Soy Yo

Posiblemente...ah claro que sí.  Me habría ayudado más contexto... yo creí que se refería a una persona de rasgos que típicamente son acompañados por una tez oscura....por eso lo de brunette, etc.


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## Barbara S.

In Mexico moreno usually refers to anyone whose skin is darker than the norm for that region. But Mexicans in the U.S. - who in Mexico would be called moreno - call black people morenos and refer to themselves as mexicanos.


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## 50something

Soy Yo, regarding to "moreno claro" at the very beginning, I think the term is refferred to the color of the skin of a brunette person. I really don't think Marissita was talking about a black race person. "Moreno" for mexicans in the US doesn't have grey tones does it?. Therefore, I think my lead was adequately followed Soy Yo.

So, I would stick to "light-skinned brunette".

Gary


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## Gato_Gordo

I completely agree with  Barbara, and in some cases I've heard the term *Tanned *to describe a person with a slightly darker shade of skin color than the rest of the community (whatever the race), in the same way mexicans use *moreno* as Barbara described.


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## 50something

I would say that a tanned person is not *necessarily* light moreno. Sometimes they look orange too.


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## Gato_Gordo

> I would say that a tanned person is not *necessarily* light moreno. Sometimes they look orange too.



Of course, some recently tanned people look more like boiled shrimps ^_^

I meant it as a manner of speak used by some people I've heard.


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## pejeman

Barbara S. said:


> In Mexico moreno usually refers to anyone whose skin is darker than the norm for that region. But Mexicans in the U.S. - who in Mexico would be called moreno - call black people morenos and refer to themselves as mexicanos.



Moreno es un término usado diariamente en México, para referirse a quien tiene la piel obscura, sin llegar a negro.

-Morena clara: Mujer que tiene la piel más hacia el tono del color de la canela (piel canela)

-"Muy moreno" quiere decir moreno obscuro.

-Moreno es una forma cariñosa de referirse a alguien de piel negra y a veces un eufemismo, por convencionalismo social.

Por supuesto que existen muchísimos mexicanos de piel negra, igual que morenos, güeros y de todos colores y sabores. Nos pueden encontrar en surtido rico.

Saludos


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## Barbara S.

brunette - in American English is only used on boxes of hair coloring. People are never referred to as brunettes in speech and only rarely - and then somewhat ironically - in print. In the U.S. people are either blond-haired, brown-haired, red-headed, or black-haired (or purple, green or blue-haired). The noun blonde exists for a woman with blond hair. The functional equivalent would be "brunette" except it's rarely used. Note that it is a feminine form - never applied to a man (same with blonde). Since blonds (male and female form) are in the minority in the U.S. it makes sense that we note their hair color. I bet it works just the opposite in Sweden where most people are blond.

In the U.S., hispanic people are sometimes referred to as "tan" in the context of the multi-ethnic rainbow of black, white, and tan Americans. But this is a very special usage.

Depending on context and literary style, you might say "a light-skinned person of mixed race" mestiso is not a commonly-understood term in English and mulato is now considered offensive.


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## rocker7373

they say tanned here in the USA people

and brunette is a hair color, nothing to do with skin


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## Moritzchen

So then how about "light brown" as Cochabamba told you yeeeears ago?


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## Barbara S.

Works for me.
By the way, Rocker, "tan" is not the same as "tanned". Tan is a color, tanned is a temporary condition brought about by exposure to the sun or a tanning salon. You can have a tan car, but not a tanned car.


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## Chaucer

Marissita said:


> Hola,
> 
> Estoy traduciendo un texto al ingles y queria saber la mejor traduccion para color de la tez: "moreno claro."
> 
> Gracias!
> 
> -Marissa



*light dark*

As in:

*"She has light dark skin".* [Meaning she has a/is of swarthy complexion/has swarthy skin]

Light dark skin is not necessarily the result of tanning nor are people possessing it necessarily brunette.


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## 50something

Rocker7373, "...brunette is a hair color, nothing to do with skin...", where in earth did you get that from?, brunette is morena(o) anywhere in the world (semantically speaking), just like bruno in italian means a dark skinned person.

Gary


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## Soy Yo

rocker7373 said:


> they say tanned here in the USA people
> 
> and brunette is a hair color, nothing to do with skin


 
Según Merriam-Webster:

brunet _or_ brunette: a person having brown or black hair and _usually_ a *relatively dark complexion.*


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## Barbara S.

re: brunet, brunette. A word's meaning and usage are not the same thing. For example, "commence" means to start or begin but it is not used in the same in English. Most of the posts in WordReference have to do with a particular usage as opposed to the dictionary meaning. Tall, dark, and handsome is not the same as tall, brunet and handsome. The water commenced to boil? I don't think so. I commenced to think it was going to rain. No way. We commenced to eat. That's fine if I want to be ironic.


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## Soy Yo

¿Y dónde nos deja esto en cuanto a "moreno claro"?


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## Barbara S.

Just pointing out that brunet/ brunette was not the correct translation of moreno claro in the context of this thread, no matter what the dictionary definition of the word. Hence the analogy with "commence".


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## 50something

Whay you point out Barbara is clear enough, but I must insist, we were asked to tanslate "moreno claro", and in regular spanish the term is refferred to a person with skin that is not black nor tanned, simply a skin tone lighter than regular moreno. We were not asked to explain what the mexicans call blacks in a shy way (interesting though). So, a light-brown skinned person can confortably called morena(o) clara(o) and viceversa.


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## Soy Yo

Bueno, ya veo que hay confusión en todas partes.  Encontré esto en la red...no es que lo recomiende sino que lo encuentro interesante:

XXX is a sexy and attractive, light skinned, *brunette* with long *blonde hair* from Brazil.


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## gotitadeleche

What about with an olive complexion. I usually think of that as a person with light brown skin.


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## pejeman

gotitadeleche said:


> What about with an olive complexion. I usually think of that as a person with light brown skin.


 
Hi:

Does it make any sense "cinnamon complexion"? After all, there is a song that says "...ojos negros, piel canela, que me llegan a desesperar..."

Saludos


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## helenduffy

To me that conjures the image of a light-skinned Black person.   (My context is Nicaraguan Spanish.)


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## Outsider

FYI, I started a thread about the meaning of "brunette" in the English forum.


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## kloie

Moreno in many Latin American countries does mean a black person,it's better than saying negro so I've heard; I have met a black Nicaraguan before and he fits the description.


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## Di_smiles

Marissita said:


> Hola,
> 
> Estoy traduciendo un texto al ingles y queria saber la mejor traduccion para color de la tez: "moreno claro."
> 
> Gracias!
> 
> -Marissa


My background is Mexican Spanish (specifically costeño) my dad is Afromexican as is almost everyone from his part of Michoacán (La Mira) and Moreno claro refers to people who are either Black or mixed Black but are of lighter skin could even be yellow/white but they have physically Black/mixed features


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