# bolita de miga



## setekolste

De "El Sur" por Jorge Luis Borges:

"Junto al vaso ordinario de vidrio turbio, sobre una de las rayas del mantel, había una _bolita de miga_.  Eso era todo, pero alguien se la había tirado."

¿Cómo se diría _bolita de miga_ en inglés?


----------



## Ushuaia

No se me ocurre más que "a small ball of bread", ¡pero esperá más sugerencias!


----------



## Xochiquetzal

*crumb ball*


----------



## Billbasque

"crumb ball" suena muy raro, no sé. Yo siempre he oído hablar de "crumb(s) of bread)", "bread crumb(s)" o "crumb(s)" a secas, pero nunca con "ball".


----------



## SydLexia

"a small pellet of bread", perhaps.

syd


----------



## albertovidal

SydLexia said:


> "a small pellet of bread", perhaps.
> 
> syd



pellet  / ˈpelət / || / ˈpelɪt/   sustantivo 

 (of bread, paper) bolita f


----------



## Sunshine on Leith

When reading 'bolita de miga' reminds me of when I was little and liked to take the soft part of the bread and knead it in my fingers until it became pliable and you could shape it in many ways. Does that have a name?


----------



## setekolste

I think "ball of bread" would be the closest translation.  Thank you!


----------



## SydLexia

Sunshine on Leith said:


> When reading 'bolita de miga' reminds me of when I was little and liked to take the soft part of the bread and knead it in my fingers until it became pliable and you could shape it in many ways. Does that have a name?


Yes, provided it's small. It's a "bread-pellet" or a "pellet of bread" (the classic meal-time 'ammunition' to be flicked or thrown at people, or fired from a peashooter (cerbatana)).

If it is larger I think you will find it called "playing with your food" . It's interesting that there is no 'bread culture' here in the UK that appreciates the "corteza" (crust) over the "miga" (simply 'bread'). In fact, 'high-class' sandwiches are small, triangular and have their crusts removed.... 

syd


----------



## Sunshine on Leith

Syd, 
It's true, now that you mention... I hadn't realized till now..I don't know if dough can be used here for miga, even in its cooked state. That would explain some weird looks I've been getting over the years..

Edit: if there is no word for miga in English, we should make one up: I propose: the Anti-Crust


----------



## Moritzchen

Merriam-Webster Unabridged:


Main Entry: *1crumb* 
Function: _noun_
Inflected Form(s): *-s*
Etymology: Middle English 
_crumme, _from Old English _cruma; _akin to Middle High German _krume _crumb, Middle Dutch _crume, _Icelandic _krumur _soft 
inside, Old High German _krouw
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





n _to scratch, Latin _grumus _pile of dirt, Greek _grymea 
_bag, trash, fish remnants, Albanian _grime _crumb; basic meaning: 
something scratched together; akin to Old English _cradol _cradle -- more 
at CRADLE
*1* *:* a small fragment or piece; 
_especially_ *:* a very small piece of bread or other food broken or 
rubbed off
*2* *:* a little *: BIT* <a 
_crumb_ of comfort>
*3* *:* the soft part of bread -- 
opposed to _crust_ <if you can't get _crumb_, you'd best eat 
crust>
*4* *:* any material resembling bread crumb: as *a* 
*:* loose friable soil *b* *:* shredded alkali cellulose
...
*
*


----------



## SydLexia

You're right of course, Moritz, "crumb" is the technical word as used by bakers and 'entendidos' (m'as pillao )

It's interesting though that, as the quote shows, the crust is the 'bad' bit. 'crust' can also be "mendrugo" as in "a stale crust".

syd


----------



## Sunshine on Leith

SydLexia said:


> It's interesting though that, as the quote shows, the crust is the 'bad' bit. 'crust' can also be "mendrugo" as in "a stale crust".
> 
> syd



In contrast, that took me to thinking about the expression, the 'upper crust' but as Wikipedia says, it comes from here: "

*The upper crust*" is an English-language idiom that refers to a society's social or economic elites. It is derived from the housekeeping practices of the pre-industrialization British gentry, whose servants baked bread for the household but were permitted to eat only the pan-scorched bottom portion, with the unblackened "upper crust" being reserved for the landowning family.


----------



## Moritzchen

This is how the passage has been translated: ..._Next to the heavy glass of turbid wine, upon one of the stripes in the table cloth, lay a spit ball of breadcrumb. That was all: but someone had thrown it there._


----------



## Sunshine on Leith

Oh! That sounds quite different from what I was thinking. Someone spat a bit of bread out of their mouths, then? Yuk!


----------



## Ushuaia

Sunshine on Leith said:


> Oh! That sounds quite different from what I was thinking. Someone spat a bit of bread out of their mouths, then? Yuk!



The original says nothing about the ball having been in anyone's mouth, it must have been the translator's own interpretation!


----------



## Sunshine on Leith

I hope so..
unless a spit ball has a meaning I do not comprehend apart from spitting something..


----------



## Moritzchen

I just re-read the story (in Spanish) and true, nothing is said about anyone spitting. 
The translation is something I found online.


----------



## SydLexia

A "spit ball" involves spittle but not spitting. It's a "bolita de papel masticado" and is the 'classroom ammunition' for your blowpipe/peashooter/cerbatana (or for flicking with your fingernails). In the 'comedor' pellets of bread can be used instead.

syd


----------



## k-in-sc

Yes, I think it was just a "spitball-sized pellet of bread." Bread is too soft to make actual spitballs with anyway.


----------



## duvija

OK, and really, there is no word for 'miga' in English. It's as simple as that. When we eat our normal 'sandwiches de miga', well, they don't even exist around here, except in an Argentinian bakery, and they don't even know how to name them...


----------



## Mate

duvija said:


> OK, and really, there is no word for 'miga' in English. It's as simple as that. When we eat our normal 'sandwiches de miga', well, they don't even exist around here, except in an Argentinian bakery, and they don't even know how to name them...


Lo que no hay es pan de miga y sándwiches de miga. Mirá acá que ya discutieron lo mismo: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1248767
A la miga y a un trocito de pan se les dice igual: _crumb_.


----------



## Moritzchen

duvija said:


> OK, and really, there is no word for 'miga' in English. It's as simple as that. When we eat our normal 'sandwiches de miga', well, they don't even exist around here, except in an Argentinian bakery, and they don't even know how to name them...


Sí mon amour (aunque no te guste)
Se dice "crumb". 
Pero no se usa. 
Y en cuanto a que no se use, siempre podés hacer un sándwich de bologna y American cheese con Wonder Bread y cortarle la corteza.
Vamos...!


----------



## k-in-sc

"Miga" is "bread with the crusts cut off." There's your English term. "Crumb" is the texture of the "miga."


----------



## duvija

k-in-sc said:


> "Miga" is "bread with the crusts cut off." There's your English term. "Crumb" is the texture of the "miga."



So what's a crumb cake? (no, it's not 'miga'). I believe 'migaja' is closer.


----------



## k-in-sc

A crumb cake is a cake with a crumb topping, like some coffeecakes. The "crumb" topping is really a streusel of butter, flour and brown sugar, sometimes with oats, nuts, etc.


----------



## gotitadeleche

duvija said:


> OK, and really, there is no word for 'miga' in English. It's as simple as that. When we eat our normal 'sandwiches de miga', well, they don't even exist around here, except in an Argentinian bakery, and they don't even know how to name them...



Sandwich de miga is similar to a tea sandwich or finger sandwich.


----------



## duvija

k-in-sc said:


> A crumb cake is a cake with a crumb topping, like some coffeecakes. The "crumb" topping is really a streusel of butter, flour and brown sugar, sometimes with oats, nuts, etc.



Of course. The texture of the topping is not the one of 'miga'.


----------



## k-in-sc

Sorry, what can I tell you?! You asked ...


----------



## duvija

Couldn't you all agree, at least, that English does not have a word for 'miga'? Or a word for 'macho' so you borrowed it?


----------



## Moritzchen

No. Miga es _crumb_. 
Y _macho_ tiene otro significado en inglés.


----------



## k-in-sc

English doesn't have a word for "miga," it has a term.
And whatever word seems useful, we take. Like "macho" to describe aggressive or excessive virility. Thanks! You can have whatever words of ours you want, if the RAE will let you


----------



## Mate

So what's the term you would suggest for "bolita de miga"? if you don't mind me asking (asking the original question, in order to get this thread back on track.)


----------



## Moritzchen

Explicáme porqué Dahlmann, en vez de darse vuelta, sonreír e invitar a este grupo de pelotudos que no hicieron otra cosa que tirarle un par de pelotitas de miga, a otra ronda de caña y quedar amigos...
Ah! Esa es la historia del cuentito....


----------



## Mate

Puede haber habido muchas razones: orgullo, temor a quedar en ridículo ante los paisanos de sus pagos o, como sugiere Borges, la sensación de que esta vez sí le había llegado la hora, de que finalmente es inútil luchar contra el destino. 

Pero ¿y la pregunta del hilo?


----------



## k-in-sc

(Little) pellets of bread, like we said before ...


----------

