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horas cátedra (asistente-estudiante)
una alianza no confesa
Jul 25, 2016 22:36
7 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term

tener los ojo en la nuca

Spanish to English Other Sports / Fitness / Recreation idiomatic expression
An Argentine soccer player's memoir:

En los últimos veinte minutos de los partidos había jugadores que caminaban la cancha; les mirabas la cara y te asustaba, tenían los ojos en la nuca. Y ellos, los dirigentes, estaban sentaditos en los palcos, con aire acondicionado, tomando champagne y comiendo caviar.

Eyes in the back of the head doesn't make sense to me here
Thanks!
Proposed translations (English)
4 +3 their eyes were hollow/vacant
4 they had their tails betwenn their legs/ thay were downcast
4 you could feel them breathing down your neck
4 to be very sleepy
3 as if (they) had eyes in the back of their head(s)
3 to have sunken eyes / their eyes were sunk deep in their skulls
2 they were looking nervously over their shoulders

Discussion

JohnMcDove Jul 27, 2016:
@Simon - Don't know if you ever ran at 11 a.m. in Southern California for 45 minutes or one hour, much less 90 minutes, but I can tell you by personal experience that just 45 minutes under this bloody Sun, with 100 ºF or more, it's a scary proposition. Frightening, to say the least. When you get some water your body is like a sponge...
Helena Chavarria Jul 26, 2016:
Perhaps the players had their eyes fixed on the back of the head of the person in front. They couldn't bring themselves to even glance at the spectators.
Simon Bruni Jul 26, 2016:
Context Is there some kind of trouble brewing that would make these players seem worried / on the alert? The tiredness interpretation doesn't really make sense to me: why would that be frightening? (te asustaba). I don't think even a footballer would use the phrase so horribly inaccurately!
patinba Jul 25, 2016:
You are right It makes no sense. He is referring to the exhausted state of the players, so perhaps he meant that their eyes were hollow and sunken. Again, the speaker is not noted for his sound use of language.

Proposed translations

+3
11 hrs
Selected

their eyes were hollow/vacant

During the 86 World Cup in Mexico players --Maradona in particular-- complained about having to play at midday in the Mexican summer and at a high altitude. Here the speaker is talking about exhaustion due to those conditions and the demands of the game.
You could use the expression I am proposing or a similar one. "Tener los ojos en la nuca" does not have a specific meaning but is the image the author chose to express the state of the players in contrast with the comfort enjoyed by the organizers.
Peer comment(s):
agree patinba : This must be it (see my discussion entry)
2 hrs
Thanks! That is it, and you are right, I meant to mention your comments and forgot.
agree JohnMcDove : This is the correct interpretation. I don't know what is the best way to express it in English. I suggested another option, but I fully agree with the "reality" of the situation.
2 days 8 hrs
Thanks John!
agree Robert Carter : Yes, totally in agreement with your assessment here, they were physically drained.
7 days
Thanks Robert!
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Selected automatically based on peer agreement."
20 mins

they had their tails betwenn their legs/ thay were downcast

now we're getting there

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Note added at 21 mins (2016-07-25 22:58:27 GMT)
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between

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Note added at 22 mins (2016-07-25 22:58:57 GMT)
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that's probably more the idea

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Note added at 24 mins (2016-07-25 23:01:03 GMT)
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I wouldn't worry about being literal here


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Note added at 24 mins (2016-07-25 23:01:31 GMT)
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they were downtrodden

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Note added at 25 mins (2016-07-25 23:02:26 GMT)
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sure that other ideas will come up but that's the gist

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Note added at 41 mins (2016-07-25 23:17:52 GMT)
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suerte
Peer comment(s):
neutral Neil Ashby : but why? Why did they have their tails between their legs, why were they downtrodden?
12 hrs
Something went wrong...
7 hrs

they were looking nervously over their shoulders

Could do with more context but it's difficult to imagine how this could even mistakenly be used to mean "downcast".
Something went wrong...
8 hrs
Spanish term (edited): tener los ojos en la nuca

as if (they) had eyes in the back of their head(s)

Perhaps avoid over-interpreting and translate literally
Reference:

http://www.linguee.com/spanish-english/translation/tener+ojos+en+la+nuca.html

Peer comment(s):
neutral Neil Ashby : Ha ha, I'm actually a West Ham fan. Just that I lived near Hull and so that was who I used to go and watch every 2nd week; now it's Real Betis. You're right it's very specific lingo and one probably needs the whole interview to make a decent stab of it.
4 hrs
I was wondering how long it would take a Hull City 'Tiger' to come in. Suggest you post your own answer if privy to argie-bargie. 'Translation dodge': when in doubt, be literal//In Alf Garnett's words: 'the Hammers (3 of them) won the World Cup in 1966'.
Something went wrong...
15 hrs

you could feel them breathing down your neck

My suggestion
Peer comment(s):
neutral JohnMcDove : I don't see any semantic or conceptual basis to support this. Could you develop your rationale?
2 days 4 hrs
Something went wrong...
1 day 23 hrs

to have sunken eyes / their eyes were sunk deep in their skulls

In the context of being exhausted by the heat and the effort...

Somewhat lugubrious, under the bloody Sun...
Something went wrong...
2 days 1 hr

to be very sleepy

A very common saying in Colombia. See below for the meaning in Spain.
Ahora la que tiene insomnio soy yo... duermo una media de 3 horas diarias desde hace un par de semanas.... tengo los ojos en la nuca, las ojeras hasta la barbilla y no tengo apetito..... (http://www.spaniards.es/foros/cultura-y-costumbres/insomnio)
Peer comment(s):
neutral JohnMcDove : Have you ever played a 90 minute football game? I tell you, in the last 20 minutes, even if you were a pro, you'd feel the exhaustion, but "sleepiness"? NO, not at all.
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
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