perla chueca

English translation: misshapen pearl / irregular pearl

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Spanish term or phrase:perla chueca
English translation:misshapen pearl / irregular pearl
Entered by: Evan Tomlinson

21:52 Jun 25, 2015
Spanish to English translations [PRO]
Tech/Engineering - Cosmetics, Beauty / Jewelry
Spanish term or phrase: perla chueca
The context is as follows: "El término barroco refiere tanto a un estilo como a una forma de vida y de pensamiento. Su antecedente viene de la palabra berrueco, *perla chueca*, que denota irregularidad, contraste, contrapunto"

The text is from an essay that will be published in a book. The author is Mexican.
Evan Tomlinson
United States
Local time: 15:33
misshapen pearl / irregular pearl
Explanation:
More choices, which I personally prefer. No single English source should be regarded as absolutely authoritative; we need to consider what berrueco actually means rather than how it has been translated.

The DRAE defines barrueco (variant berrueco) as "perla irregular", and I think irregularity is the key concept which was the keynote of the Baroque as an artistic style and indeed ethos.

"Imperfect" is used in a number of places, but there are various kinds of imperfection (the word suggests a blemish of some kind, to me at least), whereas berrueco is very much a matter of shape. So I think Collin has a good point with lopsided, though I don't think that's a happy choice of word. Nor is "crooked", to my mind; I don't think a pearl can be exactly crooked.

I would suggest "irregular" as the basic word to use. Irregularity is a key concept of the Baroque in artistic terms, after Renaissance regularity. There is plenty of scholarly support for this; here is the Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance:

"BAROQUE
An art-historical term of uncertain origin (possibly from Portuguese barocco or Spanish barrueco, an irregular pearl)"
http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198601753....

But my personal favourite is "misshapen", which is suggested by Baretti in his 1809 dictionary:
https://books.google.es/books?id=2-AFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PT96&lpg=PT...

The point is that barrueco is very much a matter of shape. And that's actually the basic concept of chueco too.

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Note added at 8 hrs (2015-06-26 06:40:53 GMT)
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"Misshapen" seems to me to strike just the right note. "Chueca" itself implies some sort of deformity (mal hecho, defectuoso, torcido; it can me bow-legged). And part of the essence of the Baroque was a fascination with monstrous deformity.

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Note added at 9 hrs (2015-06-26 06:57:49 GMT)
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And I've only just noticed that if you use misshapen instead of irregular you avoid the repetition with "irregularidad" in your text.
Selected response from:

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 23:33
Grading comment
Excellent answer, thank you very much!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +1misshapen pearl / irregular pearl
Charles Davis
4crooked/imperfect pearl
philgoddard
3lopsided pearl
Collin Stewart
Summary of reference entries provided
A photo of a perla chueca
Helena Chavarria

  

Answers


19 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
lopsided pearl


Explanation:
There is lots of discussion on the web about the connection between "baroque" and "imperfect pearls," but I don't think "imperfect" is a great translation of "chueca."

Collin Stewart
United States
Local time: 16:33
Native speaker of: English
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28 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
crooked/imperfect pearl


Explanation:
I think "lopsided" is a bit colloquial for this context. Here is the correct etymology:

1765, from French baroque (15c.) "irregular," from Portuguese barroco "imperfect pearl," which is of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Spanish berruca "a wart."



    Reference: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=baroque
    Reference: http://dictionary.reverso.net/spanish-english/chueco
philgoddard
United States
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
misshapen pearl / irregular pearl


Explanation:
More choices, which I personally prefer. No single English source should be regarded as absolutely authoritative; we need to consider what berrueco actually means rather than how it has been translated.

The DRAE defines barrueco (variant berrueco) as "perla irregular", and I think irregularity is the key concept which was the keynote of the Baroque as an artistic style and indeed ethos.

"Imperfect" is used in a number of places, but there are various kinds of imperfection (the word suggests a blemish of some kind, to me at least), whereas berrueco is very much a matter of shape. So I think Collin has a good point with lopsided, though I don't think that's a happy choice of word. Nor is "crooked", to my mind; I don't think a pearl can be exactly crooked.

I would suggest "irregular" as the basic word to use. Irregularity is a key concept of the Baroque in artistic terms, after Renaissance regularity. There is plenty of scholarly support for this; here is the Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance:

"BAROQUE
An art-historical term of uncertain origin (possibly from Portuguese barocco or Spanish barrueco, an irregular pearl)"
http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198601753....

But my personal favourite is "misshapen", which is suggested by Baretti in his 1809 dictionary:
https://books.google.es/books?id=2-AFAAAAQAAJ&pg=PT96&lpg=PT...

The point is that barrueco is very much a matter of shape. And that's actually the basic concept of chueco too.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2015-06-26 06:40:53 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Misshapen" seems to me to strike just the right note. "Chueca" itself implies some sort of deformity (mal hecho, defectuoso, torcido; it can me bow-legged). And part of the essence of the Baroque was a fascination with monstrous deformity.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2015-06-26 06:57:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

And I've only just noticed that if you use misshapen instead of irregular you avoid the repetition with "irregularidad" in your text.

Charles Davis
Spain
Local time: 23:33
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Excellent answer, thank you very much!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jacob Z. (X): Apparently in the jewelry biz these are referred to as "baroque pearls", so it's easy to see lots of examples by searching for that term. Based on that, I think "misshapen" is the best word to actually use for the asker's translation.
4 hrs
  -> That completes the circle rather nicely. Thanks for your contribution, James; you always have something judicious and enlightening to say!
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Reference comments


34 mins
Reference: A photo of a perla chueca

Reference information:
http://ar-s.com.mx/tienda/collares/re386/

And the definition of 'chueca'

http://buscon.rae.es/drae/srv/search?val=chueca

Helena Chavarria
Spain
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
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