Persona de un solo libro

02:53 Jan 9, 2019 

You're welcome, Abraal. I agree-it was a lot of fun, not to mention interesting, too!

02:37 Jan 9, 2019 

It's been great reading all of your interesting inputs, I had a lot of fun.
In fact, I think I'm smarter now, just by reading you guys :)

19:15 Jan 8, 2019 

..."beware of the individual who gets his knowledge from only one source"? In other words, the person who has a skewed or heavily biased, in one direction, point of view.

Yes, I strongly believe now that this is how the phrase should be translated.

16:49 Jan 8, 2019 

I have posted now, thanks for your encouragement.

15:58 Jan 8, 2019 

I like David's "idealogue" or "doctrinaire" because both words make it clear that the person described has solid, and potentially extensive, knowledge of the subject---even though it is limited. If he were to post them, I would hit "agree."

14:38 Jan 8, 2019 

Lovely of you to say that. Happy New Year to you, too! I'll be back on the history questions soon enough - expecting to be posting some of my own, too.

09:03 Jan 8, 2019 

Great to see you here. I've missed you recently on the history questions. Happy New Year!

06:57 Jan 8, 2019 

might well fit the bill here, but I'd need more context to be sure.

03:24 Jan 8, 2019 

I agree with all the comments that Francois wrote under her entry, since it reflects my own input to a very great degree, while taking exception to the ignorant, dumbed down, stereotypical attitude (it seems that it was actually put forth by the lexicographers) that people become close-minded because they are elderly. The most liberal-minded, intelligent people I have ever known have assumed a more mellow, open-minded attitude towards things and people, in general, even more so in their 80s and 90s.

03:00 Jan 8, 2019 

I agree with you, but I also think it worth commenting on some of the answers that stray too far from the meaning here. For me, Francois' suggestion of "closed-minded", and synonymously, David's, are the only ones that actually come close to what Abraal seems to be looking for.

02:52 Jan 8, 2019 

You're right that the asker was looking for slang or an idiom, but in that same sentence they also mentioned "not about [the] being an expert part, but the part of being a bit of a bigot".

02:44 Jan 8, 2019 

I agree with what Phil said early on here about the examples of "persona de un solo libro" quoted (from online references). Each case needs to be handled on its own merits, and he's right that in some of them it would have to be translated more or less literally. I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all solution, and although most if not all the answers proposed might work in certain contexts, they probably wouldn't work in others. Which is why I'm neither proposing an answer nor voting for any of those proposed. Without a specific context I find it an impossible question to answer.

02:13 Jan 8, 2019 

anyway I'm sticking to my guns on this

02:12 Jan 8, 2019 

...is psychiatric nomenclature, not slang or a casual idiom.

02:11 Jan 8, 2019 

no need to overthink it here

02:09 Jan 8, 2019 

Is another possibility.

02:09 Jan 8, 2019 

Well, bigoted people are often interpersonally ignorant, too, I'll grant you that!

02:08 Jan 8, 2019 

getting it right is key

02:06 Jan 8, 2019 

anyway, it's nice to see how these go and in the final analysis will be up to asker

02:04 Jan 8, 2019 

just go for the meaning

02:00 Jan 8, 2019 

pure and simple and to the point Barbara and I don't see why not in this case

01:57 Jan 8, 2019 

...what you propose, David, which is what the asker requested.

01:56 Jan 8, 2019 

sometimes we get carried away with references etc. but just think about what it really boils down to here

01:54 Jan 8, 2019 

despite the various arguments I don't see why "blinkered" wouldn't work here

01:45 Jan 8, 2019 

I should have noted that I was specifically referring to this concept (the proverb quoted by St Thomas Aquinas) when I endorsed Phil's idea. It's probably better to render the "homo unius libri" that Charles refers to as "person (man) of one book" rather than "one-book person".

01:34 Jan 8, 2019 

I find the expression "one-book person" very odd since I've never heard it during 66 years on this planet! To refer back to what Charles has shared, there are people who often fanatically adhere to a single doctrine out of fear, or to find solace, or to attempt to control the behavior of others, even though that attitude might seem irrational, and even exclusionary or tyrannical.

00:36 Jan 8, 2019 

I agree with both Phil and Charles here. As Phil says, different words exist for specific cases. In English, we might simply call a person who is narrow-minded politically a "bigot", whereas someone who is an "expert" or a believer in pseudosciences (cryptozoology, chiropractic, homeopathy, etc.) we might refer to as a "true believer".

And, as Charles says, "man of narrow learning" might well work in some cases, or as Phil notes "one-book person". Other possibilities, such as "zealot", "fanatic" or "fundamentalist" might work in religious, political and even sporting or cultural (i.e., fanatic) contexts too.

20:34 Jan 7, 2019 

In English there is the expression “one-trick poney” for someone who is good at only one thing, however this does not imply that the person is narrow-minded.

20:27 Jan 7, 2019 

You could always quote it in Latin :-) The expression comes from St Thomas Aquinas, though the proverb "cave hominem unius libri" (or less grammatically "cave ab homine unius libri") — beware the man of one book — is attributed to Pliny (and sometimes to Cicero), though I don't think either of them actually wrote it.

Beware the man of narrow learning might sometimes work.

John Wesley said he was an "homo unius libri": the Bible.

19:54 Jan 7, 2019 

I would translate this differently in each of your examples. There is no exact English equivalent that I'm aware of. In some cases, such as your second sentence, a literal translation would work - a one-book person. Is there one particular sentence that you're trying to translate? If so, which one?

19:47 Jan 7, 2019 

The idea is to describe a narrow-minded person.

"Una manera de contribuir a la propagación de ideas es que la gente se informe sobre las visiones y concepciones de otros, evitando el vicio de "persona de un solo libro"

"Hay que leerse ese libro y otros más, porque una persona de un solo libro es muy peligrosa."

"Una persona de un solo libro tiene problemas. Lo mismo va a pasar con la gente de una sola cultura"

"Lo que interesa al final es invertir en miedo, no es cultura. Alguien dijo aquello de "teme a la persona de un solo libro", si solo tienes una forma de ver la vida y de pensar, muy malo."

"El perverso se identifica fácilmente porque es una persona de un solo libro (de un solo deseo), ha de ser así y solo así."

"De su Reforma se deriva la libre interpretación de la Sagrada Escritura, son personas de un sólo libro, y como dijo una persona muy importante en Teología:"¡Que peligroso es ser una persona de un sólo libro" Referido a La Sagrada Escritura, que por los Protestantes es interpretada ad líbitun"

17:59 Jan 7, 2019 

You've given a very helpful explanation of what it means, but do you have a few sentences of text including it? Thanks!