From here:
That’s missing Mafalda’s thoughts
“O se le acabó la pintu , o no pu termi, por razones que son de domin publi”
“Either he ran out of pai or he could n fini for reasons that are of publ knowled”
“For reasons that are of public knowledge” was an euphemism used by the military government when censoring someone, it basically meant “because we say so”
Ignorance fought. Thanks. (And I never noticed the missing exclamation mark.)
Not only the exclamation mark but the final 2 characters of the word “censura”, the joke is that the graffiti painter was censored himself before he could finish.
Can I say here, Frodo, that not only do you make this thread a great read - and I’m pulling for you and Argentina! - but you’ve also really helped improve my high school Spanish a great deal!
Be careful or you’ll end up speaking Rioplatense Spanish and :
- Many spanish speakers would have real trouble understanding you
- Many will think you have this nincompoop as a president
On the other hand they may think you have 3 world cups, which is more important than being understood or having incompetent leaders…
Gallows humor time: I’m waiting until Frodo starts claiming he IS a hobbit from Hobbiton when asked where he’s from. 
Seriously though, I absolutely appreciate the effort to stay and fight the good fight, especially at non-zero risk from all reports. And I hope that the resolution ends up as, if not a happy one, one that the people survive and can tolerate without serious compromising of their rights and morals.
But my gut instinct right now is that with the new measures seeming to likely cause the economic issues to get worse, rather than better, and the previously reported comments that a constitution is only valid for a successful economy…
@Frodo, stay as safe as you can.
From the article cited:
In perhaps her greatest political put-down she asserts that “soup is to childhood what communism is to democracy”
– can somebody explain to me why that’s a putdown?
Don’t most children eat soup? Don’t many of them like at least some soups? Aren’t a lot of those soups good for them?
Or is the quote supposed to mean that communism is useful to democracy – in which case how is it a putdown?
I must be missing something. – Maybe Mafalda’s consistently depicted in the strip as hating soup?
This.
Mafalda hates soup.
Ah!
Thanks for explanation. And for other, more important explanations throughout this thread.
Advantages:
- Cook better steak
- Eat steak more often
- Can you even buy barbecue cheese elsewhere?
- Know how to tango
- Others share your love of Gardel and fútbol
Disadvantages:
- Discover lunfardo is perceived as less elegant
- Disavow spicy food
- Dangerous bureaucracy
- Have to listen to jokes like:
How can you tell if a spy is Argentinian?
Wearing a t-shirt that says “I am the greatest spy in the world!”
I would be thrilled to speak Rioplatense Spanish… or, for that matter, any other dialect as long as I could construct a sentence in real time. It’s hard enough for me decode from writing or follow along a slow speaker - but I really appreciate the cultural nuances of your explanation of that Mafalda cartoon!
This was actually quite useful—I spent some class time today going through his rhetoric, which is fascinating. Stating that all people are equal, but that feminism is a threat, and that business leaders are heroes while poor people are parasites… very standard fascist playbook, but useful to be able to point to an example in real time. I argued to the students that his use of “radical feminists” is pretty much a plausible modern version of “witches,” i.e. bad women who exist only to harm society.
Don’t forget the callback to an imaginary ideal past (“Argentina was once a world power”) and the powerful conspiracy (“neo Marxists”)
I couldn’t find an article in English that covered the full range. (I read Spanish, imperfectly, but most of the students don’t at all.) But even the snippets in the English-language Buenos Aires papers covering Davos had useful material.
Say what?!?!?!?
proceeds to repeat himself in the most incomprehensible lunfardo he can manage
I prefer the one about the Argentinian who’s having sex and his partner moans “oh god, oh god” to which he responds “you can call me Carlos”
Ok, that’s the funniest joke I’ve heard in weeks.