# Request for some help with a short Spanish phrase **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2018, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616 "2018-05-22T13:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616/1 "2018-05-22T13:24:54Z")
I’m interested in good, colloquial Spanish for the phrase: Tangled Oaks. The context is: imagine several oak trees growing relatively close together such that their limbs are a bit intertwined. I’m thinking _Robles enredados_ but I’m really not sure if that is something that would roll off the tongue of a native speaker. And variations from different forms of Spanish are welcome, but I’m primarily interested in something that one would hear either in Madrid or Mexico City. _Muchas gracias_ in advance for the help! I was also considering the phrase “Twisted Oaks”, but didn’t like the connotation that “twisted” has in English sometimes-- i.e., deviant. Just out of curiosity, does the Spanish word have a similar connotation? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616/2 "2018-05-22T14:41:59Z")
_Retorcido_ does have that double meaning. _Torcido_ also, but not as strong; the “re” is acting as an intensifier. I’m trying to understand the context of the question. Are you trying to just describe several trees that are so close their limbs are intertwined? That could be _robles entrelazados_. You could also prove that Spanish can really get long with the descriptions and say _robles con las ramas entrelazadas_, detailing that what’s linked is the limbs and not the trunks. Are you trying to use it as a poetic image? That could be _como [la hiedra](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHhX8zz4wqQ)_ (like ivy). There are many other songs which refer to ivy as either a loving embrace or on occasion something that squeezes too hard. Both _como la hiedra_ and\* la hiedra\* would be perfectly fine names for a house or a restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616/3 "2018-05-22T14:52:14Z")
Thanks. I want a compact phrase that would describe such an area. Sort of like the name for a park where there were a bunch of oak trees with limbs growing together. Does that make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616/4 "2018-05-24T08:41:51Z")
Others that I thought of in the car (no internet at home): _los robles abrazados_ (group hug!) _los robles danzantes_ (not _bailarines_ because they look like they’re dancing but can’t really dance) _los robles pegados_ indicates that they’re really, really close but doesn’t specifically go into the intertwinning _el círculo de robles_ if you don’t really worry too much about the exact geometry. Or _el corro de robles_, which brings back the [dancing theme](https://www.google.es/search?q=danzas+en+corro&safe=active&rlz=1C1GGRV_enFR787FR787&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh0IjS-Z3bAhUIuBQKHUSRBQkQsAQIJw&biw=1366&bih=637). Not sure how well each of them would work in different locations. The first and third might work as a description in conversation but would never be used as an official name. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616/5 "2018-05-25T13:19:42Z")
Thanks for all the suggestions! Of all the those bandied about here, including the one I put in the OP, which would you say is: 1. The one that sounds most colloquial (i.e., doesn’t sound like it was spoken by a gringo like me) 2. Accurately portrays the sense of trees with limbs intertwined, but without any extraneous commentary. (Just the facts, ma’am). 3. Would be appropriate for a place name for something like a small park with a bunch of oak trees that are kind of close together. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616/6 "2018-05-25T13:37:56Z")
Colloquial and not said by someone who learned Spanish as a second language are different things. I can assure you that _una cerveza por favor_, _dónde está el baño_ and those slews of too-many-lettered-words everybody lears first are all colloquial. The version which most closely matches your description would be _los robles con las ramas entrelazadas_, but it’s also the one least likely to be the name of a place. Too fucking long, you know? If the name is one people use, I think _el círculo de robles_ would be most likely. If it was defined by City Hall all bets are off because, as Lope and Cervantes are my witnesses, those people tend to think that speaking normally is some sort of sin. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2018, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-for-some-help-with-a-short-spanish-phrase/814616/7 "2018-05-25T14:38:44Z")
Sounds good. Thanks for the help!