Aug 8, 2019 00:01
4 yrs ago
1 viewer *
Spanish term
Argentina
Multilingual Experts
Native in: English (Variants: UK, US, Canadian) 
Works in: English, Spanish to English, English to Spanish, and 12 more.
a pelo de toro
Spanish to English
Other
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
A screenplay that takes place in Argentina in the 70s. One character says:
…era una sensación rara la de colarse. Te daba un poco de miedo… Un par de veces me descubrieron, pero en dos estuve hasta el final y no me echaron…
Y a una fui sin mis amigos, solo, a pelo de toro, no conocía a nadie… Y cuando pienso en eso, me siento tranquilo, pero ahora no me está funcionando mucho…
Is it like shameless?
…era una sensación rara la de colarse. Te daba un poco de miedo… Un par de veces me descubrieron, pero en dos estuve hasta el final y no me echaron…
Y a una fui sin mis amigos, solo, a pelo de toro, no conocía a nadie… Y cuando pienso en eso, me siento tranquilo, pero ahora no me está funcionando mucho…
Is it like shameless?
Proposed translations
+4
11 hrs
Selected
without a safety net/with no support/without any back-up
On the same line as other suggestions, this seems to be a reference to riding a bull bareback in a rodeo, with no saddle to hold on to, no support.
The speaker mentions "Te daba un poco de miedo" so obviously had to pluck up courage.
Y a una fui sin mis amigos, solo, a pelo de toro, no conocía a nadie=I went to one without my friends, alone, without a safety net/without any back-up, I didn't know anybody
Synonyms for Without back-up - Classic Thesaurus
https://classicthesaurus.com/without_back-up/synonyms
without any backup exp. 2. without support exp. 2. without the support exp. 1. backless adj. 1. flying blind exp. 1. no safety net exp.
Y a una fui sin mis amigos, solo, a pelo de toro, no conocía a nadie
Similar ideas in English
The speaker mentions "Te daba un poco de miedo" so obviously had to pluck up courage.
Y a una fui sin mis amigos, solo, a pelo de toro, no conocía a nadie=I went to one without my friends, alone, without a safety net/without any back-up, I didn't know anybody
Synonyms for Without back-up - Classic Thesaurus
https://classicthesaurus.com/without_back-up/synonyms
without any backup exp. 2. without support exp. 2. without the support exp. 1. backless adj. 1. flying blind exp. 1. no safety net exp.
Y a una fui sin mis amigos, solo, a pelo de toro, no conocía a nadie
Similar ideas in English
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
2 hrs
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Thanks, Beatriz!
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
: with no back-up
2 hrs
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Thanks!
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| agree |
Antonio Berbel Garcia
2 hrs
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Thanks, Antonio!
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| agree |
Georgina Grigioni
: "With no backup". I think I have heard my grandfather saying "a pelo de toro". It means literally "bareback"
5 days
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Thanks, Georgina, and thank you for the confirmation!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "thanks"
-1
9 hrs
Sin ayuda, sin protección, sin nadie que en caso de problema pudiese estar ahí para echarte una mano
Muy parecido al uso en español de España, pero sin el añadido 'de toro'
Discussion
Esperemos algún comentario de quien pregunta... ejem...
Can't find any references for that, but it's Argentinian ESP.
It gives me the impression of simply meaning the same as "a pelo", i.e. without anyone/anything else. An intensifier.
"I went alone, just me on my own , didn't know....etc"