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LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

Spanish Expression of the Day: ‘Mucho ruido y pocas nueces’

What does this ‘nutty’ Spanish expression have to do with Shakespeare?

Spanish Expression of the Day: 'Mucho ruido y pocas nueces'
This expression has been found in Spanish literature from years if not centuries before the man from Stratford-upon-Avon put pen to paper. Painting: Attributed to Pieter Borsseler

Mucho ruido y pocas nueces is the way the Spanish have of describing a lot of fuss about something which ends up not being important or lacking substance. 

It was the original Spanish translation of William Shakespeare’s late 16th century comedy ‘Much ado about Nothing’ and is used pretty much in the same sense.

However, it can also have a similar meaning to when in English you say ‘full of sound and fury’, ‘full of hot air’, ‘all talk and no trousers’, ‘great cry and little wool’, and so on. 

If your level of Spanish is intermediate you’ll recognise that this version of Shakespeare’s title literally means ‘a lot of noise and not many walnuts’.

mucho ruido y pocas nueces

An example of ‘mucho ruido y pocas nueces’ used in the Spanish press, in this case to refer to all the talk but little action of regional politics.

There are reportedly records of this expression in Spanish literature from years if not centuries before the man from Stratford-upon-Avon put pen to paper, such as Juan Ruiz’s The Book of Good Love (1330) or tragicomedy La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas (1499).

According to historians, the nutty analogy of walnuts and loud noises stems from the fact that in ancient times these hard shelled nuts used to be thrown from high up on castle walls and bell towers down to the ground, causing thunderous bangs. 

Walnuts were a sort of mediaeval firecracker or banger, suggesting that Spaniards’ love of loudness is deep rooted.

In old times, walnuts were also thrown in the path of the newlyweds during weddings, again causing a bit of a racket and probably one or two injuries (walnuts and other nuts were eventually replaced by rice).

Other Spanish historians believe the expression could have originated as a result of the Siege of Amiens in 1597, around the time Shakespeare published ‘Much ado about Nothing’.

Legend has it Spanish soldiers disguised as peasants threw walnuts against the ground so that the noise would confuse French guards at the walls of the northern French town.

The clamour caused by the walnuts supposedly made the French soldiers bend down to pick them up, while Spanish soldiers seized the opportunity to walk past them and invade the town. 

So next time you want to describe a lot of fuss about something or someone which in reality is not important or special, when someone makes threats that are never met, or when big promises are made but never kept, remember the interesting history of this Spanish expression. 

Example:

Él siempre hace muchas promesas pero al final es mucho ruido y pocas nueces.

He always makes big promises but in the end he’s all mouth and no trousers.

¡Mucho ruido y pocas nueces! Decían que venían Los Rolling Stones al festival pero al final no actúa nadie famoso. 

Much ado about nothing. They said The Rolling Stones were coming to the festival but in the end nobody famous is playing.

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SPANISH WORD OF THE DAY

Spanish Word of the Day: Bisiesto

Today is a special day in the calendar, so let’s go over a word in Spanish that explains it. 

Spanish Word of the Day: Bisiesto

There’s only a February 29th every four years, which explains why 2024 is a leap year. 

In Spanish, a leap year is called un año bisiesto. You can also refer to a leap day as un día bisiesto.

The word bisiesto originates from the Latin bis sextus dies ante calendas martii (sixth day before the month of March). 

This corresponded to a day between February 23d and 24th brought in by Roman general Julius Caesar in 49BC after coming across a more accurate calendar in Egypt as a means of synchronising the calendar with the solar year. 

This Roman calendar meant to ensure seasonal accuracy was later perfected by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 – hence the name Gregorian calendar – which still stands today.

The simple reason why leap years play a pivotal role in matching our calendar with the Earth’s orbit around the sun is that it takes 365.24 days for the planet to complete one revolution around the sun, so every 365-day year is a quarter of a day short of the complete orbit.

Generally speaking, Spain considers the leap year as a whole, and the itself day, to bring bad luck.

A few Spanish proverbs sum it up:

Año bisiesto, año siniestro – leap year, sinister year

Año bisiesto y año de pares, año de azares – leap year and even year, random year

Año bisiesto, ni casa, ni viña, ni huerto, ni puerto – Leap year, no home, nor vineyard, nor orchard, nor port.

The chances of being born on a leap day are 1 in 1,461. 

Funnily enough, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is the most famous Spaniard to be born on February 29th, which means that today he actually turns 13 (okay, he’s really 52).

Examples:

El 2024 es año bisiesto, lo cual quiere decir que habrá 366 días en el año.

2024 is a leap year, which means that there will 366 days in the year. 

Cumplir años el día 29 de febrero es una putada, sólo lo puedes celebrar oficialmente cada cuatro años. 

Having your birthday on February 29th is a real shame, you can only officially celebrate it every four years.

La Tierra tarda 365 días, 5 horas, 46 minutos y 48 segundos en dar una vuelta completa al Sol, lo cual explica porque existen los años bisiestos.

Planet Earth takes 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 48 seconds to complete orbit the sun, which explains why leap years exist.

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