Every once in a while I must call Mack and ask him a question, like “What does ‘es mucho hombre esta mujer’ mean?” and he pauses like he can’t quite decide if I’m asking him to translate the punchline to an old dirty joke or if I’m asking something serious.
“Um…” he says, trying to buy some time, “I’m going to need some context.”
Sadly, I was not asking him to translate an old dirty joke, but now I wish I knew a joke that had the punchline “es mucho hombre esta mujer.” Not that I would tell it in public, but you can bet that the next time I got drunk on Cape Cods, I’d be all over whipping out the one dirty joke I knew in Spanish.
Tiny Cat Pants 
A. Mack is like your own personal Babelfish. But he’s much more fun. Plus, Babelfish doesn’t have a farm you can visit.
B. I think there is a bar on Murfreesboro Road in which that punchline would not necessarily be a punchline but simply a statement of fact.
I think the Kinks wrote a song about that…
just in case the babelpescado is aout bushhogging or something, allow me to help you understand the need for context.
word by word: es is mucho much hombre man esta this mujer woman
Now, contextually it’s critical though. The speaker could mean anything from – “that look’s not all that becoming on you – it’s a bit masculine” to “woah, shit, dude! I can’t believe Miguel didn;t pop a cap in your ass for saying that.”
In context, an 18th century male writer was attempting to compliment an 18th century female writer by saying that she was like a man, since we all know women can’t write. Which is not that funny, then or now, sadly.
well, see – I was giving you modern context. but context is still the difference between “wow, you can write and screw? who knew?” and “you published that under your name? who will read chick stuff?”
I know, but I really wanted it to mean something like “there is a big man in that woman… wink, wink, nudge, nudge.”