raggedy man

[Bob]

As some of you know, in addition to my duties as an academic and my joys as a grandfather, I write fiction, in many cases utilizing Asturian themes and characters. I am in the process of writing a new story. It was engendered by, among other things, my memory of my father telling me that his mother used to call him "raggedy man" for his lack of sartorial elegance, using an Asturian word for that term that I could not and still cannot recall.

Some of my friends have been kind enough to respond to my private emails about the word, but nothing has yet rung a bell in my mind. It may of course, be simply that my memory had faded somewhat, and oddly enough memory is an important theme in the story.

In any event, I invite one and all to comment on how to say "raggedy man" n'asturianu.

[Art]

I don't have much for you, so I consulted my dictionary. Maybe one of these words will bring something back:

dejado
desaliñado
mal pinta
destartalado
raído
gastado
vago
vagabundo
linyera

Hmm. Those are all Castilian.

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No tengo mucho para ti, por lo que he consultado mi diccionario. Tal vez una de estas palabras traerá algo:

dejado
desaliñado
mal pinta
destartalado
raído
gastado
vago
vagabundo
linyera

Ummm. Son todas castellanas.

[Is]

Here are some ideas, Bob.

My grandmother used to not like the 'American way of dressing' that we sported whenever we visited Asturias, it was about the informal, disheveled, frumpy or plain bagged out American look.

Her criticism, for the boys, was mainly about t-shirts, sneakers, fishnet shirts and sneaks. For girls, it was about a certain level of elegance. In all, she liked to parade us in front of friends and family and it was about looking one's best.

Appearances count way more than they do in the US and people often judge you by your clothes. Italians are similar--I've often gotten stares from Italian men who don't understand American informalism. The French are not as bad, I'd say, at judging you by your clothes. Here in Dubai it's not as important because the dust storms take care of ALL sorts of clothing...

Anyway, my guelina often called me a 'traperu', which means a bedraggled person or street bum. For older people with a threadbare appearance, the word 'xostron' is used (unkempt). Whenever I came back from the US she would say, 'Palin, paeces un traperu.'

I'll think of other words like that...

[Terechu]

Yes, the good looks of your offspring is always a matter of pride to a grandmother. Mine was the same and the sentence would usually go:

Pareces un...(you look like a....)


Pordioseru = beggar (beggars would start by saying: "Por Dios..")
Piojosu = very shabby (lice-ridden)
Adefesiu = very badly dressed
Probe = beggar (pobre)
Andrajosu = raggedy (andrajo = rag)

And this was my granny's favourite: "Paeces un alleranu", it seems that county Aller was something like the boondocks and the Alleranos wore particularly mismatched and outdated items of clothing. The people of the Nalón valley were more "hip" back then .

[Art]

This thread is wonderful. I enjoyed Terechu's list.

And I loved reading that story, Paul. I've had the same experience with my cousins in Avilés. "Don't you have a sweater you could wear downtown?" "Don't you want to polish your shoes?"

Hmm. Come to think of it, my mother made us dress more formally than most of my friends did. We never wore sneakers, for example, and didn't wear jeans until we were in our late teens. Friends sometimes commented that I was always a bit more dressed up than everyone else. (Somehow I lost that attribute with age.)

So, Bob, were you a "traperu" or "andrajosu"?

[Terechu]

Oh, I forgot this little gem of a word: esfarxoletau, which applies when your shirt is not properly tucked in.

"¿Ande vas tou esfarxoletáu? Mete bien esa camisa."

[granda]

My mum always uses some of the words that Terechu mentions

Pordioseru = beggar
Adefesiu = very badly dressed

but she also says something like astrapayoso or similar. I am unsure of the spelling but I believe it is something of her own making.

I don't really agree with american informalism. While I was working in UK we exhibited Atlanta and I remember howthe only french guy in the company and myself wanted to wear jacket and tie, while all our american/English colleagues insisted in wearing chinos and polo shirts with the company logo embroidered. That informality become an uniformity as everybody across the exhibition hall was wearing the same type of uniform.

[Bob]

I work with people who wear everything from suits and ties to shorts and t-shirts. At our university, no one seems overly concerned about a dress code.

Personally, I dress business style only for weddings and funerals, and favor sheer comfort on other occasions, just like my father.

[Terechu]

[Terechu]

OK, Bob this has got to be IT:

harapientu = ragged, tattered

[Bob]

That last one is it.

[Art]

Incredible. Congrats, Terechu!

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Increíble. ¡Enhorabuena, Terechu!

[Xakin]

Hmmm, zarrapastrosu foi la mio primer idega al ver el tema, prestame que topareis la pallabra.

Sorry my english!!
Hmmm, zarrapastrosu was my first think when i saw the question, i'm happy you find the word

[Art]

What does "zarrapastrosu" mean literally?

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¿Qué significa "zarrapastrosu" literalmente?

[Bob]

zarrapastrosu, -a, -o: ax. Que ye mal curiosu [pa vistir, pa facer les coses], according to the online version of DALLA.

My Asturian is not great, but I would translate it as "poorly suited to be seen or to do something." Native speakers, lease correct me.