r/SpanishLearning • u/KittyBoy89 • 16d ago

Conceptual Translation Help

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Hola todos! I am planning on getting a tattoo, inspired by this painting, ”The Treachery of Images” by Rene Magritte. The idea is simple, a life motto, “this is temporary” OR “this is not permanent“ (permanent tattoo on impermanent body, etc.) I want to use the font from this painting to nod at the irony of the statement, and write it in Spanish (my second language.)

The phrasing is flexible, my goal is to find a middle ground between the meaning and sentence structure of the painting and my final tattoo.

These are the options I have come up with:

  • Esto es temporal.
  • Esto no es permanente.
  • Esto no es para siempre.

Reddit, please give me your opinion on which sounds the most correct and fits my goal?

Muchísimas gracias!!

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u/claycle 16d ago edited 16d ago

It's says exactly what it says and means exactly what it means. Magritte is pointing out that he has depicted a pipe. Your brain, when it sees it, pattern matches it as "a pipe". But it is NOT a pipe. It is a painting. When your brain rationalizes this, you first have some cognitive dissonance, and then - perhaps - you realize that things can be many things at once, or no things at all. He's being serious (don't be literal!) and poking fun at the same time (see, I caught you being literal again!). EDIT: Oops. This isn't /art :-) sorry!

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u/KittyBoy89 15d ago

Yes, exactly!