How you get unstuck Vocabulary - Diff ver

Treadmill

“I spend hours at the gym, walking on the treadmill until I can’t lift my legs.” → a machine used for walking or running in one place → caminadora.

Squawk

“The people who squawk the loudest about such things have almost never had to get over anything.” → to complain or speak loudly and noisily → quejarse / protestar ruidosamente.

Chanting

“There are women who have spent their days chanting daughter, daughter or son, son silently to themselves.” → repeating a word or phrase over and over → repetir / recitar continuamente.

inquire

“Call your local hospitals and birth centers and inquire about support groups for people who’ve lost babies at or before or shortly after birth.” → to ask for information → preguntar / averiguar.

Figment

“Read Elizabeth McCracken’s memoir An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination.” → something imagined or created by the mind rather than real → producto de la imaginación.

fierce

“That place of true healing is a fierce place.” → powerful, intense, and emotionally strong → intenso / poderoso.

glimmering

“It’s a place of monstrous beauty and endless dark and glimmering light.” → shining faintly or intermittently → resplandeciente / que brilla tenuemente.

seeps

“Every now and then one of the questions I get seeps its way into my mind.” → gradually enters or spreads into something → filtrarse / penetrar poco a poco.

roving

“Their dads were in prison or unknown to them or roving the streets of our city strung out on drugs.” → wandering from place to place without a fixed destination → vagando / deambulando.

strung out

“Their dads were in prison or unknown to them or roving the streets of our city strung out on drugs.” → exhausted or severely affected because of drug use → agotado / afectado por las drogas.

addled

“Their moms were young used and abused drug-and-alcohol addled women who were often abusive themselves.” → confused or impaired, especially because of drugs or alcohol → aturdido / afectado por drogas o alcohol.

deemed

“The twenty-some girls who were assigned to meet with me as a group and also individually were deemed ‘at highest risk’ by the faculty at the school.” → considered or judged to be something → considerado / juzgado.

harrowing

“My mission was to help the girl youth succeed in spite of the unspeakably harrowing crap stew they’d been simmering in all of their lives.” → extremely distressing, painful, or disturbing → angustiante / desgarrador.

stew

“My mission was to help the girl youth succeed in spite of the unspeakably harrowing crap stew they’d been simmering in all of their lives.” → a mixture or situation of unpleasant things → mezcla / situación problemática.

simmering

“My mission was to help the girl youth succeed in spite of the unspeakably harrowing crap stew they’d been simmering in all of their lives.” → continuing to exist or develop intensely beneath the surface → desarrollándose / acumulándose.

Boulder

“The theory was that if they liked to pull the weight of their blossoming girl bodies up a faux boulder with little pebble-esque plastic hand- and footholds then perhaps they would not get knocked up.” → a large rock used for climbing → roca grande / bloque de roca.

Scoffing

“They were distant and scoffing, self-conscious and surly.” → showing that you think something is ridiculous or unworthy of respect → burlón / desdeñoso.

Surly

“They were distant and scoffing, self-conscious and surly.” → bad-tempered, unfriendly, or rude → malhumorado / hosco.

Varnished

“They were varnished in layers upon layers of girl lotions and potions and hair products that all smelled faintly like strawberry gum.” → covered with or coated in layers of something → cubierto / recubierto.

Fag

“They thought I was a total fag for thinking that by ‘gay’ they actually meant gay.” → an offensive slur used against a gay man → marica / homosexual (insulto ofensivo).

Ghastly

“Ghastly, horrible, shocking, sad, merciless things.” → extremely horrible, frightening, or unpleasant → espantoso / horrible.

Merciless

“Ghastly, horrible, shocking, sad, merciless things.” → showing no pity or compassion → despiadado / sin piedad.

Compel

“Things that would compel me to squint my eyes as I listened.” → to force or strongly cause someone to do something → obligar / impulsar.

Clusterfuck

“The sort of sorrow that spirals so tightly into an impossible clusterfuck of eternal despair that it doesn’t even look like a spiral anymore.” → a chaotic, extremely complicated, and disastrous situation → caos total / situación desastrosa.

Despair

“The sort of sorrow that spirals so tightly into an impossible clusterfuck of eternal despair that it doesn’t even look like a spiral anymore.” → a complete loss of hope → desesperación.

Ingratiate

“Getting to know her was like trying to ingratiate oneself with a feral cat.” → to try to make someone like or accept you → ganarse el favor de alguien / congraciarse.

Ranted

“She did this because she couldn’t take staying inside, where her mother ranted and raved, alcoholic and mentally ill and off her meds and occasionally physically violent.” → spoke angrily and at length → despotricó / se quejó airadamente.

Raved

“She did this because she couldn’t take staying inside, where her mother ranted and raved, alcoholic and mentally ill and off her meds and occasionally physically violent.” → spoke wildly or angrily, often without control → despotricó / habló de manera exaltada.

Slashes

“She pulled the sleeves of her hoodie up and showed me the slashes on her arms where she’d repeatedly cut herself with a razor blade.” → long cuts or marks made by something sharp → cortes / heridas.

Rack

“A D-cup rack and the rest of her model-thin.” → breasts, used here as vulgar slang → pechos / senos.

Raged

“…the hooded girl with no face slept in the falling-down woodshed in the alley while her mother raged.” → behaved or spoke with extreme anger → se enfurecía / estaba furiosa.

Gospel

“It became my gospel. It became the thing I said most because it was the thing that was most true.” → a personal principle or belief treated as unquestionably true → principio fundamental / verdad incuestionable.