The age-old (in motor racing terms – we think in miliiseconds) mystery of “a wire brush stay” has been solved, thanks to Tom Recht and the reach of the Language Hat blog community.
LH was kind enough to host my question as to how on earth a translator in Barcelona, lo these 30 years ago, ended up wishing journalists attending the 24 Hours of Montjuich motorcycle race “a wire brush stay.”
Ton Recht commented:
I think I might have it: the original [must have] read ‘una grata estancia’ “a pleasant stay”, and grata was taken as a form of the verb gratar “burnish, scrape, brush”. Any takers?
Ian Preston was the first of several to agree, adding “You can even find grata translated as ‘wire brush’ in a couple of on-line dictionaries.”
Many thanks to everyone for solving a problem that has been intermittently worrying me for all those years.
The power of the Internet – and of Language Hat.
