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On the (meta)pragmatic value of some Spanish idioms based on
terms for body parts
Ine s Olza *
GRADUN, Universidad de Navarra, Edicio de Biblioteca, Campus universitario s/n, E-31009 Pamplona, Spain
1. Introduction
This studydeals withone specic area inwhat is referredtoas the metalinguistic phraseology of languages, a eldthat has
been extensively analyzed in Spanish as part of the research project entitled Lo metalingu stico en espan ol/
Metalinguistics inSpanish
1
(see Ferna ndez Berna rdez, 2002; Azna rez Mauleo n, 2006; Olza, 2006a,b,c, 2007, 2011; Manero
Richard, 2011). In particular, this article draws on a broader research project (Olza, 2011) whose purpose is to analyze the
gurative conception of language as part of reality that underlies the idiomatic meaning of the sub-set of Spanish
phraseology containing terms for body parts as base constituents. The overall objective of this researchproject is to determine
how in cognitive terms somatic experience is projected metaphorically and metonymically into the target domain
LANGUAGE.
In general terms, an idiom
2
may be regarded as metalinguistic either when it describes some aspect of linguistic action in
such paradigmatic examples as to say something with your tongue in your cheek (not to talk seriously) or by word of mouth
(in spoken, not written, words); or when it effects some kind of metapragmatic or metadiscursive function. Some
preliminary examples of metalinguistic idioms containing terms for body parts may be examined in this regard:
Journal of Pragmatics 43 (2011) 30493067
A R T I C L E I N F O
Article history:
Received 16 April 2008
Received in revised form 26 May 2011
Accepted 28 May 2011
Available online 2 July 2011
Keywords:
Metalanguage
Metapragmatic phraseology
Metaphor
Metonymy
Spanish
A B S T R A C T
This paper is part of a broader research project on the multiple phenomena encompassed
by the eld of metalinguistics in Spanish. In particular, a corpus of Spanish metapragmatic
idioms based on terms for parts of the body is analyzed. The main objective of the study is
to describe the pragmatic behavior of this group of expressions, which occurs within three
different sub-spheres (discursive organization; regulation of the interaction between
speakers; modality). This analytical perspective is combined with a formal and functional
approach to the corpus which completes the description of the real discursive value of
each unit. Finally, in light of the particular nature of the corpus, the current pragmatic
values of the idioms are related to the metaphorical and metonymical foundations that
may have played a part in their process of grammaticalization.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
* Tel.: +34 948 42 56 00x2226/676 66 88 25; fax: +34 948 42 56 36.
E-mail address: iolzamor@unav.es.
1
Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (reference number BFF2002-00801) and carried out by researchers in the Departamento de
Lingu stica Hispa nica y Lenguas Modernas at the University of Navarra and the Departamento de Filoloxa Espanola e Latina at the Universidad de La Coruna.
An overview of the results from this project can be found in Gonza lez Ruiz and Loureda Lamas (2005), Casado Velarde (2006) and Gonza lez Ruiz (2006).
2
The terms idiom and phraseological unit/phraseological expression are used as equivalents in this study, and they denote any xed and multi-lexical
expression whose meaning is basically non-compositional.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Pragmatics
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ pr agma
0378-2166/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.pragma.2011.05.015
Infact, while the phraseological expressions includedas examples of the former group echar pelillos a la mar, whichmeans
to reconcile; and poner punto en boca, to stop talking refer to language and linguistic action as objects of reality, the
referential or descriptivemeaningof other idioms has beenweakenedinfavor of anewpragmaticcontent relatedtoaparticular
metadiscursive operation. This is the case withthe pragmatic counterparts of the descriptive expressions cited above: pelillos a
la mar, which may be used to minimize previous objections or, more generally, any kind of verbal confrontation, thus re-
directing cooperationina specic linguistic exchange (see anexample of the real use of this phraseological unit inSection4.2);
and punto en boca, which is employed by a speaker to silence an interlocutor (see Section 4.2). In any case, both types of
metalinguistic idioms descriptive units and expressions of metapragmatic or metadiscursive value may be regarded as
examples of what Rey-Debove (1997: 2223) referred to as the commonor natural metalanguage of languages, i.e. the terms and
expressions of natural languages used by speakers themselves to refer to language as an object or to perform a wide range of
metapragmatic functions and procedures.
3
Also, from Verschuerens (1999: Section 6.4; 2000: Section 2) perspective, the
existence andparticular usage of this metalinguistic phraseologymaybe readas explicit indicators of what helabels reexive or
metapragmatic awareness, which, in the end, regulates all sorts of linguistic interaction:
Being a crucial aspect of what goes on when language is used (whether in uttering or in interpreting), pragmatic analyses
have to come to terms with the role of consciousness, awareness, or salience whatever the preferred term may be in
order to understand linguistic behavior. [. . .] salience has within its scope all the processes operating on structural choices
anchored in context that contribute to the meaningful functioning of language. In other words, language users knowmore
or less what they are doing when using language. Self-monitoring, at whatever level of salience, is always going on.
It is this general aspect of language use in relation to the medium of adaptability that I call reexive or metapragmatic
awareness (a usage that is in line withthe terminology anthropologists use [. . .]). Studying this type of awareness is crucial
to an understanding of verbal behavior because, like any other formof social action, language use is always interpreted, in
the sense that the actors involved attach meaning to it, so that the actors interpretations become part and parcel of what
needs to be described and explained. (Verschueren, 2000: 444445)
Hence, given that they support and illustrate the action of reexive consciousness that conditions all language use, both
groups of metalinguistic expressions could also be referred to as metapragmatic idioms, in a more general sense.
The subsequent sections of this article focus on the analysis of a corpus of Spanish metalinguistic idioms that as is the
case with pelillos a la mar and punto en boca : (a) carry out some kind of pragmatic-discursive operation, and can be regarded
as specically metapragmatic or metadiscursive; and (b) are based on terms for body parts. The main objectives of this study
are to dene the pragmatic behavior of this corpus of idioms i.e. to describe their discursive value and the type of pragmatic
functions that they carry out and to offer an explanation for the gurative motivation of this particular set of expressions,
that is, to show how their actual pragmatic value arises from a series of grammaticalization processes in which a set of
somatic metaphors and metonymies plays an essential role.
The corpus of idioms is presented in Section 2 below, followed by an analysis of the expressions from a formal and
functional perspective so as to give an account of their actual discursive behavior (Section 3). Section 4 comprises the core of
the analysis as it describes the pragmatic-discursive functions carried out by each phraseological unit and denes the
different pragmatic spheres into which those functions can be categorized. Finally, the pragmatic-discursive values of the
idioms are related to their gurative basis (Section 5;).
2. The corpus of Spanish metapragmatic idioms based on terms for body parts
2.1. English equivalences and correspondences. Other criteria for the presentation of the units
The corpus of Spanish metapragmatic or metadiscursive idioms based on terms for body parts contains 30 units, which
are distributed into the lexical bases presented in Table 2 (see below).
Table 1
Descriptive idioms vs. idioms of pragmatic-discursive value.
Description of linguistic action Metapragmatic/metadiscursive value
echar pelillos a la mar pelillos a la mar
[to throw little hairs to the sea]
a
[little hairs to the sea]
poner punto en boca punto en boca
[to put a dot/period in your mouth] [dot/period in mouth]
a
A word-for-word rendering is given for each idiomaddressed (see Sections 2.1 and 3 belowfor an explanation of the equivalences and translations into
English given for each particular idiom).
3
Rey-De bove (1997: Section 2.12.2) regards this common metalanguage as a type of linguistic metalanguage, which is opposed to the metalanguage of
logiclanguage designed to account for the truth of propositions. Scientic-didactic metalanguagethe discourse of linguists (or linguistics itself) and of
those who teach or learn languagesis the second type of linguistic metalanguage dened by Rey-Debove.
I. Olza / Journal of Pragmatics 43 (2011) 30493067 3050
As previously noted (see footnote in Table 1) and as illustrated in Table 2, a word-for-word rendering of the English
equivalent for each idiomis given, however agrammatical or incoherent it may seemfor example, que narices [which noses]
or
?
en que cabeza (humana) cabe? [in which (human) head does it t?]. This literal translation may provide an approximate
idea of the actual formand meaning of the Spanish units and is always marked with square brackets in the body of the article.
Although this study does not aimto provide any type of contrastive analysis, it is often possible to nd exact or almost exact
correspondences between the primary motivation of some Spanish idioms and certain English expressions. These
correspondences have been included in Table 2, preceded by the symbol for example,
?
te ha comido la lengua el gato? [has
the cat eaten your tongue?] has the cat got your tongue?. The actual meaning, gurative motivation and pragmatic use of
each of the 30 units of the corpus are explained in Sections 4 and 5.
Some verbal expressions from the corpus are presented in Table 2 in the innitive form and in their most frequent
discursive realization in terms of personal and verbal inection, which claries how they are used in real interaction for
example, besar la mano !beso a usted la mano/que besa su mano/que le besa la mano; haber perdido la lengua !
?
has perdido la
lengua?; poner la mano en el fuego !pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego; and the latter is the form retained in the subsequent
discussion.
Table 2
Corpus of Spanish metapragmatic idioms based on terms for body parts.
Lexical bases Phraseological units Dictionaries
NARIZ [NOSE]
a
(8 idioms) de las narices DFDEA; DRAE
[of the noses]
mandar algo narices !manda narices / DFDEA; DFEM
tener algo narices !tiene narices
[to require noses !it requires noses /
to have noses !it has noses]
ni + noun/adjective + ni narices DFDEA; DUE
[neither + noun/adjective + nor noses]
por las narices DFDEA
[by the noses]
que narices DFDEA
[which noses]
que + noun/adjective + ni que narices DFDEA; DFEM
[which + noun/adjective + or which noses]
tocarse las narices !tocate las narices DFDEA
[to touch your noses !touch your noses]
unas narices DFDEA
[some noses]
MANO [HAND] (4 idioms) besar la mano !beso a usted la mano / que besa su mano / DFDEA; DRAE; DUE
que le besa la mano
[to kiss somebodys hand !I kiss your hand /
who kisses your hand]
dejarse cortar la mano !me dejo/dejara cortar la mano DFDEA
[to let your hand be cut !I (would) let my hand be cut]
I (would) cut my hand off
estrechar la mano !que estrecha su mano DFDEA
[to shake somebodys hand !who shakes your hand]
poner la mano en el fuego !pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego DFDEA; DFEM; DRAE; DUE
[to put your hand in the re !I (would) put my hand in the re]
CORAZO
N [HEART] (3 idioms) con (todo) el corazon DUE

[with (all) the heart] with (all) your heart
con el corazon en la mano/con la mano en el corazon DFDEA, under the word mano;
DFEM; DRAE; DUE [with the heart in your hand/with the hand on your heart]
de (todo) corazon DFDEA; DFEM; DRAE; DUE
[from (all) the heart] from the heart
LENGUA [TONGUE] (3 idioms) haber comido lengua !
?
has comido lengua? / DFDEA; DRAE; DUE
parece que has comido lengua
[to have eaten tongue !have you eaten tongue? /
it seems that you have eaten tongue]
haber perdido la lengua !
?
has perdido la lengua? DFDEA
[to have lost your tongue !have you lost your tongue?]
have you lost your tongue?
haberle comido a alguien la lengua el gato ! DFDEA
?
te ha comido la lengua el gato?
[to have your tongue eaten by the cat !
has the cat eaten your tongue?] has the cat got your tongue?
BOCA [MOUTH] (2 idioms) pedir por esa boca !pide por esa boca DFDEA; DFEM; DUE
[ask through that mouth]
punto en boca DFDEA; DRAE; DUE; under
the word punto [dot/period in mouth]
2.2. Criteria for the compilation of the corpus
The abbreviations DFDEA, DFEM, DRAE and DUE, listed in the third column of Table 2, correspond to the four dictionaries
Diccionariofraseologicodocumentadodel espanol actual (DFDEA); Diccionariofraseologicodel espanol moderno(DFEM); Diccionariode
la lengua espanola (DRAE); and Diccionario de uso del espanol (DUE)from which the corpus was collected. The DFDEA was the
principal basis for its makeup
4
: most of the 30 expressions come primarily fromthis lexicographical resource. The corpus was
completed with a number of units not registered by the DFDEA, which were drawn from the DFEM, DRAE and DUE, in that order.
Moreover, collecting the expressions for the corpus from dictionaries seemed to offer a certain guarantee of their degree
of xedness and institutionalization, and, in particular, of the general and widespread acceptance of their pragmatic values.
In Section 4, the CREA database of contemporary Spanish
5
provides a series of examples of the real usage of the expressions,
which underscores the widespread extension and consolidation of such pragmatic-discursive functions.
The corpus was selected according to the lexical bases of the expressions, which correspond to a total of 12 terms for body
parts: nariz [nose]; mano [hand]; corazon [heart]; lengua [tongue]; boca [mouth]; cabeza [head]; odo [ear]; pie [foot]; barba
[beard]; cara [face]; ojo [eye]; and pelo [hair]. The order in which the terms for body parts are quoted depends on the level of
their productivity within the corpus (from narizmost frequent lexical base to barba, cara, ojo and pelo which generate
only one expression each; see Table 2). With regard to the somatic bases that are not presented in Table 2, it should be noted
that this smaller group of 30 metapragmatic idioms was drawn fromthe more comprehensive corpus comprising all Spanish
metalinguistic idioms containing terms for body parts, that is, all the phraseological units that describe any aspect of
linguistic action or have a metapragmatic value (see Section 1). This wider corpus was compiled by Olza (2011) and contains
335 expressions structured according to 24 different somatic bases, covering all areas of somatic experience. The exclusion
from Table 2 of expressions based on other organs of articulation (lips or throat) is due to the fact that while such bases do
generate metalinguistic units of a descriptive naturesellar los labios ( to seal your lips), not to talk or reveal a secret; or
garganta profunda ( deep throat), secret informer, among others)they do not yield phraseological expressions with
pragmatic-discursive functions.
Finally, regarding the compilation criteria, the idioms explicitly marked as dated or obsolete in the dictionaries cited
above were excluded because this analysis focuses mainly on a signicant sphere of present-day Spanish phraseology. Even
if they were not always described as obsolete, some of the idioms collected que besa su mano, que le besa los pies, odo a la
caja or para mis barbas, for example have fallen out of use; however, they are included in the corpus because, as outlined in
Section 4, they still tend to be used ironically or for expressive purposes, and due to the signicance of their gurative
motivation and the pragmatic functions they effect.
Table 2 (Continued)
Lexical bases Phraseological units Dictionaries
CABEZA [HEAD] (2 idioms) apostarse la cabeza (DRAE) / jugarse la cabeza ! DFDEA; DRAE
me apuesto/apostara la cabeza / me juego/jugara la cabeza
[to bet your head !I (would) bet my head]
no caber algo en cabeza (humana) ! DFDEA
?
en que cabeza (humana) cabe?
[not to t in (human) head !in which (human) head does it t?]
OI
DO [EAR] (2 idioms) odo a la caja DRAE; DUE

[ear to the box/drum]
odo al parche DFDEA; DFEM; DUE
[ear to the drumhead/drum skin]
PIE [FOOT] (2 idioms) a sus pies DFDEA
[at your feet] at your feet
besar los pies !que le besa los pies DFDEA; DRAE; DUE
[to kiss somebodys feet !who kisses your feet]
BARBA [BEARD] (1 idiom) para mis barbas DRAE
[for my beards]
CARA [FACE] (1 idiom) con que cara DFDEA
[with what face]
OJO [EYE] (1 idiom) no lo veran sus ojos !no lo veran tus ojos DFDEA
[your eyes will not see it]
PELO [HAIR] (1 idiom) pelillos a la mar DFDEA; DRAE; DUE; under
the word pelillo [little hairs to the sea]
a
Most of the expressions with narices the plural form of nariz are taken as standard and neutral representatives of a wider group of units based on
dysphemistic, expressively marked basescojones [balls]; huevos [eggs/balls]; cono [cunt]): among other examples, de los cojones [of the balls]; ni + noun/
adjective + ni cojones [neither + noun/adjective + nor balls]; que + noun/adjective + ni que cojones/cono [which + noun/adjective + or which balls/cunt]; que
cojones/cono [which balls/cunt]; tocate los cojones [touch your balls]; or manda huevos [it requires eggs/balls].
4
It is generally accepted that the DFDEA is the most comprehensive and rigorous phraseological dictionary published in Spanish so far, not only because of
the number of expressions that it registers but also because of the lexicographical treatment given to each.
5
Some (exceptional) examples fromthe CORDE diachronic database of Spanish are given in this article, especially to illustrate the pragmatic functions of a
limited group of idioms which are currently falling out of use (see below). Both linguistic databases CREA and CORDE were compiled (and are now
continuously updated) by the Real Academia Espanola (Royal Spanish Academy; http://www.rae.es), incorporating texts fromSpain and Latin America. The
CREA collects oral and written texts from 1975 to 2004; and the CORDE reects the evolution of Spanish from its origins to 1974.
3. The corpus from a formal and functional perspective
Taking into account that the corpus was created according to lexical and pragmatic criteria (the units were to contain
terms for body parts as base constituents and carry out metapragmatic or metadiscursive operations), the group of idioms
selected reect interesting differences regarding formal and syntactic status, whose description may be useful as a
preliminary stage in the analysis of their pragmatic-discursive behavior.
In the English translation of the examples referred to here as in section 4 to illustrate the description of the corpus, the
literal or word-for-word rendering of each idiom is included (without no square brackets) in cases where the gurative
motivation of the Spanish expression is self-evident to the readersee below, for instance, example [3]: Me dejara cortar la
mano a que la madre de Claire se pona los mismos colores, translated as I would let my hand to be cut about Claires mother
wearing the same colors. However, when the word-for-word rendering does not provide succient assistance in the correct
interpretation of the examples, a free translation is provided and the word-for-word rendering is appended in square
bracketssee below, example [2]:
!
Que dijimos ni que narices!: free translation, It does not matter what you said; literal
rendering, [Which we said nor which noses!].
In light of the analytical approach outlined above in relation to formal and syntactic status, the expressions in the corpus
pertain to one of two broad groups:
1) the type of phraseological units called routine or conversational formulae, which function as autonomous statements
6
by which speakers interact in stereotyped ways within specic frames or situations (Coulmas, 1979; Corpas Pastor, 1996:
Sections 5.1 and 5.2).
[1] Dila.
?
Que es lo que os haca tanto rer, imbe ciles? (Leves cuchicheos.)
?
Os ha comido la lengua el gato?
Milos.De jales, Dila, no les rinas.
(Fernando Arrabal, El cementerio de automoviles (Espana), 1979, CREA)
[1] Dila.What were you laughing at, morons? (Light whispering.) Has the cat eaten your tongue?
Milos.Leave them, Dila, dont tell them off.
[2] Anda, pues si dijimos que no se bajara.
Miguel levanto la voz:
!
Que dijimos ni que narices! Haberte subido tu , y entonces no la bajabas si no queras.
(Rafael Sa nchez Ferlosio, El Jarama (Espana), 1956, CORDE)
[2] We said that it shouldnt be brought down.
Miguel raised his voice:
It doesnt matter what you said! [Which we said or which noses!] You could have gone up and
left it there if you wanted.
These examples conrm that routine formulae provide the verbal means for certain types of conventional linguistic action
(Coulmas, 1979: 241). Corpas Pastor (1996: Section 5.5) outlined a taxonomy of Spanish routine formulae which posits that
this kind of idioms may be used either as discourse organizersformulas discursivas [discursive formulae] (Corpas Pastor,
1996: Section 5.5.1), which open, close or mark transitions in communicationor as mechanisms of social and psychological
expressionexpressive, commissive, directive, assertive and ritual formulas psico-sociales [psycho-social formulae] (see
Corpas Pastor, 1996: Section 5.5.2). Returning to instances [1] and [2],
?
os ha comido la lengua el gato?, for example, might be
regarded as a directive formula, given that it (indirectly) invites or orders interlocutors to speak; and
!
que + nominalized
verb (in this example) + ni que narices!, used to showintensied disagreement or skepticism, might even be said to belong to
the category of expressive formulae. Other idioms of the corpus that can function as syntactically independent statements,
and which may therefore normally behave as routine formulae are: ni + noun/adjective + ni narices; que + noun/adjective
+ ni que narices; que narices; unas narices; tocate las narices/manda narices; beso a usted la mano;
?
has comido lengua?/parece
que has comido lengua;
?
has perdido la lengua?;
?
te ha comido la lengua el gato?; pide por esa boca; punto en boca; odo a la caja;
odo al parche; a sus pies; no lo veran tus ojos; and pelillos a la mar.
2) to group of idioms that, though they also carry out pragmatic functions, do not have syntactic or textual autonomy, and
need to be preceded or followed by certain sequences of discourse in every single conversational reply
7
: in this corpus, por las
narices; delas narices; quebesasumano/quelebesalamano; queestrechasumano; medejo/dejaracortar lamano; pongo/pondrala
mano en el fuego; con (todo) el corazon; con el corazon en la mano/con la mano en el corazon; de (todo) corazon; me apuesto/
apostara/juego/jugara la cabeza;
?
en que cabeza (humana) cabe?; que le besa los pies; para mis barbas; and con que cara.
6
From a conversational point of view, they may constitute interventions in themselves or acts within interventionssee the system of units dened by
Briz Go mez and Others (2003) for the study of colloquial language.
7
In other words, they cannot constitute interventions or acts by themselves (see Briz Go mez and Others, 2003: Sections 3.1.1 and 3.2.1).
This division offers a useful rst syntactic overview of the expressions, and becomes exible when some of the
abovementioned idioms are examined in greater detail (beso a usted la mano/que besa su mano/que le besa la mano; unas
narices; por las narices; me dejo/dejara cortar la mano; pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego; me apuesto/ apostara//juego/jugara
la cabeza; or
?
en que cabeza (humana) cabe?), in some contexts behaving as both dependent and independent sequences. In
more specic terms, me dejo/dejara cortar la mano, pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego, me apuesto/ apostara/juego/jugara la
cabeza and en que cabeza cabe are commonly followed by (a) que or (sobre) si in order to indicate the speakers attitude
towards what is expressed in the subordinate clause (see Section 4.3):
[3]
!
Oh, me dejara cortar la mano a que la madre de Claire, el domingo de Pascua, se pona los mismo colores!
(Gonzalo Torrente Ballester, La isla de los Jacintos Cortados. Carta de amor con interpolaciones magicas (Espana),
1980, DFDEA, under the word mano)
8
[3] Oh, I would let my hand be cut about Claires mother wearing the same colors on Easter Sunday!
[4] Lo que pasa es que en ella haba algo que no podas nunca controlar del todo. [. . .] Algo que obligaba a preguntarte
si era sincera. Ojo, no me reero a hipocresa ni nada de eso. Pondra la mano en el fuego a que era una buena
chica. . . Hablo de otra cosa. (Arturo Pe rez Reverte, La Reina del Sur (Espana), 2002, CREA)
[4] She had something that you could never control entirely. [. . .] It was something that forced everybody to wonder if she
was really sincere. I dont mean that she was a hypocrite or anything like that. I would put my hand in the re that she
was a good girl. . . I am talking about something else.
[5] Lo de la noche de bodas, Mario, te pongas como te pongas, es algo que no olvidare por mil anos que viva, vamos,
hacerme eso a m, que todava el P. Fando que una delicadeza, ya me ha visto a m el pelo, que buenos se esta n
poniendo estos curitas jo venes, que no dan importancia a nada, so lo a si los obreros ganan mucho o poco, que me
apuesto la cabeza a que les parece peor que un patrono niegue una paga extraordinaria a que abrace a una mujer
que no es la suya. (Miguel Delibes, Cinco horas con Mario (Espana), 1966, CORDE)
[5] Whatever you do, Mario, I will never, never forget what happened on our wedding night, oh God, doing this to me, and
Father Fando saying that it was only a delicate thing, no way, these young priests dont give importance to anything,
they only care about the working class salaries, I bet my head about them thinking that an employer may better be
adulterous than deny an extra salary.
[6] Padre: ahora s me juego la cabeza a que aquel carpintero era Eustaquio.
(Vctor Chamorro, El muerto resucitado (Espana), 1984, CREA)
[6] Father: now I bet my head that this carpenter is Eustaquio.
[7] Si yo fuera presidente, lo primero que hara sera presentar mi dimisio n. [. . .] Y en el caso de que me fuera
aceptada, dira que se trata de una broma y que en que cabeza cabe que un presidente va a presentar su
dimisio n. (TVE2, Si yo fuera presidente (Espana, oral), 1/11/1983, CREA)
[7] If I were president, the rst thing I would do would be to hand in my resignation. [. . .] If it was accepted, I would say that
its a joke and howcould anybody believe that [inwhichhead does it t that] a president would hand his resignation.
However, those expressions may less commonly constitute autonomous statements or clauses when used implicitly in
reference to information given beforehand, thus approximating routine formulae
9
:
[8] Porta empezo a valorar la posibilidad de que a lo mejor Manotas y los suyos no iban a atentar ese da contra el Rey
y acudan al Bernabe u a estudiar el terreno. Daran el golpe en otra ocasio n. Pona la mano en el fuego. (Alfonso
Rojo, Matar para vivir (Espana), 2002, CREA)
[8] Porta began to think that maybe Manotas and his followers didnt intend to make the attempt on the Kings life that
day, but rather they were just analyzing their possibilities in the Bernabeu. They would do it in another moment.
Porta would put his hand in the re.
8
From now on, a small proportion of the examples will also be drawn from the DFDEA and the Internetthe precise origin of the instances is indicated in
each case.
9
This information may be recovered contextually both in monologic and dialogic sequences (see Roulet and Others, 1985: 60; Briz Go mez and Others,
2003: Sections 3.1.2 and 3.1.3); that is, the expressions may refer implicitly to information given by the interlocutor during a previous intervention in the
communicative exchange (see below example [9]) or by the speaker him/herself in other acts during the same intervention (see example [10]).
[9] De regreso, el pariente y Concha cambian impresiones.
Lo es, lo esgrita Concha.
No se duda Francisco Mateo Ayala.
Pero
?
no se da cuenta de que lo es?
No se que decir. Usted, Concha,
?
se apostara la cabeza?
Ahora mismito, que me la corten.
Me asombra su fe. Yo no tengo tanta.
(Vctor Chamorro, El muerto resucitado (Espana), 1984, CREA)
[9] On their way back, Concha and her relative keep discussing.
It is, it isshouts Concha.
I dont knowdoubts Francisco Mateo Ayala.
But, dont you realize it is?
I dont know what to say. You, Concha, you would bet your head?
Oh yes, let them cut it off right now.
Your faith amazes me. I dont have so much faith.
[10] Una clienta.Eso no puede ser ma s que los fascistas.
Un cliente.Fascistas o comunistas, a m que . Que nos dejen vivir en paz,
?
no te parece? [. . .]
?
Que quieren
cambiar la sociedad? [. . .] pero adema s en que cabeza cabe, si siempre ha de haber ricos y pobres,
?
o no?
(Alfonso Sastre, Analisis de un comando (Espana), 1979, CREA)
[10] A female customer.Only fascists can do this.
A male customer.Fascists or communists, I dont care. They should leave us alone, dont your think? [. . .] They
say they want to change our society [. . .] but how could anybody believe this [in which head does it t], if our
society will always have rich and poor people, wont it?
Finally, it may be of some interest to give a brief account of some pragmatic and functional differences discerned among the
expressions in group 2. Given that they normally lack syntactic and textual autonomy, por las narices,
?
en que cabeza (humana)
cabe (que)? andconque cara, for example, might beregardedas a distinctivetypeof phrase: specically, sincetheyexpress some
kindof intensieddisagreement, theycouldbeanalyzedas discourse markingphrases (RuizGurillo2001: 5658and2005: 241
242; or Montoro del Arco, 2006: chap. 6), insofar as they carry out a pragmatic function that may be prototypically associated
withdiscoursemarkers
10
(seeSection4.3). Fromthis perspective, que besasumano/que lebesalamano, que estrechasumanoand
que le besa los pies would also function as discourse marking phrases deployed to close texts
11
(see Section 4.1).
By contrast, other units in group 2 (con (todo) el corazon; con el corazon en la mano/con la mano en el corazon; de (todo)
corazon; me dejo/dejara cortar la mano; pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego; me apuesto/apostara/juego/jugara la cabeza; para
mis barbas) effect pragmatic functions which do not correspond to any of the values traditionally associated with discourse
markersin general, they express the speakers intensied commitment to the truth or the sincerity of what is expressed in
the subsequent discursive sequence (see Section 4.3). Such pragmatic-discursive functions, generally overlooked in the
study of Spanish discourse markers, merit further exploration.
4. Metapragmatic functions of the units
This section considers howthe analysis of the metapragmatic functions effected by units included in the corpus discloses
that they are used in three different spheres at the pragmatic level: the sphere of discursive connection and organization; the
sphere affecting interaction between speakers (or, more precisely, the ways in which a speaker interacts with his or her
listener); and the sphere concerning attitudes in enunciation or modality. Indeed, these sublevels are related to the three
essential elements of all communicative exchange: the text or message and its conguration, the listener and howhe or she
is engaged, and the speaker, respectively; and also correspond to the elds of pragmatic meaning commonly established for
discourse markers: connection, interaction and modality (see Montoro del Arco, 2006: 250).
A synoptic table of correspondences between the selected phraseological units, their pragmatic values and the examples
of real usage that prove and illustrate such values is given for the three spheres referred to above. Some reections on the
nature of the metapragmatic character of the expressions are also included in each section.
10
The expression of agreement and disagreement corresponds to certain conversational markers of deontic modality (Martn Zorraquino and Portole s
La zaro, 1999: Section 63.6.3).
11
See the closure discourse markers and the recapitulative reformulators dened for Spanish by Martn Zorraquino and Portole s La zaro (1999: Sections
63.2.3 and 63.4.5).
4.1. Discursive organization
All the phraseological units in this sphere constitute ritualized expressions used to open and close texts, and are thus
metapragmatically linked to certain discursive positions and functions. In particular, beso a usted la mano/que besa su mano/
que le besa la mano, que estrecha su mano and que le besa los pies exemplify formal and polite units which are semantically
xed to function as farewell formulas in letters; and, as shown in the examples, a sus pies may also be used as a courteous
greeting and farewell formula.
As regards the vitality of beso a usted la mano/que besa su mano/que le besa la mano, que estrecha su mano and que le besa los
pies as farewell formulas in letters, it should be noted that this particular usage is now rather obsolete. However, ironic and
expressive uses of these idioms are relatively common nowadays, which is also reected in Table 3.
Table 3
Idioms that participate in textual and discursive organization.
Idioms Analysis of metapragmatic values and functions. Examples
besar la mano !
beso a usted la
mano / que besa
su mano / que le
besa la mano
Used to close textsstereotypical farewell in letters. (Obsolete). Example:
[11] Usted po ngalo todo muy clarito, don Pla cido; yo le doy la idea. Pues le suplico que le mire como hijo [. . .]. . . Y mande
a su segura servidora y amiga, que besa su mano.
?
Que tal?
?
Esta con nura?. . . Ahora, veremos si puedo echar
mi nombre. . . Me tiembla mucho el pulso. . . Tra igame la pluma. . . (Benito Pe rez Galdo s, Fortunata y Jacinta (Espana),
18871889, CORDE)
[11] Write it clearly, Placido; I will give you the idea. So. . . I beg that you consider him as your own son [. . .]. . . And I will remain
as your humble servant, who kisses your hand. Do you think its elegant? Now lets see if Im able to sign it. . . My pulse is
trembling so much. . . Please, bring me the pen. . .
Used for ironic and expressive purposes (parody of obsolete manifestations of courtesy). Example:
[12] En un restaurante de La Moraleja, ochenta senoras aburridas que no tienen nada mejor que hacer, en plan Rastrillo,
se dedican, por lo visto, a otorgar baberos de oro al personal [. . .] Organiza la chorrada dona Chiruka de Valde s,
cuya mano beso, quien dirige la revista Protagonistas (ttulo originalsimo), que se edita en la urbanizacio n.
(Antonio Burgos, El n y los medios, El Mundo (Espana), 30/1/1994, CREA)
[12] In a restaurant in La Moraleja [posh residential neighborhood in Madrid; comment, the author], eighty bored and idle ladies
are apparently awarding golden bibs to the audience [. . .] This stupid reunion has been organized by Mrs. Chiruca de Valdes,
whose hand I kiss, who runs the magazine Protagonistas (such an original name), which is edited in the neighborhood.
estrechar la
mano !que
estrecha
su mano
Used to close textsstereotypical farewell for letters. (Obsolete). Example:
[13] Agradezco de todos modos su amable y honroso recuerdo, y me repito siempre de usted, amigo y companero,
que le estrecha la mano,
A. PALACIO VALDE
S.
Madrid, 3 de mayo de 1919.
(Julio Casares, Crtica efmera (Espana), 1919, CORDE)
[13] I would like to thank you for your kind and honorable regards, and I will always consider myself as your friend and fellow,
who shakes your hand.
A. PALACIO VALDE
S
Madrid, May 3rd, 1919
[14] Dona Eduvigis.(Abriendo el ropero, del que sale don Goldofredo.)
?
Oteis, caballero, lo malcriado que esta ?
Don Goldofredo.O, dona Eduvigis. [. . .]
!
Vo ime! Desid a la reina, mi senora, que soy su seguro servidor
que estrecha su mano, Goldofredo.
(Francisco Guerra Navarro, Los cuentos famosos de Pepe Monagas (Me xico), 19411961, CORDE)
[14] Mrs. Eduvigis.(Opening the wardrobe, from which Mr. Goldofredo gets out.) Did you hear, Sir, to what extent he is rude?
Mr. Goldofredo.Yes, I did, Mrs. Eduvigis. [. . .] I leave! Tell the queen, my lady, that I am her humble servant
who shakes her hand, Goldofredo.
[Note about the translation: the expressiveness of who shakes her hand is based, again, on the parody of the characters,
Goldofredo and Eduvigis, whose way of speaking reveals in the Spanish version that they belong to a lower class. Hence,
the use of the courteous and old-fashioned idiom is affected and ridiculous in this context.]
besar los
pies !que
le besa
los pies
Used to close textsstereotypical farewell for letters. (Obsolete). Example:
[15] Q.l.b.l.p. por Que le besa los pies. (Antonio de Armenteras, Epistolario y redaccion de documentos (Espana), 1958,
dfdea, under the word pie)
[15] Q.l.b.p. instead of Que le besa los pies [Who kisses your feet]. (Antonio de Armenteras, Collection of letters and
manual for writing documents)
[16] Asunto: Encuentro en Madrid. 11 de septiembre 2010.
!
Apu ntate aqu!
Mara, a m no me conoce, pero le doy pistas, alto, guapo y muy muy serio [. . .] bueno, ya nos conoceremos, estoy
a su disposicio n para lo que usted guste, un servidor que le besa los pies. (Internet, http://www.tripadvisor.es/
ShowTopic-g1-i14723-k3751462-l28311312-Encuentro_en_Madrid_el_11_de_septiembre_2010_iApuntate_aqui-
Encuentros_de_usuarios.html (Espana), 1/9/2010)
[16] Subject: Meeting in Madrid. September 11, 2010. Sign up here!
Mara, you dont know me, but Ill give you some clues, tall, handsome and very, very serious [. . .] well, we shall meet,
I am at your disposal for anything you want, a servant who kisses your feet.
a sus pies Used to open and close texts. Politecourteousgreeting and farewell formula
a
(used especially by men to address women;
old-fashioned).
[17] Senoradijo, a sus pies de usted. Y anadio luego: Tengan la bondad los dos ahorita mismo de pasar y
sentarse aqu en esta sala que me sirve de despacho y comedor y sala de banderas [. . .] (A
lvaro Pombo,
Una ventana del norte (Espana), 2004, CREA)
[17] My ladyhe saidat your feet. And he added: Please, come in and sit down in this room which I use as ofce
and dining room
and ag room [. . .].
a
In a way, then, a sus pies functions as a phatic element, serving to establish, to prolong, or to discontinue communication, to check whether the channel
works [. . .], to attract the attention of the interlocutor or to conrm his continued attention (Jakobson, 1960: 355).
4.2. Interaction between speakers
Most of the idioms in this section indeed, all of them except pelillos a la mar
12
may be regarded as primarily
metalinguistic or metapragmatic, given that they are based on terms for body parts that play an active and direct role in
linguistic communication during the processes of articulation (boca [mouth]; lengua [tongue]) and reception (odo [ear]) of
texts. Thus the speakers deploy such units in attempting to inuence the linguistic actions of their interlocutorseither to
silence them(
?
has comido lengua?/parece que has comido lengua; punto en boca), to make themspeak (
?
has perdido la lengua?;
?
te ha comido la lengua el gato?) or to invite them to perform a specic speech act (pide por esa boca); or in the way they
perceive and understand what they receive (odo a la caja; odo al parche) (Table 4).
Table 4
Expressions that inuence interaction between speakers.
?
has comido
lengua? /
parece que
has comido
lengua
Directive formula used by a speaker to silence an interlocutor by complaining about his or her talkativeness. Example:
[18] Se ve q habeis comido lengua esta tarde. AMA, lo tuyo esta claro que es el locutus, vamos el locutor y esto es un ciber,
es q no se ve bien la diferencia, te he contado doce intervenciones solo en esta pa ginaya ira n ma sde treinta y nueve
q tiene total. Tendras que darle masajes a tu lengua, ya sabes como no? (Internet, http://www.webalia.com/EP/reir/
guerra/a6317.html (Espana), 25/4/2007)
[18] I see that you are talking too much [you have eaten tongue] this afternoon. AMA, your vocation is being locutus,
that is, commentator, and this is a cyber, but the difference is not clear now, youve made twelve contributionsor even
moreonly on this page, which has a total of thirty-nine. You will need to massage your tongue, you know already how
to do that, dont you?
Other comments: this example was drawn from a cyber-forum, and thus the peculiar syntax and linguistic register used
by the speaker. What is noteworthy in this case is that the hybrid naturewritten oralityof Internet communication allows
a speaker to complain about an interlocutors loquacity and recommend that (s)he hold his/her tongue (guratively).
?
has perdido
la lengua?
Directive formula which indirectly invites or orders somebody to speak. Example:
[19] Picarona, no dices nada. . .
?
Has perdido la lengua? (Juan Antonio de Zunzunegui, El camino alegre (Espana), 1962,
dfdea, under the word lengua)
[19] You say nothing, crafty devil. . . Have you lost your tongue?
?
te ha comido
la lengua
el gato?
Directive formula which indirectly invites or orders somebody to speak. Example:
[20]
?
Que pasa, se te ha comido la lengua el gato?la voz intempestiva y ronca del hombre se abate de nuevo sobre
mi hermano David, los dos enfrente de casa. [. . .]
?
Mande?
Digo que lo sueltes ya, si es que tienes algo que contarme sobre tu madre...
(Juan Marse , Rabos de lagartija (Espana), 2000, CREA)
[20] Whats wrong with you, has the cat eaten your tongue?the violent and husky voice of the man hits my brother
David again [. . .]
Excuse me?
Come on, out with it, tell me what happened with your mother. . .
pide por
esa boca
Directive formula by which a speaker urges an interlocutor to ask for something that he or she is willing to give. Example:
[21] Si no tienes, yo te preparare una macetita con un esqueje. Crecen de morir. Tu te mereces toda la suerte del mundo,
lo bueno. Y manana mismo te lo mando con Hamruch.
!
Tu pide por esa boca! (A
ngel Va zquez, La vida perra de Juanita

Narboni (Espana), 1976, CREA)
[21] If you dont have your own owerpot with a cutting, I will prepare one for you. They grow amazingly. You deserve all the
luck of the world, good things. And tomorrow I will send it to you with Hamruch. Ask what you will!
[Ask through that mouth!]
punto en
boca
Directive formula used by a speaker to silence an interlocutor. Example:
[22] Estela.[. . .] Y el whisky. . .
!
Que dira n las chicas de la Junta cuando se enteren. . .!
Sra. Turcomano.
?
Enterarse?
!
Cuidadito! [. . .] Este asunto de los puntos negros hay que tratarlo con reserva.
Son puntos negros y vos...
!
punto en boca!
(Agustn Cuzzani, Disparen sobre el zorro gris (Argentina), 1988, CREA)
a
[22] Estela.[. . .] And the whisky. . . I cant imagine the reaction of the Committee girls when they nally nd out. . .!
Mrs. Turcomano.Find out? Watch your step! [. . .] This affair about the black spots must be treated condentially. They are
black spots and you. . . you must shut up! [dot in mouth!]
odo a la
caja
Directive formula by which a speaker asks an interlocutor to pay attention to something. (Not frequent). Example:
[23] Carta del secretario del Ayuntamiento de Valladolid [. . .]. Esto me lo dira s esta tarde, para que yo pueda escribirle esta noche.
Las dema s cosas te las dire luego, que es ma s breve.
Conque
!
odo a la caja!, y tuyo tu to Pepe.
(Jose Zorrilla, Cartas ntimas e ineditas (Espana), 1884, CORDE)
[23] Letter to the secretary of the Valladolid council [. . .] You will remind me this afternoon, so that I can write him this evening.
I will talk with you later about the other matters.
So. . . ear to the drum!, and sincerely, your uncle Pepe.
a
In monologic contexts, punto en boca may also commit the speaker him- or herself to a certain type of silencewith regard to delicate or unpleasant issues, for
example, as shown in this instance:
[22*] Terminal tanto si me voy al hoyo [. . .] como si sobrevivo chapoteando en la cloaca y callejo n sin salida de la esterilidad. Y punto en boca. No quiero volver a
mencionar este asunto. No quiero derrumbarme. (Fernando Sa nchez Drago , El camino del corazon (Espana), 1993, CREA)
[22*] [Im] terminally ill either if I kick the bucket or if I survive squelching in the sewer and the blind alley of sterility. And dot in mouth. I dont want to mention this matter.
I dont want to fall to pieces.
12
Pelillos a la mar has developed a metapragmatic value secondarily minimizing objections and trying to restore cooperation between speakers from
its primary descriptive meaning (to reconcile), whose historical motivation is explained below (see Section 5.2.9).
4.3. Enunciation and modality
Finally, there is a broad group of idioms in the corpus whose metapragmatic nature is rooted in the expression of a series
of enunciation attitudes or modal contents, which means that they either qualify and modify the semantic-pragmatic value
of the preceding or subsequent sequence of discourse, or construct and organize the speech act. The pragmatic values
associated with such phraseological units may be divided into three different elds of action:
a) The rst focus is the ten expressions (de las narices; ni + noun/adjective + ni narices; por las narices; que + noun/
adjective + ni que narices
13
; que narices; tocate las narices/manda narices; unas narices;
?
en que cabeza (humana) cabe?; con que
cara; no lo veran tus ojos) by means of which a speaker broadly rejects what is expressed in a preceding discursive sequence.
In dialogic contexts, this rejection normally comprises a reply to another speakers statement (see below in Table 5
most of the examples found for the expressions: numbers [27], [33], [40] or [42], for instance). In this case, the idioms listed
above are involved in a particular type of intervention: the so-called dissentive acts, which include various sorts of negative
reactions such as disagreement, objection, dispute, refutation or expression of incredulity (Herrero Moreno, 2002: Section 2).
In each adjacent pair, the dissentive acts always function as second parts expressing disagreement, rejecting certain aspects
of the rst part (Herrero Moreno, 2002: 226), as happens, for example, in [30], where the second speaker (Alfonsa) explicitly
cites and corrects a particular sequence of the rst speakers intervention (specically, Manuels mistake regarding Alfonsas
identity) by means of an echoing exclamation (see note 13). In monologic uses, these idioms may carry out functions of self-
rectication (for instance, number [35]) or reaction to what the speaker presents as a virtual statement by his or her
interlocutor
14
(see instance number [36], where the speaker anticipates and rejects an objection that has not actually been
raised by his interlocutor).
Table 4 (Continued)
odo al
parche
Directive formula by which a speaker asks an interlocutor to pay attention to something. Example:
[24] Tipo grafo 18.
?
Oste la que solto Sagasta como ministro de la Gobernacio n y dedicada a los republicanos?
Pues odo al parche: Los derechos individuales me pesan como una losa.
(Lauro Olmo, Pablo Iglesias (Espana), 1984, CREA)
[24] 1st typographer.Did you hear what Sagasta said to the republicans as Government minister? Ear to the drumhead:
Individual rights are as heavy to me as a marble tombstone.
pelillos a
la mar
Used to minimize previous objections or, more generally, any kind of verbal confrontation, in an attempt to re-direct the
cooperation between speakers. Example:
[25] Bernabe .(A Mario, mientras Tadeo no deja de saltar inuido por la alegra de los otros.) Ahora es como si usted fuera
de la oposicio n. [. . .] Supongo que debemos darnos leal y jubilosamente la mano.
Are valo.Vamos, vamos, pelillos a la mar.
Mario.Ustedes podra n echar a la mar los pelillos que quieran, pero yo no veo tan clara la razo n de su ju bilo. A mi entender,
la duda persiste.
(Antonio Gala, Petra Regalada (Espana), 1980, CREA)
b
[25] Bernabe.(To Mario, while Tadeo keeps jumping as a result of everybodys joy.) Now its as if you belonged to the opposition. [. . .]
I suppose that we should shake hands loyally and jubilantly.
Arevalo.Come on, come on, lets make peace [little hairs to the sea].
Mario.You can try to make as much peace as you want [you can throw as many little hairs as you want to the sea], but I dont
see so clearly the reason for your joy. From my point of view, the doubt still remains.
Other comments: in the dialogue, Are valo tries to minimize the differences and re-establish the cooperation between Bernabe and
Mario, which has been altered by the existence of the doubt to which the latter refers. Mario refuses to collaborate by explicitly
rejecting and manipulating the idiomatic content of pelillos a la mar (you can throw as many little hairs as you want to the sea).
b
The expression may be applied to minimize objections formulated by the speaker him- or herself in monologic contexts and behave, in a way, as a sort of connector of
contrast or concession, pragmatically similar to con todo [despite everything], for examplesee Martn Zorraquino and Portole s La zaro (1999: Section 63.3.4):
[25*] Quienha aprovechadoel tiempo, y bien, es el listo de CalvoSerraller. [. . .] EduardoArroyotambie nesta encantado, y noiba a estar encantadoel amante Arroyo
despue s dequeGamarratuvieraquehipotecar sugaleraparaasegurarleal pintor el cobrodesus cuadros. Pero, enn, pelillos alamar,
!
vivalamelatoninayque
no decaiga la esta de los cre ditos! (ABC Cultural, Melatonina (Espana), 5/4/1996, CREA)
[25*] CalvoSerraller has beensmart enoughtomake best use of time. [. . .] EduardoArroyo is delighted, too, andhe must be really happy andbright about Gamarras decisionto
mortgage his gallery in order to ensure the painters charging for his works. But, anyway, lets make peace [little hairs to the sea], hooray for melatonin and keep the
loan party up! As was also observed in the dialogic use of pelillos a la mar, this concessive value is often combined with discourse-restructuring and
digression-closing functions (see Hansen, 2006: 3435).
13
The metapragmatic basis of these idioms (ni + noun/adjective + ni narices; que + noun/adjective + ni que narices) is much more evident since they always
present an empty gap that needs to be lled in each case by a sequence from the preceding cotext (see examples [27] and [30] below). Herrero Moreno
(1995) (and 2002: 226227) emphasizes the suitability of these echoic exclamative structures in the performance of what she calls dissentive acts (see
below). From a different perspective, Gonza lez Olle (1981: 232233) argues that both expressions (ni + noun/adjective + ni narices; que + noun/adjective
+ ni que narices) pertain to a broader class of units which coordinate the rejected sequence with another elementin many cases, a (more or less) taboo noun
such as narices or its disphemistic alternatives (see footnote in Table 2)that is semantically discordant and produces, as a result, the intensied negation.
Other Spanish examples within this group of idioms are que + noun/adjective + ni que nino muerto [which + noun/adjective + or which dead child] or
que + noun/adjective + ni que leches [which + noun/adjective + or which milk].
14
This type of utterances, in which the voices of the speaker and his or her interlocutor are, in some way, mixed, have been classied as diaphonic by some
authors (see Roulet and Others, 1985: 6984; Ferna ndez Berna rdez, 2005: 134).
Table 5
Metapragmatic idioms related to enunciation and modality.
de las narices Pejorative mark. Applied to an object previously topicalized or well known to both speaker and listener. Example:
[26] Las Navidades ya han llegado, nadie las ha invitado pero esta n aqu y estamos todos hacie ndonos la preguntita
de las narices, la de todos los anos, que regalar a nuestros familiares y amigos en estas estas entranables.
(Canal Plus, Lo mas plus (Espana, oral), 13/12/1996, CREA)
[26] Christmas time has arrived, nobody invited it but its already here, and were all asking ourselves the damned question
[the question of the noses], the same question of each year, what are we going to buy for friends and relatives in such
a pleasant celebration.
ni + noun/adjective
+ ni narices
Used to express disagreement with something mentioned previously, which is explicitly taken up again. Example:
[27] Mauricio empujaba a Felipe hacia el taxi.
Mo ntate, anda, que tene is prisa; pierdes el tiempo.
Ni prisa ni narices. Eso no se hace, Mauricio.
(Rafael Sa nchez Ferlosio, El Jarama (Espana), 1956, CORDE)
[27] Mauricio pushed Felipe into the taxi.
Come on, youre rushed and youre wasting time.
Whether you are rushed or not [neither rushed nor noses], you cant do that, Mauricio.
por las narices Used to express disagreement with something mentioned previously. Example:
[28] Viene un to y le dice a mi abuelo que le de doscientas pesetas. Y mi abuelo le dice:Por las narices te voy a dar a ti
doscientas pesetas. (Elvira Lindo, Manolito Gafotas (Espana), 1994, dfdea, under the word nariz)
[28] A guy comes and asks my grandfather to give him two hundred pesetas. And my grandfather answers him:I would never
give [not by the noses would I give] you two hundred pesetas.
[29] Una batalla reanudada cada da, sin victorias ni treguas, sin derrotas tambie n (eso fue antes), en la que el adversario
es a veces el otro y a veces uno mismo. [. . .] Sera n dos en una sola carne. S, s, por las narices. . . (Antonio Gala,
Los invitados al jardn (Espana), 2002, CREA)
[29] A battle that is renewed each day, without victories or truces, without defeats (that happened before), in which the opponent
is sometimes the other and sometimes oneself. [. . .] They will be two in a single esh. Yeah, yeah, no way [by the noses]. . .
Other comments: por las narices may reject a previous discursive sequence which is taken up again explicitly in the same
statement (example [28]) or may reject implicitly what has been said or expressed before ([29]).
que + noun/adjective
+ ni que narices
Used to express disagreement with something mentioned previously, which is explicitly taken up again. Example:
[30]
!
Manuel!
!
Manuel!
?
Que pasa, don Lotario?
!
Que don Lotario, ni que narices! Soy Alfonsa, tu mujer.
(Francisco Garca Pavo n, El reinado de Witiza (Espana), 1968, CORDE)
[30]
!
Manuel!
!
Manuel!
Whats the matter, Mr. Lotario?
Mr. Lotario, my foot! [Which Mr. Lotario or which noses!] Im Alfonsa, your wife.
que narices Employed by a speaker to express auto-reafrmation. Example:
[31]
!
Ha galo por su familia. No se obceque.
!
De jeme hablar con ellos!casi gema el me dico [. . .]
?
Sabe lo que le digo? Que no va a hablar con mi familia porque he venido sola. Adema s,
!
que narices! Le voy a contar
la verdad. A m no me duele la tripa. . . ni nada. Tengo una salud a prueba de bombas.
(Luis Jime nez de Diego, Memorias de un medico de Urgencias (Espana), 2002, CREA)
[31] Do it for your family! Dont be stubborn. Please, let me talk with them!the doctor was almost moaning [. . .]
You know what? You wont talk with my family because Ive come alone. And what the hell! [which noses!] Im going
to tell you the truth. My stomach doesnt ache, I have no pain at all. I have an iron constitution.
[32] Divie rtete, hija ma, una noche es una noche, que narices, hay que sacarle a la vida lo que la vida nos da.
(Alonso Zamora Vicente, A traque barraque (Espana), 1972, CORDE)
[32] Have fun, my dear, a night is a night, oh yes [which noses], we must enjoy what life offers us.
Used to express disagreement with something mentioned previously. Example:
[33] Comentario enviado el da 09-06-2008 a las 15:09:37
para char a portugueses que chen a QUARESMA PERO TAMBIEN FICHEN A VANDERVAART!!!!!
Autor: VALENCIANISTA
Comentario enviado el da 09-06-2008 a las 16:09:46
Van der vaart? si hombre!!! que narices vamos a char nosotros a ese tio?
Autor: lluis1971
(Internet, Foro de Superdeporte.es (Espana), 9/6/2008)
[33] Comment sent on 09-06-2008 at 15:09:37
If they want to sign up Portuguese players they must sign up QUARESMA BUT ALSO THEY MUST SIGN UP VANDERVAART!!!!!
Author: VALENCIA FAN
Comment sent on 09-06-2008 at 16:09:46
Van der vaart? Oh no! No way [which noses] we are going to sign up this guy.
Author: lluis1971
tocate las narices /
manda narices
a
Used to express disagreement or incredulity about something mentioned previously. Example:
[34] Hay que tenerlos cuadrados para hablar del sorteo y de mala suerte. To cate las narices. Y hay que tener morro
para hablar de claramente inferior, o de no ir a por medalla. Vuelve a tocarte las narices. (Internet,
http://boards4.melodysoft.com/app?ID=basketfem&msg=42016#42047 (Espana), 25/6/2007)
[34] Only a shameless person would dare to talk about the draw and about bad luck. This is outrageous. [Touch your noses.]
And one has to be really brazen to be able to talk about being clearly inferior or not going for the medal. Again: this
is outrageous [touch your noses].
a
These expressionsas well as other ones within this group:
?
en que cabeza (humana) cabe? [in which (human) head does it t?] or con
que cara [with what face], for examplemight also constitute a reaction to an empirical fact, not to a previous discursive sequence. Thus, their values exceed
the purely metapragmatic level, but their cotextual and metalinguistic behavior still plays a central role in their pragmatic conguration. This could be
regarded as an interesting peculiarity of these exclamative-interjective expressionsand also of those which can only carry out echoic, metapragmatic
functions (see note 13), given that what genuinely characterizes interjections is an emotive reaction to extralinguistic facts, and not specically to other
elements of the previous cotext.
Table 5 (Continued)
unas narices
b
Used to express disagreement with something mentioned previously. Examples:
[35] Es cierto que conserva usted los trajes de cuando tena 20 anos?
(Se re). Bueno eso lo digo por (se re), por decir que tengo las mismas medidas. Pero eso no es cierto:
unas narices tengo yo las mismas medidas.
(Internet, http://jumocover.iespana.es/arturito.htm (Espana), 20/2/2000, dfdea, under the word nariz)
[35] Is it true that you still have the suits you wore when you were 20 years old?
(He laughs.) Oh, normally I say this be. . . (he laughs) because I want to imply that I still wear the same size.
But this is not true: no way, I dont wear the same size [some noses I wear the same size].
[36] La solucio n del enigma es: AS CARRERAS DE COCHES ILEGALES.
Que me lo invento? Unas arices! Veamos:
Carreras de coches ilegales en Barcelona: las hay y muchas.
(Internet, http://blogs.puntotv.es/index.php/News4fun/2006/10/ (Espana), 5/10/2006)
[36] The solution for the enigma is: ILLEGAL CAR RACES.
Do you think Ive invented it? No way! [Some noses!] Lets see:
Races of illegal cars in Barcelona: there are many, plenty of them.
Other comments: as noted in the examples given for por las narices, unas narices may express disagreement with
regard to a previous sequence by formulating it again ([35]), or may refer to it implicitly ([36]).
dejarse cortar la
mano !me
dejo/dejara
cortar la mano
Employed by a speaker to engage emphatically with the truth of what is expressed in the preceding
ormore frequentlysubsequent sequence of discourseeven if the speaker has no direct evidence of what is
being stated. Example:
[37] (Prendido en el viento, llega de pronto un largo mugido ago nico.)
El nino magro.
?
Habe is odo? Me dejo cortar una mano si no es un muerto que se desganita por querer
resucitar y no puede.
(Francisco Nieva, Coronada y el toro (rapsodia espanola) (Espana), 1982, CREA)
[37] (As if it was tied to the wind, a long and agonizing moan is suddenly heard.)
The lean boy.Did you hear? I let my hand be cut if this is not a dead person calling desperately for resurrection
and cannot.
poner la mano
en el fuego !
pongo/pondra
la mano en el
fuego
Employed by a speaker to engage emphatically with the truth of what is expressed in the preceding ormore
frequentlysubsequent sequence of discourseeven if the speaker has no direct evidence of what is being
stated. Example:
[38] Aunque pondra la mano en el fuego que Duran Lleida asistio a la cena que la Generalitat dio a los invitados a
eso del Mediterra neo, no le vi en ningu n telediario.
?
Acaso comio en el so tano con los cho feres? (La Vanguardia,
El burladero (Espana), 2/12/1995, CREA)
[38] Though I would put my hand in the re about the attendance of Duran Lleida at the dinner given by the Catalan
Government to the guests at the Mediterranean Conference, I didnt see him in the news. Maybe he ate in the
basement with the chauffeurs?
apostarse/jugarse
la cabeza !me
apuesto/apostara/
juego/jugara la
cabeza
c
Employed by a speaker to engage emphatically with the truth of what is expressed in the preceding ormore
frequentlysubsequent sequence of discourseeven if the speaker has no direct evidence of what is being stated. Example:
[39] Corte s.(Horrorizado)
?
Do nde pueda encontrarme Beatriz?
!
Ni loco! Y si pregunta por m, que voy camino del Cipango. . .
Pizarro.(Riendo)
!
Ven. . .! Te ensenare mi cuarto. . . Y me juego la cabeza que antes de tres das ya la andas buscando. . .
(Alberto Va zquez Figueroa, La taberna de los Cuatro Vientos (Espana), 1994, CREA)
[39] Cortes.(Horried) Where can Beatriz nd me? No way! And if she asks about me, I will run to Cipango. . .
Pizarro.(Laughing) Come in. . .! I will show you my room. And I bet my head that youll be looking for her within three days. . .
?
en que cabeza
(humana) cabe?
Used to express disagreement or incredulity about something mentioned previously. Example:
[40]
!
Atenciones!dijo Mauricio; gu rese. Al contrario, si me parece que los he tenido abandonados casi toda la tarde,
por atender aqu al negocio. Ahora que, desde luego, muy en contra de mi voluntad, que mi gusto hubiera sido
hacerles un poco ma s de caso.
No diga tonteras, Mauricio; ha hecho usted mucho ma s de lo que deba;
?
en que cabeza humana cabe que iba a
dejar usted sus cosas por atendernos a nosotros?
(Rafael Sa nchez Ferlosio, El Jarama (Espana),1956, CREA)
[40] Attention!said Mauricio; oh no, imagine. . . On the contrary, I feel that youve been abandoned this afternoon because
I had to carry out my duties. But, of course, this was not my intention, I would have liked to pay more attention to you.
Oh, please, dont say that, Mauricio; you did much more for us than what you had to; how could anybody accept
[in which human head does it t] that you would neglect your duties for us?
b
The DUE and the DEA (Diccionario del espanol actual) also register
!
narices! [noses!], which is not included in phraseological dictionaries because it is not a
pluriverbal expression. Nevertheless, it effects the same pragmatic functions as unas narices [some noses] (Expresa negacio n con desprecio a lo que se
acaba de or [Expresses disdainful negation as regards what has been heard]; DEA, under the word nariz), and thus could be considered as an improper
interjection (Alonso Corte s, 1999: Section 62.7.1). It should be noted, however, that the conceptual and gurative motivation of
!
narices! can be still
perceived albeit weakly in this case, as also happens in the other expressions based on nariz [nose] (see Section 5.2.1). This feature separates
!
narices!
fromthe prototype of Spanish interjections: for example, ay [ow], oh [oh], puaj [yuck] or caracoles [gosh], which have an entirely expressive meaning (Alonso
Corte s, 1999: 4025).
c
Although none of the reference dictionaries registered it, a number of instances of dejarse cortar la cabeza !me dejo/dejara cortar la cabeza [to let your head
be cut !I (would) let my head be cut], equivalent to me dejo/dejara cortar la mano [I (would) let my hand be cut], were found:
[37*]No esperes que me cruce de brazos, Carlos. Aqu hay gato encerrado. Me dejo cortar la cabeza si tu no eres inocente. La infeliz crea au n en mi
inocencia. Dona Alicia siempre fue optimista y pueril. (Mercedes Salisachs, La gangrena (Espana), 1975, CREA)
[37*] Dont expect me to be passive, Carlos. There is something shy going on here. I will let my head be cut if you are not innocent. The poor woman still
believed in my innocence. Dona Alicia had always been optimist and puerile
Thus, the use of these expressions implies a certain degree of metalinguistic reexiveness in the sense that they refer to a
given piece of discourse which is, so to speak, implicitly ([36]) or explicitly ([30] or [40]) taken up again by the speaker, who
may strongly disagree with its content ([27]), express incredulity about it ([33]), refer to it in a pejorative way
15
([26]), etc. In
fact, this kind of operation has been described within the framework of a wider pragmatic procedure: metalinguistic
negation,
16
a device for objecting to a previous utterance on any grounds whateverincluding its conventional or
conversational implicata, its morphology, its style or register, or its phonetic realization (Horn, 1985: 121).
b) Me dejo/dejara cortar la mano, pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego, apuesto/ apostara/juego/jugara la cabeza, que narices
and para mis barbas behave as intensiers of afrmation speech acts which are thus emphasized on the basis of the auto-
reafrmation of the speaker (see below the use of que narices and para mis barbas in examples [31], [32], [41]) or the
speakers commitment to the truth of what is being stated ([37], [38], or [39], for example).
Table 5 (Continued)
para mis barbas Swearing formula. Auto-reafrmative formula. Used to afrm something emphatically. (Obsolete). Example:
[41] Pero, dejando esto aparte, dgame vuestra merced que haremos deste caballo rucio rodado que parece asno pardo
[. . .].
!
Y para mis barbas, si no es bueno el rucio! (Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha, 1605, CORDE)
[41] But, leaving this aside, would your Worship be so kind to tell me what we will do with this gray [. . .]. And by my beard
[for my beards] this gray one is not good!
Other comments: it was not possible to nd a more recent example of the use of para mis barbas, which conrms that
the expression is
obsoletehowever, this is not noted in the only source (drae) that registers it.
con que cara Employed to reject or show disagreement with something mentioned previously. Example:
[42] Felipe. (Siempre tarambana) Bueno, pero nuestro paso es de pura fo rmula. . . Pasamos unos das con Luis, nos
tomamos unas copas, bailamos y nos marchamos...
Juana.
?
Y con que cara me presento yo en Toledo despue s de tomarme unas copas con Luis XII. . .? A veces logras
desesperarme, Felipe. . . Y es que todo lo haces as...
!
Vamos a tomar unas copas a Francia...!
(Manuel Martnez Mediero, Juana del amor hermoso (Espana), 1982, CREA)
[42] Felipe.(Always impetuous) All right, but our visit is a mere formality. . . We can spend some days with Luis, have some
drinks with him, dance, and then leave. . .
Juana.And with what face could I return to Toledo after having had some drinks with Luis XII. . .? You drive me to
despair me sometimes, Felipe. . . [. . .]
no lo veran tus ojos Employed to reject or show disagreement with something mentioned previously. Example:
[43] Janti.A ver en que se quedan tus derechos si un da, ya harta, te quieres largar.
?
Que alternativa econo mica tienes?
Alces.Eso es lo que te gustara que hiciese, pero no lo vera n tus ojos. Porque la familia es la u nica institucio n va lida y
ecaz para la crianza y educacio n de los hijos y yo no la traicionare jama s.
(Isabel Hidalgo, Todas hijas de su madre (Espana), 1988, CREA)
[43] Janti.We will see what will happen with your rights if one day youre fed up and you decide to leave home. What
economic alternative do you have?
Alces.This is what you would like me to do, but your eyes wont see it. Because family is the only institution
which is really valid and efcient in childrens upbringing and education, and I will never betray it.
con (todo) el corazon Employed by a speaker to express his/her intention or commitment to sincerity regarding what is stated in the
subsequent discursive sequence.
[44] Cami dijo:
Hola Gise, con todo el corazo n te digo, que estare en tu pro ximo proyecto.
(Internet, http://blog.acrochet.com/proyecto-social/mantas-y-gorritos-para-ninos-que-sufren-de-frio.html
(Argentina), 21/4/2009)
[44] Cami said:
Hi Gise, with all the heart I tell you that I will participate in your next project.
con el corazon en
la mano/con la
mano en el corazon
Employed by a speaker to express his/her intention or commitment to sincerity regarding what is stated in the
[45] Yo protesto y hago un llamado a los senores parlamentarios porque ahora todos debemos unirnos como un
solo puno. Adema s, senores parlamentarios, con el corazo n en la mano y sumamente triste, vengo a decirles
que ya paso la quincena y no nos han pagado. Yo me pregunto,
?
cua ndo nos van a pagar? (Expreso (Peru ),
1992, CREA)
[45] I complain and urge the members of this Parliament to be united as a single st. And, with the heart in my hand
and truly sad, I come to tell you that two weeks passed already and we havent been paid. And I wonder:
when will they pay us?
[46] Sinceramente y con la mano en el corazo n, deseo que el senor Zedillo se esfuerce por mejorar la Nacio n, que
termine con honores su periodo presidencial. (Excelsior (Me xico), 1996, CREA)
[46] Sincerely and with the hand on my heart, I wish that Mr. Zedillo works to improve the Nation and nishes with
honor his presidential period.
de (todo) corazon Employed by a speaker to express his/her intention or commitment to sincerity regarding what is stated in the
[47] Senor ministro, muchas gracias por su presencia, de todo corazo n muchas gracias. (TVE1,
!
Ay! vida ma
(Espana, oral), 1992, CREA)
[47] Dear Minister, thank your very much for your presence, thank you from all of my heart.
15
As is explained in Table 5, the metapragmatic value of de las narices is peculiar, and depends on the fact that the object that receives its pejorative mark is
assumed to be a previously topicalized item. Though this expression cannot be strictly included among the idioms involved in dissentive acts, its use
involves a certain degree of reexive negation.
16
For other denitions of metalinguistic negation, see also Ducrot (1984: 214218), Herna ndez Paricio (1985: 127128) and Garca Negroni and Tordesillas
(2001: 209216).
Briz Go mez (1998: Section 3.2) draws a distinction between the intensiers that affect the quantity and quality or what is
said at the semantic level, and those that stress and emphasize certain aspects of the speech act itself at the level of the
attitudes of enunciation. Albelda Marco (2007: Section 3.1) revises this distinction and argues that the second type of
intensiers those operating pragmatically in the modal sphere strengthen the illocutionary force of speech acts in a
particular way: indeed, this reinforcement increases the speakers commitment to the truth of what is expressed at the
propositional level (2007: Section 5.2.2.1 and 6.3.3). From this point of view, expressions such as me dejo/dejara cortar la
mano, pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego and me apuesto/apostara/juego/jugara la cabeza are especially signicant since their
primary semantic motivation refers explicitly to the set of more or less implicit obligations, duties and rights that regulate
the social use of language: in fact, the intensicationof the illocutionary force of the statement they are associated with relies
on the symbolic guarantees of truthfulness offered metaphorically by the speakerhis or her head and hand, valuable
guarantees indeed (see Sections 5.2.2 and 5.2.4). Hence, these formulaic expressions are equivalent to verbs that denote
various degrees of knowledge and belief (Kiefer, 1998: Section 7): in this case, the high or highest degree of belief shown
by the speaker towards the truth of what he or she states is not necessarily linked to direct evidence
17
about it (see instances
[37], [38] and [39]). In other words, these idioms express a kind of (re)afrmation based mainly on a subjective conviction on
the speakers part (see Fuentes and Alcaide, 1996: Section III.2.2.2; Vigara Tauste, 1992: 136138).
c) Finally, con (todo) el corazon, con el corazon en la mano/con la mano en el corazon and de (todo) corazon express the
speakers intention and commitment to sincerity regarding what is stated in the discursive sequence they normally precede.
In fact, such a statement of sincerity may also support the speakers strategic intention to intensify (see example [47] below)
or mitigate (see instance [45]) the illocutionary force of the speech act (Gonza lez Ruiz, 2005, 2007).
5. Figurative (metaphorical and metonymical) basis of the expressions
The argument in Section 1 was that the idioms included in the corpus explored here lack the ability to describe because
they have specialized their meaning in a series of pragmatic and discursive functions.
The analysis of the meanings of RFs [routine formulas] is context dependent. [. . .] As they provide the verbal means for
certain types of conventional action, their meanings are conditioned by the behavior patterns of which they are an
integrated part. Of course, adopting this point of view does not by itself solve any problems; rather, they are posed in a
new light. The question of the meaning of RFs is thus transformed into the question of judgments of appropriateness of
situated uses of RFs. I do not, however, argue for the complete neglect of their descriptive meaning. This part of their meaning
can, in fact, be very telling for diachronic as well as sociolinguistic considerations. But, generally, one has to acknowledge a shift
towards the expressive side in the relation between descriptive and expressive aspects of meaning in RFs as compared with non-
routinized expressions. The expressive aspects, so to speak, often dominate the descriptive aspects [. . .] (Coulmas, 1979:
241242; emphasis mine)
In broad terms, the argument advanced here agrees with what Coulmas states regarding the semantics of routine
formulae: such units, as well as other kinds of pragmatic idioms, should be described in terms of this expressive side, which
accounts for their pragmatic-discursive functions and their contexts of use; but an analysis of their primary descriptive basis
may also shed light on the pragmatic xedness they have progressively developed. In fact, their original descriptive meaning
to some extent underlies and thus justies their pragmatic value, and an eventual diachronic study of their process of
grammaticalizationwould necessarily showthis evolution froma referential/conceptual meaning to a pragmatic meaning.
18
Rather than provide a detailed account of such development, the focus of this section is on the main gurative patterns
that may have played a role in the grammaticalization processes of the idioms studied.
19
To achieve this goal, a brief
description is offered of the most salient metaphorical and metonymical values that may be associated with the terms for
body parts included in the corpus, and which support the link that exists between the primary semantic motivation of the
expressions and the pragmatic functions currently assigned to them. All in all, the position held here is that these
metapragmatic idioms are, to a certain extent, conventionalized interactive metaphors and metonymies since their
pragmatic-discursive character and their role in linguistic interaction depend on the (diachronic) action of a series of
gurative processes.
Adistinctionis drawn inthe sub-sections belowbetween the terms referring to body parts that play a direct physical role in
linguistic communication(boca [mouth]; lengua [tongue]; odo [ear]), terms which are thus closely linked to the metalinguistic
lexicon (see Gonza lez Ruiz and Loureda Lamas, 2005: 360362), and the other body part terms, which are integrated in
phraseological units that have developed and specialized metapragmatic values secondarily (see also Section 4.2).
17
An overview of the relationship between evidentiality and (epistemic) modality is presented in Dendale and Tasmowski (2001).
18
In fact, the space that separates the conceptual meaning from the pragmatic meaning should be conceived as a continuum, in which many linguistic
units that have developed a pragmatic meaning still retain some remains of conceptual meaning, and some units of referential meaning combine it with a
certain level of pragmatic or inferential meaning (Portole s La zaro, 1998: 74; Ferna ndez Berna rdez, 2005: 122123).
19
For an extensive theory of the processes and factors involved in grammaticalization, see Hopper and Traugott (1993). The authors also describe the
involvement of metaphor and metonymy in grammaticalization (Hopper and Traugott, 1993: Sections 4.3.1, 4.3.2 and 4.4).
5.1. Primarily metalinguistic lexical bases
5.1.1. Boca [mouth]
Several studies (Goossens, 1988: 78; Pauwels et al., 1995; Olza, 2006a: Section 3.4.2, 2006b: 6, 2006c: Section 3.1, 2007,
2011) have pointed out that the mouth is metaphorically conceived in the metalinguistic phraseology of many languages in
terms of the CONTAINER image schema (see Johnson, 1987: 126). Indeed, in the corpus referred to in this paper, punto en boca
[dot/period in mouth] illustrates this gurative pattern: its descriptive basis might refer to an element of the written code
the dot or period, closing sentences and texts that metaphorically shuts the orice of the mouth-container and thus blocks
or obstructs the exit of the objects words contained within the closed space. The metaphorical basis of pide por esa boca
[ask through that mouth] also emphasizes the conceptualization of the mouth as a physical space in which objects words
circulate towards an exit hole in order to be effectively uttered.
5.1.2. Lengua [tongue]
The metapragmatic value of the three expressions based on lengua [tongue] (
?
has comido lengua?/parece que has comido
lengua [have you eaten tongue?/it seems that you have eaten tongue
20
];
?
has perdido la lengua? [ have you lost your
tongue?]; and
?
te ha comido la lengua el gato? [has the cat eaten your tongue?]) depends on the metonymical identication of
this speech organ with the speech ability itself (see Goossens, 1993, 1995; Radden, 2001; Olza, 2006a: Section 3.3.3, 2006b:
6, 2011).
21
This metonymy explains the association of loquacity with the image of eating tongue thus having a gurative
overdose of the speech ability and the silence or apparent muteness due to a virtual loss of the tongue.
5.1.3. Odo [ear]
The ear also stands metonymically for the whole intellectual and cognitive activity of a listener in odo a la caja [ear to the
box/drum] and odo al parche [ear to the drumhead/drum skin]. In fact, this organ may shift its orientation as does the
listeners attention metonymically and focus on particular stimulus such as a military drum (caja [box/drum]; parche
[drumhead/drum skin]), which becomes here a symbol of any important or signicant linguistic signal or message.
5.2. Other somatic bases
5.2.1. Nariz [nose]
Assuming that nariz [nose] is not a primarily metalinguistic body part term, the fact that it turns out to be the most
productive lexical base of the corpus may come as some surprise. Its productivity may be due, rstly, to the negative
connotations associated with this body part itself, as a prominent facial feature containing secretions, which have clearly
crystallized into a series of modal contents related to rejection and disagreement, as a resulte.g. por las narices [by the
noses]; que narices [which noses]; or unas narices [some noses] or pejorative descriptions de las narices [of the noses]. In
some cases, these connotations behave as expletive supports in contexts of negation (ni + noun/adjective + ni narices
[neither + noun/adjective + nor noses]; que + noun/adjective + ni que narices [which + noun/adjective + or which noses]).
The rejection and disagreement value reected in instances [28], [29] or [33] of por las narices or que narices (see Section
4.3), for example, may also be based on the detecting function of the nose (it enables one to smell and, metaphorically, to
sense and understand abstract facts and situations): by using the abovementioned expressions the speaker wouldemphasize
that he or she his or her nose cannot be fooled by what is said by the interlocutor.
A complementary explanation for the productivity of narices [noses] in Spanish phraseology and in this particular area
within it is due to the fact that the term often behaves as a euphemistic alternative to other dysphemistic somatic bases
such as cono [cunt] and, especially, cojones [balls] and huevos [eggs/balls] (see footnote in Table 2).
Besides this, the pragmatic value of manda narices [it requires noses] rejecting something whose mere existence
produces a sort of admiration and the auto-reafrmative function of que narices [which noses] (see examples [31] and [32]
in Section 4.3) may arise from a metaphorical connection between the prominent position of the nose in the face and the
degree of determination associated with a particular person or action.
22
5.2.2. Mano [hand]
In me dejo/dejara cortar la mano [I (would) let my hand be cut] and pongo/pondra la mano en el fuego [I (would) put my
hand in the re], the speakers emphasize the veracity of their statements by guratively offering a valuable guarantee of it
(one of their hands).
23
The signicance of hands in both personal and social life
24
is also illustrated by their incorporation in
20
Lengua [tongue] behaves in this expression as an uncountable noun, similar to the hyperonym food, for example.
21
The metonymical connection between the features and activity of the speech organs and the speech ability itself is also found in many expressions
based on boca [mouth] (see some Spanish instances in Olza, 2007).
22
The gurative identication of the nose with the willpower and the determination of a person underlies, for example, the idiomatic meaning of the
Spanish descriptive expression por narices [by noses], forcedly (see DFDEA, under the word nariz).
23
It should be noted that, even if this motivation hand as a valuable guarantee remains self-evident nowadays, the meaning of this expression, as of
those in which the guarantee is the head (me apuesto/apostara/juego/jugara la cabeza; me dejo/dejara cortar la cabeza), is connected to the medieval legal
system, in which decapitations and hand amputations or burnings were common forms of punishment.
24
In fact, the research carried out in different languages shows that this body part term is generally the most productive one within the phraseological
system of Spanish (see Olza, 2006a: 226 and 2006c: 169), German (see Wotjak, 1988: 542) and Czech (see C
erma k, 2000: 61), for example.

the conventionalized gestures whichserve as metonymic bases for the expressions beso a usted la mano/que besa su mano/que
le besa la mano [who kisses your hand] and que estrecha su mano [who shakes your hand], in which the formulation of real and
material interactive gestures gives rise to xed farewell formulas for written texts.
5.2.3. Corazon [heart]
The heart stands metaphorically in the phraseology of most though not all cultures as the central organ or area of the
body, where the deepest and truest emotions of the subject reside. Thus, this somatic base contributes to the idiomatic
meaning of con (todo) el corazon [with (all) the heart], con el corazon en la mano/con la mano en el corazon [with the heart in
your hand/with the hand on your heart] and de (todo) corazon [ from (all) the heart]. The sincerity content is linked to the
pragmatic function of these unitsthat is, to express the speakers commitment to sincerity and his or her intention to
intensify or mitigate the illocutionary force of the speech act.
5.2.4. Cabeza [head]
For obvious reasons, the head is also regarded as one of the most important body parts in me apuesto/apostara/juego/
jugara la cabeza [I (would) bet my head] and me dejo/dejara cortar la cabeza [I (would) let my head be cut] (see footnote in
Table 5), in which it once again becomes a metaphorical guarantee that represents the truthfulness of the speakers words.
Froma wider perspective, the head is metonymically identied with the mind and the intellect in most of the expressions
where it is used as the base constituent. More specically, it is usually conceived as a sort of container whose objects ideas
are in constant ux (see Forment, 2000: Section 2.1); hence the pragmatic value of
?
en que cabeza (humana) cabe? [in which
(human) head does it t?]: in gurative terms, ideas that cannot enter this container are not understood and/or accepted by
its owner (the speaker).
5.2.5. Pie [foot]
The gurative motivation of que le besa los pies [who kisses your feet] and a sus pies [ at your feet] depends on the attitude
of submissiveness of the individual who bends down to the other persons feet.
25
This image or gesture explains the high
degree of formality and politeness associated with que le besa los pies as a farewell formula for letters since the author of the
text virtually puts him- or herself at the readers disposal. This rhetorical submissiveness also characterizes the expression
a sus pies, employed as a polite strategy in greeting and farewell speech turns.
5.2.6. Barba [beard]
The symbolic presence of the beard in swearing or formal afrmative contexts appears fromthe very earliest stages in the
history of the Spanish language: it can be foundas expected, with a lesser degree of formal and semantic xednessin the
rst Castillian narrative poem: el Cantar de mio Cid (vv. 28322833; see Montaner, 1993: 271):
[48]
!
Par aquesta barba que nadi non messo ,
non la lograra n los ifantes de Carrio n,
que a mis jas bien las casare yo!
[48] Prose translation: For this beard that nobody tugged, the Carrion infants will not achieve their aims because I will
marry my daughters successfully!
As shown in instance number [41], Section 4.3, por/para mi(s) barba(s) [for my beards] came to function as a phrase
indicating auto-reafrmation on the speakers part. This pragmatic function is linked to the fact that in past times men
considered the beard to be a valuable symbol of their honor. Despite the signicance of this metaphorical basis, it
should be noted that the expression is no longer usedhowever, as we noted earlier, the DRAE does not note its
obsolescence explicitly.
5.2.7. Cara [face]
In con que cara [with what face], the face stands metaphorically for a balanced relationship between an individuals
wishes and willpower and the positive image presented to other people.
26
This metaphorical value is due of course to the fact
that the face is the individuals main physical point of contact with his or her personal environment. On this gurative
basis, the expression is used by the speaker to reject something an action which might not be socially accepted and
would, thus, jeopardize or damage his or her individual image (see example [42] in Section 4.3).
5.2.8. Ojo [eye]
As happens with cabeza (see Section 5.2.4), the eyes represent now metaphorically (UNDERSTANDING IS SEEING) various
aspects of the mind and the intellect (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980: 48; Ibarretxe Antunano, 2008), in the sense that only the
25
See also some aspects of the orientational metaphors CONTROL IS UP and SUBMISSION IS DOWN in Lakoff and Johnson (1980: chap. 4).
26
See Brown and Levinson (1978: esp. chap. 3) for the relationship between these negative and positive faces of speakers.
things that are visually perceived can be mentally processed and thus intellectually accepted: in no lo veran tus ojos [your
eyes will not see it], what cannot be seen is, then, automatically rejected.
5.2.9. Pelo [hair]
The gurative motivation of pelillos a la mar [little hairs to the sea] is very specic: as Buitrago (DDFH, under the word
pelillos a la mar/echar pelillos a la mar) explains, the meaning related to reconciliation originated in an episode of Homers
Iliad where a group of Greek and Trojan soldiers celebrate a fraternization ceremony during which some hair cut from the
sacriced animals is rst given to them and then thrown into the sea. This ritual later became a symbol of peace and
friendship among the Greeks and, according to the explanation given in the DRAE (under the word pelillo, diminutive form of
pelo), was likewise adapted within Spanish culture, for example.
6. Conclusion
This study of the corpus of Spanishmetapragmatic idioms basedonterms for body parts has yielded two main conclusions:
a) rstly, the pragmatic analysis presented in Section 4 discloses that this type of expressions cover a wide range of
metapragmatic functions relating to the three principal elements of linguistic action: the speaker and the listener
expressions that affect the interaction between interlocutors or express modal contents (Sections 4.2 and 4.3); and the
text or messageexpressions that contribute to discursive organization (Section 4.1). Indeed, this set of pragmatic sub-
functions may be observed and dened not only within this particular sphere of phraseology that is, idioms based on
terms for body parts but also in the wider group of all phraseological units that have developed a pragmatic value. This
pragmatic analysis has beencombined with a formal-functional approach to the corpus (Section 3) that has completed the
description of the discursive behavior of each expression;
b) secondly, regarding the particular nature of the corpus of idioms explored here (pragmatic idioms based on terms for
body parts), and within the broader research project of which this study is part (see Section 1), it has been proven
that the motivation of the pragmatic value of this type of units depends on a transparent and coherent set of
metaphorical and metonymical mappings of both embodiment and linguistic action (Section 5). Furthermore, this
study has shown that the productivity of the terms for body parts in the generation of metapragmatic idioms is not
limited to primarily metalinguistic bases such as boca, lengua or odo, but also rests to a signicant extent on other
bases (nariz, mano, corazon, cabeza, pie, barba, cara, ojo and pelo) that have secondarily developed this set of gurative
mappings.
The approach to this corpus of idioms taken here has relied mainly on the theoretical and analytical principles of
phraseology as a discipline. However, the possibility of completing this analysis at some point in the future within the
framework of other linguistic perspectives such as conversational analysis, for example, should not be ruled out; an
endeavour which would undoubtedly shed newlight on the pragmatic and discursive roles assigned to these expressions in
real communicative routines.
Acknowledgements
This study has been carried out as part of the research projects entitled Discurso pu blico: estrategias persuasivas y de
interpretacio n (GRADUN/ICS) and Metodologa del ana lisis del discurso: propuesta de una lingu stica del texto integral
(MICINN; ref. FFI2010-20416); and was funded by a FPUdoctoral grant fromthe Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. I
would like to express my gratitude to Manuel Casado, Ramo n Gonza lez, Louis Goossens, Leonor Ruiz Gurillo, the members of
the IPrAResearch Center/Antwerp Center for Pragmaticsled by Jef Verschueren, and also to the two anonymous referees for
their valuable comments on my work. Some parts of this article were presented at the 10th International Pragmatics
Conference (Go teborgs Universiteit, Sweden, July 813, 2007).
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Ine s Olza received her Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics (2009) at the University of Navarra (Spain), where she works as Research Fellow in General and Spanish
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English and Spanish phraseology.

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N [HEART] (3 idioms) con (todo) el corazon DUE

DO [EAR] (2 idioms) odo a la caja DRAE; DUE

ngel Va zquez, La vida perra de Juanita

erma k, 2000: 61), for example.

. (Eds.), Discurso, lengua y metalenguaje. Balance y perspectivas. Buske, Hamburg, pp.

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