"En pelotas" a documentary about Spanish naturism

[grahambell]

En pelotas is a documentary about naturism in Spain. It was broadcasted last October the 2nd in the programme Repor of the 1st channel of TVE - Televisión Española. On the documentary you can see a demonstration of people in Madrid who claim to go naked in the street, several beaches, the reaction of non naturists, as well as one resort and one abandoned hamlet that has turned into a naturist place

http://www.rtve.es/television/20080926/pelotas-repor/164855.shtml

[rc]

that was a good documentary it presented all sides of nudism

[youngjoe]

En pelotas? Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that translate directly to "In/ On Balls"?

[rc]

from the spainsh i know, yes it is in balls, not sure why it is called that? but hey maybe they are trying to say to get naked you must have balls about yourself? im not sure

[grahambell]

If you translate "En pelotas" literally the translation is "in balls". But literal translations, that is word by word, don't work because they haven't any meaning. "En pelotas" is a Spanish expression to define the situation of being naked. It's a colloquial expression. It can be also applied apart from being naked to not be completed dressed when the situation is required or when you are surprised by someone who enters and see you that way (for example wearing only underwear: boxers, slips). The expression "en pelotas" is used with the following Spanish verbs:
- Estar (To be) en pelotas. To express the state, the situation. Example: "No entres, Juan está en pelotas". Don't go into. John is in the buff/ is naked.
- Ir (To go) en pelotas. To express how a person is dressed when doing something. To express a habit, custom. Ej. "Cuando llegamos a su casa, iba en pelotas". When we arrived at his home, he was in the buff/naked.
    " Cuando salió del baño, iba en pelotas". When he went out the bathroom, he was in the buff/naked
- Andar (To walk) en pelotas. More or less the same.
Ej. "Le gusta pasear por la playa en pelotas" He likes walking in the buff / naked at the beach
- Quedarse (stay) en pelotas. Ej. Para protestar se quitó la ropa y se quedó en pelotas. To protest he put off the clothes /disrobed and he stayed naked/ in the buff.
Perdió sus ahorros y se quedó en pelotas. He lost his savings and he
- Verbos de percepción ver (to see), descubrir (to discover), sorprender...
Ej. Ana entró en el vestuario equivocado y vio a todo el equipo de fútbol en pelotas. Ann went into the mistaken changing room and saw all the football team in the buff.
The action verb associated with "en pelotas" es "despelotarse" also "ponerse en pelotas" to express the action of disrobing completely. The person "en pelotas" can be defined as "despelotado (a), despelotados (as)". Also in Spanish spoken in certain countries of America you could find "empelotados"

[rc]

thanks, that cleared that up, good explation

[youngjoe]

Thank you! It just goes to show you how some sayings really don't translate well, because although it makes perfect sense to a native speaker, someone unfamiliar with the colloquialisms may interpret it to mean something else.

[grahambell]

"Pelotas" that is equivalent to balls refers is in this context a synonim of testicles

[Delta]

If you translate "En pelotas" literally the translation is "in balls". But literal translations, that is word by word, don't work because they haven't any meaning. "En pelotas" is a Spanish expression to define the situation of being naked. It's a colloquial expression. It can be also applied apart from being naked to not be completed dressed when the situation is required or when you are surprised by someone who enters and see you that way (for example wearing only underwear: boxers, slips). The expression "en pelotas" is used with the following Spanish verbs:
- Estar (To be) en pelotas. To express the state, the situation. Example: "No entres, Juan está en pelotas". Don't go into. John is in the buff/ is naked.
- Ir (To go) en pelotas. To express how a person is dressed when doing something. To express a habit, custom. Ej. "Cuando llegamos a su casa, iba en pelotas". When we arrived at his home, he was in the buff/naked.
    " Cuando salió del baño, iba en pelotas". When he went out the bathroom, he was in the buff/naked
- Andar (To walk) en pelotas. More or less the same.
Ej. "Le gusta pasear por la playa en pelotas" He likes walking in the buff / naked at the beach
- Quedarse (stay) en pelotas. Ej. Para protestar se quitó la ropa y se quedó en pelotas. To protest he put off the clothes /disrobed and he stayed naked/ in the buff.
Perdió sus ahorros y se quedó en pelotas. He lost his savings and he
- Verbos de percepción ver (to see), descubrir (to discover), sorprender...
Ej. Ana entró en el vestuario equivocado y vio a todo el equipo de fútbol en pelotas. Ann went into the mistaken changing room and saw all the football team in the buff.
The action verb associated with "en pelotas" es "despelotarse" also "ponerse en pelotas" to express the action of disrobing completely. The person "en pelotas" can be defined as "despelotado (a), despelotados (as)". Also in Spanish spoken in certain countries of America you could find "empelotados"

Is there a "salir en pelotas"? To go out bare-balls?

[nswnudist]

Looks like a great vid! Wish I could understand waht they were talking about...

NSW Nudist

[grahambell]

Delta, you can use the expression "en pelotas" with the verb "salir". But the idea is not to go out to socialize, just to go out from inside wearing nothing. E.g. "Luis salió de la piscina en pelotas" English: Luis went out the pool in the buff. "El y sus amigos salieron al jardín en pelotas". English: He and his friends went out to the garden in the buff.

[youngjoe]

Espero que podremos salir en pelotas siempre! (Hope that came out right, my spanish is really rusty since I haven't really spoken it since I graduated high school this spring)

[ChristineF]

"Pelotas" that is equivalent to balls refers is in this context a synonim of testicles

I thought it was cojones......

(I don't mean to offend anyone if that's totally wrong!!!!!)

[grahambell]

Cojones is also a synonim of testicles. It is also colloquial, but a bit more offensive. It is used when someone is angry or disagree about something

¡Juan, haz lo que te he mandado! (Y Juan enfadado y poco dispuesto contesta): ¡Los cojones!
John do what I have ordered ! (And John angry and lazy to do that, answered):

When you don't want to see someone or you have a quarrel, or you have discussed and you end the conversation without any possibility of going on, and you almost finish the relationship to that person, you could say: Vete a hacer cojones. If possibly don't use it. It's very rude and very offensive. I don't if the equivalent would be Go to Hell or Go to shit.

Tócate los cojones. There's one possible use more or less the same before. A different one is associated to the idea of underline the fact that someone is doing nothing when other people is working on something. E.g. Todos trabajando y tú tocándote los cojones. All the people is working and you are touching your balls.

The same idea but less aggresive and less rude. Tocarse las pelotas. Juan está tocándose las pelotas. John is touching his balls.  You only underline the idea of lazyness of the person or compared to other people. But you don't usually use it to nag someone, only to underline his lazyness.

Apart from cojones, pelotas... bolas is also a synonim of testicles. It has exactly the same uses as pelotas in this context.

[Bostonian26]

Great video! It really shows the vast spectrum of nudism and how normal it is. It's rough that it seems it's mostly an older crowd, but it was nice seeing younger people among those trying to make nudism more widely accepted.