Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

speak off the top of sb's head

Spanish translation:

de improviso / improvisando

Added to glossary by Beta Cummins
Mar 26, 2009 23:23
15 yrs ago
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English term

speak off the top of sb's head

English to Spanish Other Slang hip-hop culture
Rap music now viewed as an area for political debate by many, did not begin with this in mind. Rap music was developed by DJs, who used two of the same records and looped the break beats of the record, which then allowed the beat to be extended infinitely. They also used the record for “scratching.” Scratching is defined as “rapidly moving the record back and forth under the needle to create rap's famous swishing sound” (Small, 12). As the DJ developed the break beat and began to incorporate it into parties, the role of the MC arose. At first the role of the MC, or master of ceremony, was to interact with the crowd by speaking off the top of his head and sometimes rhyming. Soon MCs started competing with each other over who had the most skills at rhyming and hyping the crowd. The original form of rap music was not ground for political expression but rather an arena for entertainment and competition.


Creo que puede ser que esté hablando con las palabras que le fluyen en el momento, sin tener algo preparado. ¿Puede ser?, ¿Cómo lo podría ordenar mejor dentro de este texto?, Gracias!
Change log

Mar 30, 2009 02:18: Beta Cummins changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/847094">Yassna (X)'s</a> old entry - "speak off the top of sb's head"" to ""de improviso / improvisando""

Proposed translations

+3
6 mins
Selected

de improviso / improvisando

Sugerencia.
Peer comment(s):

agree Darío Orlando Fernández : Improvisando como los payadores pero en el hemisferio norte!!!
3 mins
De no ser que mejoren el tema improvisado, a mi no me gusta, jeje.¡Gracias, Dario!
agree Virginia Dominguez : Improvisando, de acuerdo.
1 hr
¡Gracias, Virginia!
agree Soledad Caño
3 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "De gran ayuda! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!! "
+5
5 mins

decir lo (primero) que le venía a la cabeza/mente

Una expresión muy común
Peer comment(s):

agree bcsantos
1 min
Muchas gracias!
agree Liliana Galiano
48 mins
Muchas gracias!
agree Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
54 mins
Muchas gracias, Bea.
agree Alfredo Gonzalez
1 hr
Muchas gracias, Alfredo.
agree patricia scott
9 hrs
Muchas gracias, Patricia.
Something went wrong...
6 mins

decir lo que se le ocurría en el momento

Sin preparación anterior

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Note added at 7 mins (2009-03-26 23:31:02 GMT)
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Oxford bilingüe, bajo "top":

off the top of one's head: I can't think of any of them off the top of my head no se me ocurre ninguno en este momento;
Something went wrong...

Reference comments

5 mins
Reference:

Idioms: (thefreedictionary.com)
off the top of (one's) head Informal
In an impromptu way: She recited the poem off the top of her head.

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Note added at 11 mins (2009-03-26 23:35:16 GMT)
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El estilo de musica rap es difinitivamente un "arte" de puros improvisos.
Aunque a mi no me plazca, debo admitir: hay arte en esto. En la tecnica, mas que en el contenido...
Something went wrong...
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