In this volume, we discuss the alphabet, definite and indefinite articles, and verbs ser and estar, among other topics.
"There's a place in Hell for women who don't support women." This is how Fox News translated it. Shakira said, exactly: "Hay un lugar en el infierno reservado para aquellas mujeres que no apoyan a otras." But this was itself a quote by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, as Shakira noted. It is often phrased as "There is a special place in Hell for women who don't help other women," or "who don't help each other."
Shakira was talking about Clara Chía, Gerard Piqué's new girlfriend. This happened during an interview for the Mexican television show En Punto con Enrique Acevedo that aired on February 28.
The expression "special place in Hell" doesn't really exist in Spanish. But Shakira translated it skillfully by saying that the place is "reserved." Fox News translated it back into English as "place in Hell," because "reserved" would sound a little strange, and "special" would not mean exactly the same thing.
Albright sparked a controversy in 2016 while she was campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton when she said that was the wrong time to use her famous phrase. She would later clarify that she "did not mean to argue that women should support a particular candidate based solely on gender," but that she believes women “have an obligation to help one another.”
The expression was also used by Taylor Swift in 2013 against Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who had been joking about her love life.
In Spanish, this is the first time it becomes mainstream. Maybe we'll hear it again in different contexts in the near future?
Berges Institute is the fastest-growing Spanish language school for adults in the US, Europe, and India.
