Tag Archives: spanish

‘Milk’ in ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’

In Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, the phrase “I obscenity in the milk…” appears frequently. It is, in fact, an expurgated version of the Spanish saying Me cago en la leche de la puta que te date la luz, which translates directly to “I s— in the milk of the whore that bore you”.

Fannnnnntastic. Adding that to my mental file immediately. I wish I had learned it in school back when I first read it.