In the Argentine drama Provócame, we hear an ugly exchange between Mariano and his mamá. First, she calls her son an imbecile and then, a little later, Mariano spits:

¡Estoy harto de que te metas en mis cosas, mamá!

I'm sick of you sticking your nose in my business, mom!

Estoy harto de vos.

I'm sick of you.

Captions 34-35, Provócame - Capítulo Seis

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Yes, he's had it up to here, as we might say in English. Hearing these lines, we were reminded of the theme song for another drama in our library: Disputas. The song goes like this:

Me llamas para decirme que te marchas...

You call me to tell me that you're leaving...

que ya no aguantas más...

that you can't take it anymore...

que ya estás harta de verle cada día...

that you're fed up of seeing him each day...

de compartir su cama...

of sharing his bed...

Captions 15-20, Disputas La Extraña Dama - Part 2

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Did you notice it's "harta" instead of "harto" in the song? The "you" is obviously female. You see, "harto(a)" is an adjective that on its own means "full." It agrees with the person who's, well, had it.

In this song, a similar sentiment is expressed with "ya no aguantas más" ("you can't take it anymore"). We wrote about the verb "aguantar" ("to endure, to bear, to stand, to put up with, to tolerate") before, in this lesson. As it happens, we also hear the word uttered in the newest installment of Provócame by young Julieta who claims to be running a very high fever (40º C = 104º F!). She says:

No parece porque me aguanto.

It doesn't look like it because I tolerate it.

Caption 47, Provócame - Capítulo Seis

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You see, Julieta is enduring her illness in a way someone who's fed up with sickness might not. In a sense, you can tolerate (aguantarse) something until you are sick of it (estar harto).

Here's a haunting description of what it's like to be out in a field, wounded by a land mine:

Y bueno, yo aguanté hasta cierta parte, y de ahí ya no pude, el dolor me dominó.

And well, I could take it until a certain point, and from there on I couldn't anymore, the pain dominated me.

Captions 83-84, Tierra Envenenada - Desminando

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The verb aguantar is a synonym for soportar in this context. It means "to be able to endure," "to stand" or "to bear." You'll often see aguantar followed by hasta ("until") to set a limit for how much can be stood or endured. For example:

Hay que aguantar hasta mañana.
You [in an impersonal sense] have to put up with it until tomorrow.

You'll probably hear the verb aguantar used by students with heavy work loads and tough teachers, but the verb can describe truly horrific pain as well.

If you go back into the archives, you'll hear this verb used in the Disputas theme song, Me llamas, by José Luis Perales.

Me llamas... para decirme que te marchas que ya no aguantas más... que ya estás harta...

You call me... to tell me that you're leaving that you can't take it anymore... that you're fed up...

Captions 15-18, Disputas - La Extraña Dama

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Y te has pintado la sonrisa de carmín

And you've painted on a lipstick smile

Caption 34, Disputas - La Extraña Dama

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In the above clip you'll note that José Luis Perales sings "Y te has pintado la sonrisa de carmín". In this case carmín refers to lipstick, so the phrase translates as "And you've painted on a lipstick smile". Carmín can also refer to the color crimson (aka carmine), and sometimes to a type of wild rose. Lipstick, aside from carmín de labios, is also known as lápiz de labios. Bear it in mind next time you find some on the collar, yours or otherwise.

(Did you know that collar, in Spanish, is the same word as for neck: cuello?)

Here is another use of carmín in a song by the Argentine rock band Babsónicos.

Algo en tus labios color carmín

Something in your carmine lips

Sugiere que vayamos al grano

Suggests we get to the point

Captions 16-17, Babasónicos - Risa

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