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Exprimir - Squeezing the Meaning

Over in Salamanca, Spain, we hear some poetry as we contemplate the statue of Fray Luis de León. Maybe we were thirsty at the time, but in one line, we were interested to hear:

 

A exprimir aquellos años, quiere guardarlo, ¡atención!

To squeeze those years, he wants to keep it, attention!

Caption 29, Francisco Pérez - Fray Luis de León

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

What would thirst have to do with our snippet above? Well, asking for "exprimido" -- which means "squeezed" -- is the best way to order fresh-squeezed orange juice.  The verb "exprimir" has three main meanings in Spanish: 1) To squeeze, 2) To wring (as in wringing out clothing), and 3) To exploit (as in squeezing or wringing all that's possible out of workers, for example).

Related to "exprimir" at the root is "imprimir," which means, 1) To print (as in printing out pages of a document), 2) to stamp or to impress, and 3) To give (as in to transmit or pass on to). Here are two examples.

 

Bueno, hay que imprimir copias, hay que hacer opciones.

Well, it's necessary to print copies, it's necessary to depict options.

Caption 75, Leif - El Arquitecto Español y su Arte

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Y tenemos como toda la otra parte que es de impresos.

And we have, like, the whole other area that is for printing.

Caption 77, Lo que no sabías - Arte electrónico

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Vocabulary