Galician

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Etymology

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A (at) ve (to see) las (them) vir (to come): "watching them coming".

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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a velas vir (invariable)

  1. (idiomatic) broken (with no money)
  2. (idiomatic) helpless
    • 2018, José Colmeiro, Peripheral Visions / Global Sounds: From Galicia to the World, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 246:
      E nós a velas vir
      And we are just helpless spectators

Adverb

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a velas vir

  1. (idiomatic) brokenly (without money)
  2. (idiomatic) vulnerably, helplessly
    • 2006, Paco Martín, A bisneta Lercha: contos de sempre para ler hoxe, Editorial Galaxia, →ISBN, page 64:
      Teño, ti ben o debes saber, trinta e oito anos e xa non é esta idade para andar a velas vir coma unha raposa do monte.
      I am, as you know, thirty eight years old, and this is no longer an age for wandering helplessly, broken, as a fox in the bush