Charles Davis Apr 24, 2013:

Toni If it refers to the "hombre acabado", then "unlucky" fits. Then again, perhaps it refers to the person responsible for the "escenografía con olor a espectáculo circense". If the speaker means that the staging was badly done, then perhaps getting things wrong, getting things back to front, could be the intended meaning. I'm not saying it's likely, but simply that, as you say, it does depend on the context, and we haven't got much of the context here.

Toni Castano Apr 24, 2013:

@ Charles. Yes, it all depends on the context. But in this case, taking into account the previous sentence (en torno a un hombre acabado), I tend to think that he is living a life plagued by bad luck.

Charles Davis Apr 24, 2013:

Maybe, maybe not You might assume that "nacer de nalgas" metaphorically means being naturally unlucky, and perhaps it does. It is allegedly considered a bad omen in West Africa:

"En África occidental es peor aún ya que existen más creencia y prohibiciones.Si una madre tiene un parto podálico (el niño nace de nalgas) hay que matarlo porque está considerado un brujo."
http://www.meneame.net/story/si-nino-nace-nalgas-hay-matarlo...

However, "nacer de nalgas" can mean the opposite: being born lucky:

"Cuando nací supo mi madre que iba a nacer con estrella, eso dicen de la gente que nace de nalgas."
http://victoriaderos.blogspot.com.es/2010/10/mi-presentacion...

"Por algo dicen que nació de nalgas. Así vienen al mundo los nińos que gozan de buena fortuna en su tránsito por la vida."
http://depoetasylocos.diariolibre.com/?p=3213

Perhaps the idea is that if you survive a breech birth you must be lucky.

Another possibility is being different, getting things wrong:

"¿Y si nací de nalgas o de pie?
“Voy siempre al revés, no encajo”, sentirás"
http://doulaporinternet.blogspot.com.es/2012_11_01_archive.h...
So it might even mean "some people can't get anything right".

Eliza Ariadni Kalfa (asker) Apr 24, 2013:

Does it just mean that the man has been unlucky?