Questions tagged [spanish]
For questions about English words and phrases of Spanish origin. For questions purely about Spanish, visit our sister site Spanish Language Stack Exchange.
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Is “actual” both a false friend and a cognate from Spanish to English?
English definition of “actual”:
existing in fact; typically as contrasted with what was intended, expected, or believed.
Spanish definition of “actual”:
current, present, contemporary
These are ...
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Idiomatic word or expression for a lazy and unmoral person who gets paid without working - Translation of Spanish ‘ñoqui’ [duplicate]
I'm not talking about the Italian dish. In Argentina, there's a well known expression for someone who doesn't go to work and only assists the last month's day to get paid: It's called a ñoqui. The ...
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 3: the guesser falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘mandar fruta’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 2: the sophist falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘versear’ or ‘chamuyar’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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Idiomatic word/expression for someone ‘who has no feeling for the game’ - Translation of Spanish ‘pechofrío’
I'm having trouble translating the expression pechofrío (pecho frío, ‘cold chest’) from Spanish—specially Argentinian Spanish, I don't know if it's used in other countries. It means:
s. masc. Persona ...
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Idiom for Spanish ‘no escupas para arriba’ (i.e., ‘be careful with the harm you do, it could come back at you’)
In Spanish, there's the expression ¡no escupas para arriba! (literally ‘don't spit upwards!’), which is used for example in counter-reprimanding or counter-criticizing purposes—although there are many ...
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English equivalent of the Argentinian idiom "not a single puppet was left with its head on"
I'm looking for an English idiom related to this one, pretty odd, heard in Argentina:
"Not a single puppet is left with its head on.", or maybe "To chop off every puppet's head." (...
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Explaining how to translate spanish "Ya" (already vs just vs ...) [closed]
I asked my coworker to fix something in a program. When he fixed it, he replied with, "I already fixed it." -- this wasn't intentionally misleading, but was an incorrect translation of &...
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Idiom for frustrating someone else's plans by taking what the other person wanted in the first place
There's an idiom in Argentina translated roughly as "to sleep someone" (dormir a alguien), which is used when someone frustrates the plans of someone else by taking what the other person ...
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Are the origins of ¡ay, güey! and 'oy vey' related at all? [closed]
Though both of these terms come from other languages, they are both said in English, depending on where one is. One (ay wey as a more English form) can mean holy crap!, and the other can mean ...
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lo + adjective/adverb + que + clause in Spanish VS the adjective (superlative) + (that) + clause in English
Recently I learned a Spanish grammar "lo+adjective/adverb+que+clause" to translate"how ..." (indicative) of English.
But I found the structure unusual because "lo+adjective&...
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Would there be a way to make the joke "Ella es mi amiga vieja, disculpe, mi vieja amiga" work in English?
There is a Spanish joke,
Ella es mi amiga vieja, disculpe, mi vieja amiga.
The joke basically says, "She is my friend that is old, excuse me, my old friend", making fun of the person's age....
user485424
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What is an English equivalent of 'Colorín, Colorado, este cuento se ha acabado,' a phrase used at the end of stories?
Colorín, Colorado, este cuento se ha acabado is a Spanish phrase used to indicate that a story has reached its end. The first part is just nonsense, the second part means 'this story is over.'
We use ...
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English slang for "bochar"
I'm looking for some possible slangy words that are equivalent to this Ríoplatense term:
bochar
No aprobar a alguien tras haber rendido un examen o cursado una asignatura.
"lo bocharon en ...
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What could be the translation of «Cantinflear»?
"Cantinflear" = Cacophony
I have been studying English for almost a year now, and much of it has been making semantic comparisons with Spanish.
Similar verb refers to the act of giving a ...
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rascal etymology
I use the word rascal (as in troublemaker) to describe my 7-month old daughter. My father in law (from Costa Rica) recently used the Spanish word "rascar" (rascarse) meaning to scratch, ...
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Is there more difference between European and American English than between European and American Spanish?
As a Spanish (Spain) speaking person I can notice the differences between European and American Spanish. Is there also such a big difference between European and American English?
Vocabulary and ...
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Why is "hammock" spelled the way it is?
The word hammock comes from Spanish hamaca.
type of hanging bed, 1650s, alteration of hamack, hamaca (1550s), from Spanish hamaca, from Arawakan (Haiti) word apparently meaning "fish nets" (...
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Translate "Lengua Bífida" to English [closed]
I am trying to translate "Lengua Bífida" from Spanish to English.
The text "Lengua bífida" in Spanish expresses that someone has a tempting form of talking, normally in a bad way.
...
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How can I build impersonal sentences like this one from Spanish
I don't know how to build in English impersonal sentences like this one from Spanish:
Es feliz quien quiere serlo.
I've thought of this one:
He's happy who wants to be it.
But I don't like it ...
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What does “takes advantage of their head rope runs the risk” mean?
The following line is from the 2015 translation from the Spanish
of desaparecido
Argentine writer Haroldo
Conti’s 1962 novel,
Southeaster (original Spanish title, Sudeste):
This ...
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1
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How to translate "por la cara" to English?
I'm looking for a suitable English translation of the Spanish expression "por la cara".
In Spanish, unless you go very deep into the details, for various context that are very specific, ...
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A saying similar to "playing whack-a-mole"
My wife is looking for a phrase or saying in English that is similar to...
Lo urgente no deja tiempo para lo importante
...which means "Urgent matters do not leave time for what is really ...
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2
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What is the English word for "rinconada"
In general a "rinconada" is an incoming angle formed at the intersection of two houses, two streets, or two roads.
In geography a "rinconada" is the land between two mountain ...
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"Floh-ree-dah" rather than "Flor-duh"
I am writing an effigy poem homaging Ponce De Leon, "discoverer" of La Florida in 1513 and though it is being written in English (Early modern English), I am very adamant on having "...
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Should "the" or "el" appear before a Spanish proper noun placed in an English text
I have a textbook that refers to the Spanish royal road that linked Mexico City and Santa Fe as "El Camino Real", though the full name in Spanish is "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro&...
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English / Spanish parallels and confusion
In general, I'm pretty confident and familiar about all typical uses of the past perfect tense. However, I noticed a compelling case while studying Spanish years ago. In Spanish, there's the pretérito ...
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A shorter way of saying "In view of the fact"
I need a shorter, equivalent form for "In view of the fact". I am a certified Spanish/English translator in Venezuela. Thank you for your assistance.
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Does the whole always "comprise" the parts of something, and not the other way around? [closed]
The verb "comprise" comes to me naturally to use in certain situations, at odds with a legalistic sense of correctness. It's a word often used in patents, or patent applicaitons, where some invention ...
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Spanish-derived words in English
I recently found out that "mustang" is a Hispanicism word of Spanish origin: it is adapted from "mostrengo" or "mestreño", which roughly mean "without rooting"; ...
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Difference between "Make a choice" and "Make a desicion"/"Take a decision"
In spanish we normally say "Tomar una decisión". But, which one will be the correct translation?
Make a choice
Make a decision
Take a decision
Decision: the act of or need for making up one’s mind.
...
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Verb "abound" to ask someone to develop a subject
When you're having a conversation, maybe you'd like your counterpart to speak more about what she/he is talking about.
Of course, you could simply say: "could you develop your point?", or something ...
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Looking for a well-known refrain or proverb indicating that some big trouble has just started
I am translating into English a famous refrain from Spanish, Ahí fue Troya. That means something like Then a big trouble started.
I am looking for some correspondingly recognizable refrain I can ...
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Is "adios" an English word now?
I recently heard an American being interviewed use the word "adios" casually in a sentence. The particular sense of the word seemed to be a sort of permanent "good bye."
Since the speaker was (as far ...
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Since when is "Ese" used in American "Spanglish"?
My question is about "Ese" when used to designate a person.
How long has this usage been part of common speech in the US? 80s? 90s? Earlier? Later?
I am thinking of 'Ese' as it used by Latino film ...
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Origin of the negative connotation of "boy"
Recently I stumbled on a discussion where the word "chico" in Spanish is translated to "boy". To my knowledge, using "chico" to refer to someone younger is considered normal. But in English, calling ...
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Closest English term for Spanish "merienda"
The Spanish word merienda is often included in lists of untranslatable words. It originally meant the meal you had around noon between breakfast and dinner, as that meal used to be small compared with ...
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In which states (USA) can someone “live easily without speaking any English”? [closed]
Russian polyglot Dmitry Petrov said in this video:
...испанский язык наступает английскому языку на пятки. Мы знаем, что в США есть несколько штатов, где можно свободно жить, зная испанский.
...
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English equivalent of *refrán*, which is less formal than a proverb
Spanish makes a subtle distinction between proverbio [proverb] and refrán [?]. This distinction was described well here. I'll attempt to translate informally from that answer.
Although the two ...
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Sloppy English?
I just read a post by a non-native English teacher whose title reads like this:
"Never is late: Nunca es tarde para aprender".
Unfortunately, it frequently happens that a Spanish teacher makes ...
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In agriculture, what do you call a section within an orchard?
I'm a software developer and I like to have my code in english.
I'm currently developing a software for fruit exporters and packing plants.
There are growers, orchards and orchards sections.
In ...
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What happened to the “ch” in moschito?
Mosquito > Moschito > Mosquito
/məˈskito/ — [mɒˈskiːtəʊ], [məˈskiːtəʊ], [mɒˈskitoʊ], [məˈskitoʊ]
The name of this insect is spelled with the letters ‹qu› in several languages, including Catalan ...
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What's the difference between Example and Sample? [closed]
What's the difference between Example and Sample?
In Spanish it's the same word, but in English it is 2 different words. What is the difference?
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Equivalent of the Spanish phrase "morir de éxito"
In Spanish we have the phrase 'Morir de éxito'. Literally, it translates into 'Die from success' and we use it to refer to some cases in life where a success in something becomes too much of a hassle ...
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"newfangled", "fandangle" and "fandango"
I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the Fandango?
Anyone who's over 30 years should recognize the lyrics of Queen's epic song Bohemian Rhapsody
A fandango is ...
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What rules govern uniform mispronounciation of romance languages? [closed]
As someone who isn’t a native speaker of English, I’m often fascinated by how those who are seem to change the pronunciation of words originally from French, Italian, Spanish, and so on in a seemingly ...
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Is there a standard pronunciation for gender-neutral -@ or -x
More and more I see, especially in activist communities, Spanish-derived words ending in x or @ in order to neuter the gendering inherent in the original language. For example: latinx (or latin@) as ...
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Use of the definite article by Hemingway in "For Whom the Bell Tolls", in a way that doesn't seem to mimic Spanish grammar
I am not a native English speaker, but I've been studying English for a couple of decades now... And recently I decided to read "For Whom the Bell Tolls". I know that in this book Hemingway writes in ...
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Word for "Programmer Analyst"? (Spanish: "Analista Programador")
I really would like to know the correct translation of this IT role into English, because I believe that "Programmer Analyst" or "Analyst Programmer" do not make sense in English and it is a very ...
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English for "ayudante de cátedra"
I have to translate "ayudante de cátedra" from a Spanish document. This is a university job that a former good student of a course can take. The student's job is to answer questions from the current ...
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