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Although the origins of 'moot point', appear to have the opposite meaning, I'm wondering does anybody have a short phrase in Spanish for the modern meaning:

something irrelevant or not valid for discussion.

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Are you also looking for a Spanish phrase for the other meaning of "moot point"? That is, a point that doesn't make any difference. – Walter Mitty Mar 23 at 23:16
No. In fact en.wiktionary.org/wiki/moot_point gives 2 distinct and nearly opposite meanings, so the 'other' meaning would not be a point that doesn't make any difference, but rather a point that is relevant and on the table for discussion. The translation I ask for and what you describe are the same meaning. – Keith Apr 7 at 17:26

5 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

In Mexico we also use "eso no va al caso" o "ni al caso".

From RAE:

caso

ni ~.

  1. expr. coloq. U. para indicar que algo no se toma o no debe ser tomado en consideración.
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Eso no viene al caso. (Cuba). – qPCR4vir Mar 25 at 13:25
I am, in fact, trying to translate my own poetry. So it's very difficult, as 'moot point' even conjures up images of the kind of person who would use the phrase. This is good, although in over 10 years in Mexico, it never entered my lexicon. – Keith Apr 7 at 17:28
Eso no viene al caso o cuento (España) – OnaBai Apr 7 at 17:46
up vote 3 down vote

The closest I know of is no tiene que ver

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Yes, but it falls short of embodying the full power of moot point – Keith Apr 7 at 17:31
up vote 3 down vote

¿Qué tal decir que algo está fuera de lugar?

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While it has a link to moot point, it is open to a variety of interpretations – Keith Apr 7 at 17:30
up vote 1 down vote

One way to say it could be:

Un argumento inválido.

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up vote 0 down vote

In general, I'd simply choose irrelevante.

That -of course- means irrelevant, which might not be exactly equivalent to moot point.
But, as a general translation, it seems to me more appropiate than other proposed expressions (that might be better in special cases).

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