"Quedársele a alguien" as "recordar"

Question

A few dictionaries (notably not the RAE) note that "quedársele a alguien" can be used as a synonym for "recordar" or "retener información."

1. No se me queda la lección después de haberla aprendido.
2. Está muy mayor, no se le quedan las cosas.

This seems to be a regionalism. I have asked some Spaniards about this, some from Galicia and others from Madrid, and they gave mixed responses. Those from Madrid were most comfortable with this use. The Mexicans I asked were not at all. One Salvadoran friend told me it seemed perfectly fine. Is it understood where this use of quedársele is common, and is there a reason why it isn't included in the very expansive definitions in the RAE?

Sources: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/spanish-english/quedarse https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/quedarse https://dle.rae.es/quedar

Answer 1

I'm not sure if it's a regionalism. In any case, I think that we use it that way in Andalucía, Spain.

Why do you think that the meaning is not covered in the DRAE?

For me it corresponds to the first meaning listed there

quedar

1. intr. Estar, detenerse forzosa o voluntariamente en un lugar. U. t. c. prnl.

Sin.: permanecer, estar, afincarse, establecerse, ubicarse, arraigar. Ant.: irse, marcharse, ausentarse, partir.

I've highlighted one of the synonyms: permanecer

permanecer

1. intr. Mantenerse sin mutación en un mismo lugar, estado o calidad.

Sin.: mantenerse, quedarse, continuar, durar, seguir, estar, persistir, perpetuarse, conservarse, resistir. Ant.: cambiar.

I've highlighted another synonym above: persistir

This verb, persistir (to persist) is commonly used in IT to reflect when a value is stored successfully in a database, a non-volatile memory storage.

So it's perfectly fine and understandable using "quedar" when you're not able to retain, to persist in your brain, what you have learned. And that meaning is covered in the DRAE as you can see.

Answer 2

I've come to realize that the verb "quedar" is indeed an interesting case depending on the subject it takes.

While María Moliner brings up this meaning:

17 ("con") prnl. Retener una cosa en la memoria: "Me quedé con la matrícula del coche".

here, as stated in a deleted answer and in an OP's comment, there is another pattern (definitely much more usual where I live) in which the subject of "quedar" is the thing being remembered. Therefore, here we would never say the above (which we would use for retaining something physically, even by inappropriate means) to mean "remember" and would instead say:

• Me quedó la matrícula del coche (the car license plate number remained in my memory).

(The sentence above could also refer to the car license plate remaining in my possession, but does not convey the possibly illegal connotation of "Me quedé con la matrícula del coche", which could be interpreted as somebody keeping it against the legal owner's will).

Answer 3

Quedársele a alguien algo. El chico no consigue recordar las fechas de cumpleaños de sus amigos, no se le quedan las fechas. La estructura es: Sujeto (las fechas) + pronombre se + pronombre de complemento indirecto + verbo quedar en tercera persona. Significa “memorizar, recordar”. This is a very normal sentence in Spanish.