Spanish Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, teachers, students and Spanish language enthusiasts in general wanting to discuss the finer points of the language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
So I'm reading this article on El País and I bumped into a phrase which sounds a little weird (even though I can guess the meaning).
A ver, con matices.
The closest thing that comes to mind is "enough beating around the bush, let's get to the point". Or am I entirely missing the picture here?
Also, is this a regular phrase?
Can one use it in real conversation?
If anyone has any examples with it, I'd be greatful.
No, it is not what you think. Your phrase would say we are not going straight to what is the center of the question; when "A ver, con matices" is a way to say that what we are saying, is not exact and we have to observe differences between similar things.
You use that phrase when you want to warn the listener in not using whatever you are saying in a rigurous way.
Yes, it is common and used on conversations, when you want to talk about something but in a slightly different way it is used to.
PD: im spanish
Matices means nothing is neither white nor black for sure.
A: ¿Viene Pedro a la fiesta?
B: Me dio un "sí" con matices.
A: ¿Qué?
B: Que vendrá si termina a tiempo con otras cosas. Lo intentará, pero no se compromete porque otras cosas pueden interferir.
or you could say a smartphone is the best one con matices, meaning that is the best one if you are going to use for this and that, but not that much for that other task, because it doesn't perform that well on that.
That matiz or matices could be the rules by which you are judging something or someone. Is like saying you have this **but** with or without that other thing in consideration.
In Spanish that words conveys the meaning of nuance, tint, shade... An aspect or variation in interpretation that could change the meaning of something, or a shade that makes things neither white nor black.
