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I'm currently trying to translate some dialogues, and one of the characters use the expression "Bullshit!"

A: You're no brother of mine.

B: It saddens me to hear you say that — said in a sarcastic tone.

A: Bullshit!

I know it means "Mentira" in said context, but I think bullshit is a harsher word, so i don't think mentira would be a proper translation.

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    Translations tend to be less rude than the original, and there are (perhaps debatable) reasons for that. Pamplinas is a common choice for subs/dubs: not rude, but harsh in the sense of disqualifiying someone's word. Tonterías is also common in written.
    – Rafael
    Oct 18, 2016 at 13:02
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    According too Harry G. Frankfurt, "bullshit" isn't just a harsher way to say lie, it means something else. From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Bullshit : "bullshit can be neither true nor false; hence, the bullshitter is someone whose principal aim [...] is to impress the listener and the reader with words that communicate an impression that something is being or has been done, words that are neither true nor false, and so obscure the facts of the matter being discussed." The correct answer should capture this meaning too.
    – Santiago Tórtora
    Oct 18, 2016 at 14:14
  • @SantiagoTórtora That's true in general, but in the context Roäc is asking about — "Bullshit!" as a one-word response to something someone said — its meaning is "You cannot possibly expect me to believe that." (And it is indeed both harsh and rude.)
    – zwol
    Oct 18, 2016 at 18:02
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    My high school Spanish teacher used to say "caca de vaca" :)
    – Josh
    Oct 18, 2016 at 18:16
  • You could also say “¡Mamadas!” in Mexico.
    – Arturo Torres Sánchez
    Oct 19, 2016 at 0:42

5 Answers 5

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I'm from Spain, and we have a plethora of expressions for that purpose (some of them even present in the DRAE), just say "y un/una X" where X is the word of your choice:

  • ¡Y un cuerno! (DRAE: "Usada para denotar negación o rechazo.")
  • ¡Y una leche!
  • ¡Y un peo de vaca!

But I think that the expression that fits the most the original is:

  • ¡Y una mierda!

Depending on the X word, the resulting expression will be more or less rude. The first set of expressions does not sound rude, they are just harsh. The selected option is both rude and harsh.

Let's look at an example present in a book of the Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón (La sombra del viento, 2001):

- Ustedes perdonen, que dicen esas señoras de ahí que si pueden utilizar un lenguaje más decoroso.

- Y una mierda -replicó Fermín, en voz alta.

Another example from Sólo para parejas. Comedia dividida en dos partes, 1993, from the Spanish writer Juan José Alonso Millán:

Abul: Mire que cosa más rica, se parece a usted, Kimera.

Kimera: No diga tonterías, se parece al Loro.

Loro: ¡Y una mierda...!

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    @Rafael sorry, you're right. I always try to specify the regional scope but I forgot that point in this case.
    – Charlie
    Oct 18, 2016 at 13:28
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    Veo que Roäc es de Chile. A mi cómo hispanoaméricano no me suena bien "Y una mierda" y tampoco veo que por aquí tengamos un término vulgar que signifiqué "bullshit". Aunque no de uso común me suenan mejor las sugerencias de @Rafael (Pamplinas, Tonterías). En Colombia usamos la expresión "Estás hablando paja" o simplemente ¡paja!
    – DGaleano
    Oct 18, 2016 at 13:39
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    @DGaleano gracias por la aclaración. En todo caso, lo que yo quería decir es que ignoro cuáles serán las expresiones en Chile u otros países de Hispanoamérica, así que os animo a que redactéis nuevas respuestas, para dar más variedad (no sólo en los comentarios) y para que Roäc tenga más donde elegir. Además,al sitio le vendrán muy bien.
    – Charlie
    Oct 18, 2016 at 13:54
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    @DGaleano me acabas de descubrir la palabra adicionar. No sabía que fuera válida y pensé que sería un anglicismo :)
    – fedorqui
    Oct 18, 2016 at 14:20
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    Me gustaría aclarar que no quise añadir una restricción regional (específicamente a Chile) ya que no busco traducir el texto a un español "chileno", sino que más bien a un español más neutral. En ese sentido, creo que la expresión que mencionas puede cumplir el cometido, ya que si bien no es una expresión que se use acá (y por lo tanto, que suena extranjera), creo que se entiende bastante bien el sentido que tiene dado el contexto. Además de que no suena tan marcadamente española como gilipolleces, por ejemplo.
    – Roäc
    Oct 18, 2016 at 16:44
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As you may expect an informal and rude expression like "Bullshit" will have different regional translations.

Depending on the target audience of your translation you would like to soften the language and use "Pamplinas, Mentiras, Tonterías, Pavadas, ..." that are generally understood and very commonly used in movie dubbing.

Particularly in Colombia we use the expression "Estas hablando carreta/paja/mierda" or the simple interjections ¡carreta! / ¡paja! / ¡mierda! in order of rudeness. The first is almost polite, the second is more informal and the last is simply rude.

According to user contributions to Así hablamos, the expression hablar mierda is also used in Guatemala.

Thanks to Santiago Tórtora's and Rafael's comments and after a short internet search we could add that in Argentina they used "hablar boludeces" and in Chile they used "hablar huevadas" with the same meaning.

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    In Paraguay we have a very specific word for exactly the sort of thing Harry G. Frankfurt talks about in his book "On Bullshit". We say "bolaterapia", from the Argentine(?) slang "bola" which means "made up" and the word "terapia" which means therapy. The connotation is that the bullshitter is only saying things you want to hear, without regard for the truth.
    – Santiago Tórtora
    Oct 18, 2016 at 14:23
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    WRT Argentina, I think a translation to the "Bullshit!" in the example dialogue could be simply "las pelotas!"
    – angus
    Oct 18, 2016 at 14:50
  • Thanks @angus. We use it too. In Colombia when we say "las pelotas" we mean "¡No puede ser!" or "No te creo!!" Obviously it implies "No te creo porque estas hablando mierda" :-)
    – DGaleano
    Oct 18, 2016 at 14:55
  • I think it may have regional translations in English too, @SantiagoTórtora suggestion seems closer to what I (in southern England) would understand it to mean than the mentira that the OP suggested. The bullshitter is bluffing.
    – mdewey
    Oct 18, 2016 at 15:35
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    En Chile también se usa hablar huevadas o cabezas de pescado (y en un ámbito mucho más reducido, he oído hablar pescadas), pero parece que lo que @Roäc busca es más algo neutro que un modismo, a juzgar porque quiere hacer una traducción.
    – Rafael
    Oct 18, 2016 at 19:33
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In Spain, it could be translated as gilipolleces in the same rude tone as the original.

Some examples of use in media:

Bullshit. They didn’t want to split the loot equally. / Gilipolleces. Ellos no querían dividir el botín a partes iguales.

Now you stop your bullshit! / Dejaos de gilipolleces

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I'm adding the word patrañas because I have not seen it suggested yet out of the many regional variations you could find for translating "bullshit"

patrañas

defined by RAE as

"Invención urdida con el propósito de engañar"

["Invention made with the purpose of deceiving, humbug"]

I'd say that it may fit your purpose, with a tone which is not too polite nor harsh

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  • For a strong regional variation, in Argentina "joda" [joke in this context] coult be used, with the dialogue going like: - "No sos mi hermano" - Me mata que digás eso - Noo, no, ¡joda!
    – ipp
    Sep 12, 2019 at 21:32
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We say (in Mexico) the same with:

  • "No digas pendejadas". Stop bullshitting me. Or,
  • "Me estás echando el rollo, verdad guey". You are bullshitting me, right asshole?
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