4

I was wondering whether someone could help translating to Spanish the Italian expression:

Cavarsela in qualunque frangente

whose meaning is essentially to "be always able to find a solution".

Is there any typical Spanish expressions equivalent to this one?

Improve this question
1
  • 2
    We would need at least one context in which this gets applied.
    – aparente001
    Commented Jan 4, 2020 at 16:14

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5

What most naturally comes to my mind is a quite literal (though not completely literal) translation:

arreglárselas en cualquier situación.

For a more negative word than "situación", you could use

salir de cualquier aprieto.

I also often say

ser [un hombre/una mujer] de recursos

because it appears on an issue of a famous comic in Spain, but I do not know how common this last one is.

Improve this answer
4

The problem is that there is not an exact Spanish equivalent of the Italian pronominal verb "cavarsela", so its translation may depend on context.

In addition to the options given by wimi, there are other possible translations that come to my mind (as I've said, depending on context):

  • Arreglárselas siempre.
  • Apañárselas siempre/en cualquier situación.
  • Salir de cualquier apuro.
  • Tirar siempre para adelante.
  • Salirse siempre con la suya.
Improve this answer
6
  • Hopefully the original poster (OP) will clarify the context for us. That is a very important element of a well posed question. (In fact, I have voted to close the question due to the missing context.)
    – aparente001
    Commented Jan 5, 2020 at 22:52
  • 2
    Curiously, there is a quite good Catalan translation of "cavarsela": "sortir-se'n". For instance, I would translate the sentence "se la cava in qualunque frangente" as "se'n surt sempre" or "sempre se'n surt". I say this because I know that some users of this community speak Catalan and maybe could think to other possible Spanish translations.
    – Charo
    Commented Jan 5, 2020 at 23:43
  • Catalan speaker here :) Your comment helped me to fully understand the Italian expression. What gives me some doubts is the 'Salirse siempre con la suya' suggestion: doesn't it imply some kind of debate in which one always wins, while the expression be always able to find a solution would have another approach on being creative on finding solutions?
    – fedorqui
    Commented Jan 6, 2020 at 9:50
  • @fedorqui: I agree with you that in many situations "cavarsela in qualunque frangente" would not translate as "salirse siempre con la suya". But I can imagine some contexts in which it would be a good translation: that's why I've included it.
    – Charo
    Commented Jan 6, 2020 at 11:20
  • For example, I imagine a boy who always does mischief in class. Teachers have been about to expel him from class many times, but, since he is a very intelligent boy, he always ends up convincing them not to do it. He often even ends up convincing teachers that it is not he who has done the mischief. And also ends up getting good grades cheating and teachers do not notice it. His classmates could say "se la cava in qualunque frangente" and I think it may be translated as "se sale siempre con la suya".
    – Charo
    Commented Jan 6, 2020 at 11:20

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.