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Last night during dinner, I asked my oldest kid about kindergarten, and he told me they played "Couch potato tag" during P.E. (physical education)

I asked about the game dynamics and he said that when someone tags you, you become a couch potato. Then you need to wait until someone brings you healthy snacks (in the form of a green bean bag, so you have the "will" and energy to move from the couch again).

To keep the conversation going I asked him what a "couch potato" was, and his definition roughly was

Someone who is always in front of the TV and playing video games and eating tons of sugar

Which is pretty accurate. A "couch potato" is defined as

a person who spends little or no time exercising and a great deal of time watching television.

(idiomatic) A person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, often watching television, eating snacks or drinking alcohol. [from 1976]

To that definition I would add that in addition to alcohol, they could be drinking a lot of sugary drinks.

While a "couch potato" is a lazy person, "lazy" doesn't fully convey "couch potato", since "lazy" has a broader meaning. Also, you would not call "couch potato" to someone who sits for a long time reading (or coding! :-p). The "couch potato" represents that stereotype of the person who just wants to be in front of the TV, doing as little as possible, often eating unhealthily.

I don't know up to which point the literal translation into Spanish, "patata de sofá", would be appropriate.

What can be used in Spanish to convey "couch potato" - a person who spends a lot of time sitting in front of the TV, doing nothing, and trying to do as little as possible?

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  • La dinámica del juego se parece al que en Colombia se denomina "La lleva"
    – alvalongo
    Jan 16, 2020 at 17:12
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    De momento se me ocurre sedentario pero parece que un coach potato es un tipo concreto de sedentarismo.
    – Charlie
    Jan 16, 2020 at 18:06
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    Great question! And note -- besides watching TV, reading, coding, ... it could also be stackexchanging!
    – aparente001
    Jan 17, 2020 at 4:01

7 Answers 7

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Creo que una palabra simpática que se podría usar es apoltronado:

apoltronarse

  1. prnl. Dicho de una persona, especialmente de la que lleva vida sedentaria: Hacerse poltrona.

Y a su vez:

poltrón, na

  1. adj. Flojo, perezoso, haragán, enemigo del trabajo.

Una silla poltrona es, a su vez:

  1. f. silla más baja de brazos que la común, y de más amplitud y comodidad.

Por tanto, la voz apoltronado conserva el concepto de couch o sitio donde pasa el rato sentado el aludido, y el concepto de sedentarismo. No conserva el concepto de pasar el tiempo específicamente jugando a videojuegos o viendo la tele, pero es lo mejor que se me ocurre hasta ahora.

Ejemplos:

  • ¿Ya no vas al gimnasio? ¿Te has apoltronado?
  • No te quedes ahí apoltronado, que hoy hace un buen día.
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  • ¡Si dices que no te convence del todo a tí, entonces no me convence a mí para nada!
    – aparente001
    Jan 17, 2020 at 3:54
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    @aparente001 a ver, no me convence completamente pero sí lo suficiente como para publicarla como respuesta. Hay que mirarlo por el lado positivo. :-)
    – Charlie
    Jan 17, 2020 at 9:00
  • Bueno, pero lo que yo quiero saber es, si alguien de tu familia está de couch potato un día, ¿le dirás alguna frase utilizando este término? Es decir, ¿funciona en la práctica?
    – aparente001
    Jan 21, 2020 at 5:52
  • @aparente001 hará un par de días hablando con una persona, esta me contaba que antes iba al gimnasio pero ahora ya no, y le dije que se había apoltronado. Como indico en la respuesta, la palabra lleva más implícito el sedentarismo en sí que lo que hagas durante el sedentarismo (jugar a videojuegos, ver televisión, etc.). No sé hasta qué punto estas acciones pueden ir implícitas, dado que ver la televisión es de las cosas más comunes que se practica en la vida sedentaria.
    – Charlie
    Jan 21, 2020 at 7:07
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    @aparente001 perfectamente, se puede usar también para casos puntuales: "Espero que no te quedes ahí toda la tarde apoltronado."
    – Charlie
    Jan 21, 2020 at 7:40
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Here are some equivalent terms that work in Mexico:

  • Ay, no seas tan floja. ¡Acompáñame a la fiesta! (Don't be such a couch potato (CP). Come with me to the party!)

  • Perdón, Julio, desde que quedé embarazada, me siento muy floja, nomás quiero quedarme en la casa. Pero ve tú. (Sorry, Julio, since I got pregnant, I feel like such a CP, I just want to stay home. You go.)

  • Desde que mi hermana quedó embarazada, está súper aplatanada. (Since my sister got pregnant, she's a total CP.)

  • La muy plátana de mi hermana ya no quiere ir a ninguna parte. (My CP sister never wants to go anywhere any more.)

(Literally, "flojo" means lazy, and "plátano" is a noun, for banana!)

You could also say

  • Por favor, Julia, no te quedes toda la tarde tirada delante de la tele. (Julia, please don't spend the whole afternoon in front of the idiot box.) [Note, "estar tirada en el sofá" means literally that the person has thrown herself on the sofa; figuratively, it means that the person has pretty much taken up residence on the sofa.]

And a vulgar but effective expression:

  • Mi hermano es un huevón, jamás le ayuda a su esposa con el quehacer de la casa. (My brother is a lazy f---er (vulgar word for "lazy bum")). He never helps his wife with the housework.) [This comes from the word for testicle -- "huevo." Don't ask me why! Maybe it's because when a man sits around all day, he's sitting on his testicles. But note -- una mujer puede ser una huevona también.]
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  • I daresay huevón comes from the idea that a person has such big testicles that they impede that person so he can't do anything but just sit around. Once the word usage was stablished, the feminine version was created. Just ask a question about it, it would be funny! :-)
    – Charlie
    Jan 17, 2020 at 9:07
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    I don't think none of these words reflects the meaning of couch potato. They can be used for someone who is not watching the TV and eating junk food
    – Javier Lopez Tomas
    Jan 17, 2020 at 14:54
  • @JavierLópezTomás - I have to grant you that none of them are a literal translation of "couch potato." My approach to translation is always, concentrate on the idea, concept, feeling, and then let it come out in the other language. I stand by the expressions I contributed here, as conveying the concept, idea and feeling that are conveyed by "couch potato," given the appropriate context, which I provided in what I think are clear, specific examples.
    – aparente001
    Jan 17, 2020 at 15:32
  • @aparente001 en particular huevón... tiene demasiados significados en el mundo hispano como para dejarlo de couch potato
    – VeAqui
    Jan 26, 2020 at 23:54
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In the Sims 3 Couch Potato is translated as "Culo de Sofá" (lit. "Sofa's Ass").

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Un término que he escuchado en Chile es "plasta de sillón" (roughly translates to "sofa turd"). Uso poco común.

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  • Bienvenido/a al sitio, hgfdsa. ¡Qué divertido término!
    – aparente001
    Jan 17, 2020 at 5:26
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In Spain we don't have such a specific word (at least officially). In the (kind-of) Spanish version of Reddit, they use 'Comedoritos', whose literal translation is 'Doritos eater' and is more or less what you want to express.

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  • I like it! // Please provide a link. That would strengthen your answer.
    – aparente001
    Jan 17, 2020 at 15:33
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Por lo menos en Colombia no existe un término concreto para la situación que describe.

A veces para referirse a esa persona que se la pasa viendo televisión sin hacer mayor actividad se dice:

estuvo echao viendo televisión

o

Se la pasa echao viendo televisión

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    ¡Buena expresión! Creo que tu respuesta quedaría más completa con una pequeña explicación de la relación entre "echado" y "echao", para que los principiantes entiendan también.
    – aparente001
    Jan 17, 2020 at 3:47
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The most accurate translation I can think of is "repantigarse" or "estar repantigado".

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  • But that's a name for the action (verb), not a name for the person. I was looking for a noun or adjective.
    – Diego
    Jan 16, 2020 at 20:22
  • True. You could use repantigante (even though it's not in the dictionary RAE).
    – Leo
    Jan 16, 2020 at 20:30
  • Hello Leo, and welcome to the site. I think you could address this by including an example sentence. I am sure that there will be a way of using the verb in a way that conveys the same idea as "couch potato."
    – aparente001
    Jan 17, 2020 at 3:48

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