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What are the equivalent uses of "funny" in these English expressions:

Amusing

Jose is a great comedian. He's a real funny guy.

Odd, unexpected, or undesired.

This drink tastes funny.

My car is making a funny noise.

Coincidence

It's funny you should say that. I was thinking the same thing.

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2 Answers 2

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Amusing

Jose es un gran comediante. Es un tipo muy divertido.

Odd, unexpected, or undesired (We don't use funny in those cases).

Esta bebida sabe raro.

Mi coche hace un ruido muy raro.

Coincidence

Es gracioso que digas eso. Yo estaba pensando lo mismo.

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    La frase "Está bebida sabe raro" me suena como si no tuviera consistencia, ya que el sujeto es femenino y el predicado masculino. A mí me suena mejor "Está bebida sabe rara", ¿no?
    – karloswitt
    Apr 18, 2022 at 19:18
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    Sí, es un poco complicado. Tengo mezclas de modismos por residencias en varios sitios con habla diferente. En principio la bebida sabe rara, el sabor es raro. Creo que es más habitual escuchar –la Coca Cola sabe raro– en lugar de –la Coca Cola sabe rara–. Puede que me equivoque. En caso de bebida con género masculino, es indudable –el vino sabe raro–.
    – Danielillo
    Apr 18, 2022 at 20:09
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    @karloswitt. En realidad es una sutileza. "Esta bebida sabe raro" es una frase y no una oracion, pues "sabe" no es un verbo. El sujeto es implicito. Compara con "El sabor de esta bebida es raro", Aqui puedes ver que el sujeto es el sabor, y el verbo es "es". Por eso esta bebida sabe raro
    – Joafigue
    Apr 19, 2022 at 4:09
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    @Joafigue Veo la diferencia, pero no entiendo que "sabe" no sea un verbo.
    – Miguel
    Apr 19, 2022 at 11:20
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    For coincidence I would say that "curioso" is also a valid answer
    – Josh Part
    Apr 19, 2022 at 15:04
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I almost agree completely with @Danielillo's answer but ...

I can't find that "coincidence" aspect of funny in an English dictionary (see Oxford or Cambridge online dictionaries for reference)

I think that OP's last sentence

It's funny you should say that. I was thinking the same thing.

belongs to "Odd, unexpected, or undesired" too

The situation may cause amusement but I think that the main point is that it's peculiar. You can translate peculiar to Spanish directly as peculiar (changing its pronunciation). As you can use peculiar synonyms' in that sentence like odd or strange, the same applies in Spanish with their respective translations raro and extraño.

Note: I was not trying to offer an accurate equivalence between peculiar and funny in that sentence but to point that there isn't a third meaning associated with funny.

As @terdon commented, a Spanish idiomatic way of showing amazement is "¡Qué fuerte!". If your sentence were

Funny/Wow/Awesome! I was thinking the same thing!

then you could translate it to Spanish as

¡Qué fuerte! ¡Yo estaba pensando lo mismo!

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    Idiomatically, at least in my admittedly non-native speaker's experience, one would say que fuerte que digas eso or es gracioso que digas eso, but not es peculiar. You could, it just sounds much stronger than the English it's funny you should say that.
    – terdon
    Apr 19, 2022 at 15:24
  • @terdon I think that "gracioso" is not the correct translation in that context in Spanish. i agree with you that "que fuerte" is more idiomatic but to express amazement. Not sure if that's the intention in English in that case. "Que fuerte!" can be translated as "Wow!" or "Awesome!"
    – RubioRic
    Apr 19, 2022 at 16:05
  • In English, there is funny, ha ha, and funny, odd. They are not the same. In fact, people will often say, that is funny, ha ha when there is ambiguity.
    – Lambie
    Apr 19, 2022 at 16:10
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    True, @rubioRic, que fuerte might be too strong here. It's just the use of peculiar that I would find, ehm, peculiar in that context in Spanish. Largely because I believe that (again, I stress that I am not a native Spanish speaker, so I may very well be wrong here) peculiar in English is a more common word than peculiar in Spanish, and "funny you should say that" is a very common phrase. That said, if forced to translate the phrase, I would probably just use que raro que digas esto, estaba justo pensando... Would you use peculiar instead of raro?
    – terdon
    Apr 19, 2022 at 16:16
  • It may depend on my mood or the circunstances. You're right, I wouldn't use peculiar probably. What I was trying to point in the answer is that the example belongs to the second meaning
    – RubioRic
    Apr 19, 2022 at 16:24

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