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The phrase "no way" is similar to this question about the expression "you wish!" but is perhaps more of an expression of disbelief or rejection of what the other speaker says (short for There is no way that just happened!). It also can be friendly enough to be used jokingly or teasingly, like when another person says "Yes way" back and you say "no way!" again (like "nuh uh" / "uh huh").

I think I have heard just que no used - for example, perhaps something like this:

A: Cuando llegué a casa, el perro habia comido mi tarea.
B: Que no!

This discussion on "a que sí" o "a que no", like some others I found while searching, makes it seem like "a que no" is the way this might be said, so maybe I haven't heard the "a":

If the conversation were such that the interlocutor disagreed with the assertion, the exchange would be as follows:
A: He's really bright. -- Es muy inteligente.
B: Yeah right! -- A que no!

Is que no! a good translation of no way! or is there a better one?

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  • 6
    i cant translate it without using bad words u_u
    – pleasedontbelong
    Nov 21, 2011 at 22:36

10 Answers 10

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Actually there are a few possible translations given the context and country where you want to say "No way!".

¡De ninguna manera!

¡Ni pensarlo!

¡No hay el menor peligro!

¡Ni lo sueñes!

¡Ni hablar!

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  • 3
    Even though I thought of may other translations first, the most litteral "¡De ninguna manera!" is also perhaps the most appropriate, and would work most of the time.
    – Juan A. Navarro
    Nov 22, 2011 at 16:54
  • "Ni hablar!" is commonly use in Perú
    – César
    Jan 3, 2012 at 19:12
  • Y también: "¡De ningún modo!"
    – Albertus
    Feb 11, 2013 at 7:31
  • In Colombia, we'd say "sí claro" in the contexts provided by the OP. Obviously you need to add a slight tone of sarcasm to it for it to be understood as no way. Sometimes people make the sí a bit longer so it ends up being siiiii claro.
    – Nicholas J.
    Aug 3, 2015 at 14:43
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Creo que la mejor traducción sería:

¡No jodas!

Pero depende del país y el contexto (no vale para todo y es una expresión muy coloquial)

En México:

¡No mames! ¡No me chingues!

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  • 4
    "¡No mames!" and "¡No me chinges!" also come to mind (background from México).
    – Juan A. Navarro
    Nov 22, 2011 at 16:52
  • 5
    I'm told "no mames" is "grosero" so be careful using it. But there is a cleaner version I'm told I can use without offense, "no manches". Of course "joder" and "chingar" are also "groseros".
    – hippietrail
    Nov 22, 2011 at 19:48
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    +1 not the most polite but indeed very used.
    – isJustMe
    Nov 24, 2011 at 14:37
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    Don't forget the "¡Ni Madres!" (Also background from México)
    – Chepech
    Mar 21, 2012 at 1:42
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    All of the options in this answer and the comments below it: yes, often used, but ONLY with peers you know well. Outside that context they would be extremely vulgar. Use one of these only if you know what you're doing, please.
    – aparente001
    May 4, 2018 at 14:25
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I've also heard ¡No me digas! used in this way.

This discussion, though not authoritative, somewhat supports this: http://www.quora.com/How-can-I-say-the-equivalent-of-the-Ironic-Spanish-Expression-ahh-si-no-me-digas-in-English

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  • I always use and hear this in Mexico. Or maybe "¡No dices!" - I haven't been immersed for a few years now.
    – hippietrail
    Nov 22, 2011 at 10:15
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    Depending on the context, this wouldn't apply, for example when reacting to someone stating "¿Verdad que la película estuvo buena?", answering with "¡No me digas!" feels strange and might be interpreted as the opposite of "No way!". Answering with "¡De ninguna manera!", "¡Claro que no!" or other slang might be more accurate.
    – Juan A. Navarro
    Nov 22, 2011 at 16:58
  • Yes, I agree with that. Context matters.
    – Kevin K.
    Nov 22, 2011 at 20:21
  • Yes individual senses of individual words rarely map 100% 1:1 to counterparts in another language so with phrases made up of a couple of words which each have a few senses you can expect 100% mappings that work across all contexts to be super rare.
    – hippietrail
    Nov 23, 2011 at 0:26
  • I've also heard "No me digas" used that way.
    – Rachel
    May 2, 2012 at 3:45
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My Larousse Gran Diccionario has a whole mini section on this:

◆ no way adv Fam can I borrow it? - no way! ¿me lo dejas? - ¡ni hablar! or Esp ¡de eso nada!; US we're getting married - no way! (expressing surprise) nos vamos a casar - ¡no me digas or Esp fastidies!; no way am I going to help them ni de casualidad les voy a ayudar; Fam no way, José! de eso nada, monada

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En España también se utiliza

¡Ni de coña!

Aunque puede resultar algo vulgar.

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Usual expressions that could be equivalent to "no way!" are:

  • ¡Ni en sueños!

  • ¡Ni lo sueñes!

  • ¡Ni de riesgos!

The first one appears in the DRAE, under "sueño":

ni en sueños, o ni por sueños.
1. locs. advs. coloqs. U. para negar enfáticamente.

And under "pienso" one finds:

ni por pienso.
1. loc. adv. U. para ponderar que algo ha estado tan lejos de suceder o ejecutarse, que ni aun se ha ofrecido en el pensamiento.

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  • Depending on the context "¡Ni de juego!" might also apply.
    – Juan A. Navarro
    Nov 22, 2011 at 16:52
2

Another colloquial term used commonly is nada que ver. See here:

What's the meaning of the expression "nada que ver"?

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  • This is rather snob but it is indeed used a lot in Mexico.
    – Krauss
    Dec 24, 2020 at 10:06
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A key feature of "No way!" is that it's short.

The shortest way I know to express incredulity or skepticism in Spanish is

¡Cómo!

But for this to work it has to sound like an interjection, not like a question.

The second shortest way I know is

¡Qué va!

which should have a tone of sarcasm.

If you want blatant sarcasm, you can say

¡Ya mero!

which is similar to the sarcastic "Yeah, right."

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In Spain Spanish, you can say "¡Venga ya!", which I think suits the load of incredulity associated with "No way!". It is a direct phrase, but not impolite.

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I've always heard "Ay (make your eyes big). ¡No me digassssss." (I put the extra s because women in México, especially, will drag out that sound, so I tend to copy that colloquial nature in order to seem more native. Heh heh. The "s" sounds to me - as a non-native - more like a "z" in México.

Ejemplos: Ay! No me digazzzz (como así en querido México) —or— ¡De veras! (Querido México)

re: No me jodas: I just spent an hour explaining to someone from Spain that I was told (I was told) that if you say "No me jodes" with an 'E' it softens the strength of the word joder... más suave. But my friend from Spain disagrees with that interpretation. Alas, I'm only learning through native speakers.

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