21
There is a spectrum of attraction and affection, which of course exists in both English and Spanish. How one expresses their level of affection and attraction along the spectrum is a difficult thing to pin-point in any language, and often subject to interpretation, body language, and other clues. But generally speaking, I think it's fairly safe to say that ...
19
Actualmente hay botellas de cualquier color, sin embargo, hace unas décadas las botellas de vidrio eran mayoritariamente de color verde o transparentes (al menos en España). Verde botella se usa para referirse al tono de verde de aquellas botellas de vidrio.
Fuente: Coloración del vidrio. Wikipedia
Cuando el vidrio aparece en occidente, en el imperio ...
18
Las expresiones insultantes empiezan muchas veces por me cago en...,
siendo típica la referencia a la madre (en la madre que te parió, en
tu puta madre, en la puta de oros, en la puta de bastos, en la puta
madre que te cagó), a la leche (la leche, la puta leche, la leche
que mamaste), otros parientes (tu padre, tus muertos), o
blasfemias (en Dios, ...
18
I think that gracias is the most basic, standard way to say thank you in Spanish. If you want more options, you have to seek upwards:
Muchas gracias (thanks a lot).
Muchísimas gracias (thank you very much).
Se lo agradezco (I thank you).
Se lo agradezco en el alma / de corazón / sinceramente / enormemente / etc. (I sincerely thank you / from the bottom of ...
16
At least in Argentina: alias, también conocido como, comúnmente nombrado and comúnmente conocido como are pretty similar.
For example, "Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock" could be "Dwayne Johnson, alias La Roca".
Alias is concise and probably your best choice:
alias
Del lat. alias 'de otro modo'.
adv. Por otro nombre. Alfonso Tostado, alias el ...
15
Spain usage:
The word pecho can be considered an exact equivalent of the English breast; you can use it uncountably (the front part of your thorax) or countably (women have two of them). It is a neutral word and can be used safely in any context. To breastfeed also translates as dar el pecho.
Seno can have several meanings. It can be your lap, a woman's ...
15
That's quite a weird phrase to me simply because I'm from Spain.
Manejar is only used in Latin American countries; conducir is the only word for drive in Spain.
Also, this phrase must have been written by a person from South America because in Spain we use carril instead of canal.
Of course you can use conducir or manejar twice, but it sounds quite ...
15
I'm from Spain and that term is not commonly used here in the sense that you point.
Capital is the preferred word to mark a city as the principal in a country, a province or a district, where the central government institutions are located.
Cabecera sounds a bit archaic, from the times when Spain was a more rural country and was divided in partidos ...
14
Rata means rat and is always feminine, while ratón means mouse and is always masculine.
The word macho and hembra are actually nouns (not adjectives) that are used in juxtaposition with the base animal. Therefore, you'll always use macho or hembra, regardless the gender of the base noun. This happens with a number of animal species, such as with tiburón (...
14
You have understood the text perfectly and I can see why you find it a bit difficult.
When in doubt, you should check the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española de la Lengua, the DRAE. There you'll find that the verb cuidar has the two meanings that you have pointed out: to take care of (2) and to be wary of (5).
cuidar
2. tr. Asistir, guardar, conservar
...
13
Segun RAE:
Unido a aquí, ahí y allí, o con los pronombres me, te, la, le, lo, las, los, se usa para señalar o mostrar a alguien o algo.
y segun wikitionary:
Unido a un pronombre personal clítico ("me, te, le, nos, os, les") o a un adverbio de lugar ("aquí, allí, ahí", etc.), señala la presencia o existencia de algo.
En ambos casos lo señalan como ...
13
legumbre: is actually a technical term: any member of the "legumes". That includes peas, beans, etc. In Spanish it is not used for peanuts or soy, although they are still "legumes", because the way they are eaten is different from the traditional legumbres.
vegetal: is again a technical term: anything from the "plant" kingdom. It is not used for ...
13
La expresión más frecuente es dar el pésame, para expresar esta acción de comunicarle a alguien que lamentas el fallecimiento de su pariente:
Me acerqué a Luis en el funeral para darle el pésame por la muerte de su abuelo
Luis, mi más sentido pésame por la muerte de tu abuelo
También se suele decir te acompaño en el sentimiento o incluso mis condolencias. ...
13
Hay frases como lo que sea/fuera/fuese/fuere o no sé qué no sé cuánto, cómo se dice/cómo se llama. A veces estas se escriben escritas, sobre todo cuando se sustantivan, en una palabra, a pesar de la recomendación de Fondéu: un nosequé, un tal cómosellama, etc.
Pero quizás lo más común —y, de hecho, panhispánico— sería cosa y sus diminutivos como cosita/...
12
You could say tío paterno or tío materno
Which is exactly what we do in English.. My paternal grandfather's name is James.
12
If abbreviating (to mañ.) is something unwanted, then instead of what you have
Mañana por la mañana
You'll gain 2 spaces with
Mañana a la mañana
Or even a 4 char gain, writing
Mañana temprano
The concise way you need may be also achieved using a.m.., the latin *ante meridiem for "antes del mediodía", before noon)
Mañana a.m. (formally ...
12
38.2.2 Uses of the diminutive suffix -ito
The main effects of this suffix are:
(a) To give a friendly tone to a statement...
(b) To modify the meaning of adjectives and adverbs by adding a warm tone, or, sometimes, by making them more precise - e.g. ahora 'now', ahorita 'right now', todo > todito 'all' > 'absolutely all'
A New Reference Grammar of ...
11
As others have said, this is not a commonly spoken word, but is found mostly in poetry and writing, perhaps especially used in folk and children tales. I would use "acá y acullá" as the equivalent of "hither and yon".
As an aside, The RAE defines "acullá" as
adv. l. A la parte opuesta de quien habla. U. en contraposición a adverbios demostrativos de ...
11
I'll add an answer since the current accepted answer doesn't reflect the situation in Guatemala.
The answer is very simple, too. In Guatemalan Spanish cuchara is the word you use. Context will make it very clear, and, unless you're among close friends, no one is going to assume you're using the slang term.
Necesito una cuchara... Si no, no puedo comer.
...
11
Although they are expressions of the same sense (observing regional differences that have been mentioned), you must remember that these are words with different meanings.
Manejar involves taking action to get something. Originally, these actions were manual (manos = "hands"), and the word relates to manipular ("manipulate") and maniobrar ("maneuver").
...
11
En El Salvador (en todo el país) se le conoce como corvo a una especie de machete con curvatura en forma de media luna, a diferencia del machete tradicional, que no posee esta característica.
El corvo también se utiliza para cortar frutos, recoger vegetales, remover maleza, y en algunas ocasiones, para trocear algunos tipos de madera.
10
Yes, according to the RAE dictionary, the use of ora with this meaning has its origin as a shortened form of ahora:
ora.
(Afér.).
1. conj. distrib. ahora. Tomando ora la espada, ora la pluma.
So, it replaces ahora only with a specific meaning: when it's used as a conjunción distributiva. Note that this is a rather archaic use, so you'll probably find it ...
10
I think that Lucha has a broader meaning, while Pelea is a physical fight, a quarrel or discussion. For example you could use Lucha like
Lucha contra el cáncer
Lucha contra los elementos, nieve, lluvia, etc
Lucha consigo mismo, para superar sus tentaciones.
Lucha can imply a physical fight, but with a boarder sense or menaing:
Los aliados lucharon contra ...
10
Otoñal e invernal.
Para el verano también se usa estival.
Edición: Encontré estos cultismos (palabras apegadas al origen etimológico, en este caso al latín):
Para el verano: estial
Para la primavera : vernal (qué curioso)
Para el invierno: hibernal
Son palabras del español que se pueden encontrar en escritos antiguos, están en desuso. Pero "hibernal" ...
10
Indeed they do all refer to the same thing, but you are right, they do all have different connotations.
Seno - Cleavage
The space between the breasts; The space between the chest and a woman's shirt. Seno refers to this area, and you might possibly bring it up when a woman grabs her wallet from inside her shirt; or change, a cellphone, tampons, whatever......
10
Alta noche es un equivalente a Altas horas de la noche.
En España usamos las expresiones:
La fiesta duró hasta altas horas de la noche
O también
La fiesta duró hasta alta noche
Para referirnos a muy tarde (temporalmente hablando). Así pues, en el caso de la noche, estaríamos hablando de las 23:00 o las 24:00 (las 11 o las 12 de la noche).
Esa misma ...
10
Francamente no creo que exista una palabra para decir eso. Pero te puedo dar alguna sugerencia, aunque probablemente ya pensaste en algo como esto.
Primero que nada, el grito original de los indígenas norteamericanos se hacía con la garganta. Era admirable porque sonaba fuerte e intimidante a pesar de su tremenda dificultad. Los golpecitos con la mano en la ...
10
Indeed, dawn should be translated as "amanecer" or "alba"
... esperó al amanecer.
... esperó a las primeras luces del alba
Seeing that you already found a really blatant example of bad translation in the version of that book you are working with, it should not be surprising this is another oner.
10
Pienso is to think as you correctly said.
Yo pienso = I think
But Pensarlo is to think about it
Déjame pensarlo = let me think about it
Yo voy a pensarlo antes de tomar una decisión = I'll think about it before making a decision.
and in the case of the lyrics...
Solo con pensarlo se acelera el pulso = Just thinking about it my heart rate rises.
A ...
10
I note that Pelo is defined as hair. So in Spanish, is the idiom actually "You are pulling my hair?" but it's translated as leg to make more sense in English?
This is exactly the case. Pelo means hair. 'Tomar el pelo' is an idiom which has the same meaning as 'to pull someone's leg' (or to wind someone up, or to kid someone, or to have someone on etc) does ...
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