Spanish speakers - Yikes!

[Kathie Freeman]

I'm trying to find Spanish equivalents for English expressions such as yikes, good grief, criminy, Geeze Louise, etc. Surely there must be something besides Caramba!

[reenkam]

I don't know if there are any direct equivalents, but I know some...exclaimations, I guess they'd be called.

"cielos!" is "heavens"

"dios mio" "por dios" "dios" are all like "God!" or "goodness!"

"que lastima" is "what a shame"

"que miercoles" is...well, literally it's a reference to wednesday, but it's kind of like talking about "the mondays" in English. I think it's country specific, but I can't remember exactly

people say stuff like "cool" and "wow" too

"que desastre" is "what a disaster"

"que molesta/o" (i can't remember if the a/o matters) is "how annoying"

"basta" is "enough" and you can say "ya basta" or "basta ya" meaning "enough already"

there's also "mierda" meaning "sh*t" but that might be more explicit than you want...I'm not really sure how that word is view in spanish countries. people i talk to use it and worse words, but they're all high school/college kids so it's different.

i hope I helped some. you can try searching some of the words on google and stuff and maybe you'll find some others ones. i'm sure there are lots more.

buena suerte! :)

[Penguin Queen]

"que miercoles" is...well, literally it's a reference to wednesday, but it's kind of like talking about "the mondays" in English. I think it's country specific, but I can't remember exactly



Saying Miercoles! in Spanish is like saying Sugar! in English... it's a euphemism for mierda - shit. :) At least thats how I know it from Argentina.
What's "the Mondays"? Never heard that before.

[Shady Lane]

In Sevilla they say, "Que guay" all the time--"how cool."

[Shwebb]

I went to high school with a classmate from Mexico City. She'd say "Ay, No!" a lot, and the teachers would get confused and say, "You know? But we haven't taught this yet." Of course, she was responding to homework assignments, I think!

What about "Ay! carumba!"? Or is that just something that Bart Simpson says?

[reenkam]

Saying Miercoles! in Spanish is like saying Sugar! in English... it's a euphemism for mierda - shit. :) At least thats how I know it from Argentina.
What's "the Mondays"? Never heard that before.

Hmm, maybe it's a country difference. I actually hadn't heard it before but someone told me it was referencing wednesday as like an annoying day of the week, so que miercoles was like saying something was annoying, or boring, or you wish it didn't happen. something like that. he likened it to when people in the US say "a case of the mondays" as in it's something you don't really want to happen, or you're annoyed because it's monday and you don't want to go to work/school and you'd rather that the weekend keep going.

The person that told me (my teacher actually) was from Spain, but I don't think he said it was a Spain-Spanish thing. I don't know. It does still kind of make sense with the whole Sugar! thing, though. In a way.

[Penguin Queen]

Ah, re Mondays. :)

Another Argentinean friend of mine says, as an exclamation when much astonished or aghast, Díos mío de mi vida! - "Oh my god" kinda thing.

[maxmordon]

About the Wednesday thing, it's like saying Shyte/Shoot in English. (Miércoles=Wendsday, Mierda_Sh!t)

You can also use Carajo, that doesn't have an analogue in English but is used in the next context:

¡Carajo, se murió el Sr. Morón! (Damn, Mr. Morón has died!)

¿Qué carajos haces aquí? (What the f***/hell are you doing here?)

¡Vuelvan, Carajos! (Come back, bastards!)

Here is the article from Wikipedia:

Carajo means c**k in Spain, although it might also mean a small cup of coffee, or the crow's nest, the topmost part of the mast of a ship. In Latin America, carajo is a very common interjection that can be translated to "f**k!" or "s**t!", as Nos vamos a morir, ¡carajo! ("We're gonna die, f**k!") or a far away place, likened to hell: ¡Vete al carajo!. The diminutive, carajito, is used in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela to refer to (usually annoying) children, or to scold a person for acting immaturely, e.g. No actúes como un carajito ("Don't act like a brat!"). Caray is an inoffensive minced oath for this word. Ay caray could be translated "Dang it" or "Darn it!" The connotation of "far away place" is reportedly based on the name of the Cargados Carajos, which belong to Mauritius. Unofficial odes to both Cuba and Peru are common utterances in both countries: ¡Viva Cuba, carajo! and ¡Viva el Perú, carajo!




Actually, Caramba is an euphenism for Carajo. Carajo is literally translated as Crow's nest/Penis

[KanShu]

"Dios Mio" is a good one, and used pretty much everywhere. It's the equivalent of us saying "good grief" or "oh, my god".

However, if you want something a little different, then there is my favorite: "Chispas".

"Chispas" is spanish for "sparks", but it can be used as a mild exclamation, like in the sentence: "Chispas, no sabía eso" (------, I didn't know that).

I'm not sure how widely the word is used, but I know it's commonplace in Peru and Chile. It'll add a bit more regional flavor than "dios mio", but it's less likely that the average person will know it. Personally, I like it a bit more because it doesn't have a direct English translation, which makes it feel a bit more authentic.

Hope this helps

[Voyager]

A lot of this stuff is regional as well. Even in Mexico things like that differ from region to region. In Guadalajara, my family say things like cafe con mocos to avoid saying bull*%$, but my grandmother in Cozumel would call me vulgar for ever saying anything like that. Pisado means stepped on to everyone in Guadalajara, call someone pisado in the Yucatan and it's very very bad. If you need anything from either of those regions, though, I can probably give you a hand.

[talkwrite]

You do need to check the geographic setting in your book/ WIP for the terms.
For Mexico: Caray and Hijoles both are non curse words expressing suprise or frustration. Dios Mio is good for surprise. The funny thing about Caramba is that in 30 years interpreting and living in South and Central America, I have never heard it said by a non English speaker..

[Kathie Freeman]

Thanks, you've all helped a lot. I'm working on the Spanish translation of my book Catwalk, and though I know a little Spanish, I have to get a lot of it from the dictionary.

I want my translation to be accessible to Spanish speakers from any country without a particlar regional flavor that might make it hard to understand.

I have also been very frustrated in my translation by an apparent lack of colorful verbs in Spanish, like you can climb over a wall, but you can't scramble over. A baby can walk, but he can't toddle. Stuff like that.

[talkwrite]

Well, above all,have fun with this. Are you planning on self publishing this or have you been contracted by a publisher for this book?

[melaniehoo]

The funny thing about Caramba is that in 30 years interpreting and living in South and Central America, I have never heard it said by a non English speaker..

I had someone yell 'Ay, caramba' at me from a truck last week as I jogged by. :)

From my husband, a Mexican:

pa'su mecha = like Holy Sh¡t but not as bad

ay, cabron = you f*cker but not as bad (we have a theme here)

[Kathie Freeman]

It would be self-published, same as the original. Actually, the tone I was looking for with regard to these expressions is not so mch surprise as frustration. The character is a 10-year-old boy who is trying to get his little sister to stop harassing a cat that is hiding out under the front seat of a jeep. As in "Jeez Louise, just leave her alone, willya?"

[Symphony]

Ostras! - is the expression a 10-year-old would use in this case. It means just that - Crikey! Blimey! Gee Whizz! (with an upside-down exclamation mark at the beginning - sorry - can't find out how to do that here)

Caramba! is popular but almost getting a little antiquated (in Castellano, that is). Where's your character from? Latin American Spanish is worlds apart from Spain! It's an expression of surprise, though - wouldn't suit your needs here.

'Jeez Louise, just leave her alone, will ya?' = Oye, dejala ya, quieres?
(Oye - to us meaning simply 'Listen', is used in a different way in Spanish and generally comes out more like 'For goodness' sake') I would definitely go with this - it's the most direct translation that suits the tone.

Symphony
(feel free to PM me with any other queries. I'm bilingual - no problem translating for you, unless your character is South American)
xx

[melaniehoo]

Oye, dejala ya, quieres?
(Oye - to us meaning simply 'Listen', is used in a different way in Spanish and generally comes out more like 'For goodness' sake') I would definitely go with this - it's the most direct translation that suits the tone.


I hear that ALL the time here! Good suggestion. :)

[Kathie Freeman]

Oye, dejala ya, quieres? That sounds good, I'll use that Now for another question. Just how grammatical or ungrammatical should I be in conversational or non-conversational parts? For instance, on TV the other day they were interviewing a spanish-speaking woman after a traffic accident and she said she looked into the car and "el hombre estaba muerto." Since he was only just now dead and probably had never been dead before, I would think "fue muerto" or "estuvo muerto" would be more appropriate, depending on how long one expected him to remain in that lamentable state.

[Voyager]

Nope, she was correct. Estaba muerto, as in, I looked in the car and he was dead. That's how you'd say it in English, but you could pick that apart as well and say, what, he's not dead anymore? :D But grammatically speaking, estaba muerto is right.

[maxmordon]

The character is a 10-year-old boy who is trying to get his little sister to stop harassing a cat that is hiding out under the front seat of a jeep. As in "Jeez Louise, just leave her alone, willya?"

¡Basta!, dejála ya porfa

or if he is a Mexican I recomend to use Hijole or Orale

[melaniehoo]

or if he is a Mexican I recomend to use Hijole or Orale

Yes, also hear those ALL the time! We've already taugth our 2-year old nephew Orale.

[Kathie Freeman]

Okay, because as I understood it estuvo is like, when he saw what happened he was pissed off, whereas estaba is like, he was a doctor for 35 years.

[Voyager]

Actually, it would be, era doctor or fue doctor. Estuvo would be, cuando estuvo en la escuela or cuando estuvo en ese lugar. When he was in school or when he was in that place.

[reenkam]

estuvo is when it's in the past, but finished. estaba is on going from the past. When you die it's not like you die and come back. You die and it keeps going from the past, so it's estaba. It's kind of confusing if you're going from English because it seems like someone should just die and that's it, but if you look from the spanish side it makes sense that it never stopped.

[Kathie Freeman]

And they say English is a hard language to learn. Puh-leese!

[maxmordon]

And they say English is a hard language to learn. Puh-leese!

Who said it was hard? I have a friend that the only English teaching that she needed was the internet and movies with Spanish subtitles

[Kathie Freeman]

Well, some people say it's hard because it's a mix of a lot of root languages and pronunciation doesn't always follow spelling.

[maxmordon]

Well, some people say it's hard because it's a mix of a lot of root languages and pronunciation doesn't always follow spelling.

The pronunciation is the only thing that is hard, IMO (Spanish is my first language and I took English classes for 5 years). See for example the verb conjugations in English and in Spanish:

I sing
You sing
He sings
We sing
You sing
They sing

Yo canto
Tu cantas
Él/Usted canta
Nosotros cantamos
vosotros cantéis
Ellos/Usted cantan

[Voyager]

Hey, you learn something new everyday. I didn't know Venezolanos used vos, cool. :D

[maxmordon]

Hey, you learn something new everyday. I didn't know Venezolanos used vos, cool. :D

The only one that use the Vos in Venezuela are the people from Zulia; they are like our Texan analogue (In my expirience, every country has its own Texas region)

[Voyager]

Yeah, in Mexico, it's right over the Texas border where all the Norteños are. They say stuff like, alla anca mi abuela and, se hace ansina. Except for Ciudad Juarez, where they all talk like Juan Gabriel.

[maxmordon]

In Zulia is something like:

"Veníte pa acá, mijo. Mirá pues, ¿cómo vos sereís pajúo?, sois todo un hijo er diablo"

You sometimes can't understand what the hell are saying

[luv2dream]

Miercoles is Wednesday, at least that's what I used to call it back in the day.

[oneblindmouse]

'chispas' isn't used in Spain.

[maxmordon]

'chispas' isn't used in Spain.

The only place I have heard Chispas as an expression has been in the Mexican Spanish dubbed version of Scooby Doo; Velma says it all the time

[Stacia Kane]

There's also "cono" (pronounced "conyo"), which is vulgar in some dialects but isn't in most of the island nations (Cuba, the Dominican Republic).

[maxmordon]

There's also "cono" (pronounced "conyo"), which is vulgar in some dialects but isn't in most of the island nations (Cuba, the Dominican Republic).

It's spelled Coño, the ñ sound is the same that the French "gn", literally means cunt but is used in the same context like shit

[Stacia Kane]

It's spelled Coño, the ñ sound is the same that the French "gn", literally means cunt but is used in the same context like shit

I don't know how to make the little thing over the "n". That's why it isn't there.

Like I said, I know it's vulgar in most dialects. I also don't imagine the OP is writing specifically about Cubans or Dominicans, but I thought I would throw it out there with the caveat, in case.