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  1. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Best Spanish word to use.

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Steerpike, Oct 10, 2018.

    Children's story. Which of these is best?


    "What have we here?" Mamá had come up behind her.

    "Some kind of cabinet."

    "It's called a wardrobe," Mamá said. "El ropero. You hang clothes in it."


    OR


    "What have we here?" Mamá had come up behind her.

    "Some kind of cabinet."

    "It's called a wardrobe," Mamá said. "El guardarropa. You hang clothes in it."
     
  2. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I would say ropero or armario, not guardarropa.

    Caribbean region Spanish, fwiw
     
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  3. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Also, in this particular syntax, she would use un, not el.
     
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  4. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    Thank you, Sir. That’s a tremendous help!
     
  5. Artifacs

    Artifacs Senior Member

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    I concur. Guardarropa is more intended to describe the place where some fancy restaurants, discos or similar leave jackets of the customers.
     
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  6. ElConesaToLoco

    ElConesaToLoco Active Member

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    If it's current day Spain, armario is the most common word for us.
     
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  7. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    @Steerpike, please forgive the hijacking of your thread, but I wanted to ask the other Spanish members a question and didn't think it warranted its own thread.

    "No horse in this race"
    "No dog in this fight"

    In idiomatic English, these phrases mean that one does not have a vested interest in the outcome of a given situation. I'm wondering if there is an idiomatic equivalent in Spanish. I can't think of one off the top of my head. There is no tienes vela en este entierro, and it may be the closest equivalent and I may have to accept that the mode of deployment is culturally distinct. The problem with that one is that I've only ever heard the vela en este entierro idiom as a kind of indictment, to intone to someone else that they have no business sticking their nose into something, calling the person entrometido, en palabras finas. The English versions are typically used from the other side of the equation, as a way of bowing out of a conversation because it doesn't matter to you either way, or the end result simply has no effect on you.
     
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  8. ElConesaToLoco

    ElConesaToLoco Active Member

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    "No tener vela en este entierro" is valid both applied to yourself and to someone else. It's a close equivalent to the horse/dog phrases. When used to question someone's involvement, the phrasing goes like "Quién te ha dado vela en este entierro?".

    Another phrase would be "(Subject matter) ni me va ni me viene". It's also valid without specifying the subject matter, just "Ni me va ni me viene". It's meaning is closer to "I don't care".

    Another one would be "Ni fu ni fa". This one's the most colloquial of the three. It's more on the vein of "I don't have an opinion".
     
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  9. Wreybies

    Wreybies Thrice Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Yes, exactly the syntax with which I am most familiar.

    Yes! I knew there was another phrase dancing in the back of my head. It just didn't want to surface. ;)

    Hmm... This one I have never heard. It may be regional to Old World Spanish, or simply not part of my local lexicon (Puerto Rico).

    Thank you! ;)
     
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  10. Steerpike

    Steerpike Felis amatus Contributor

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    No worries @Wreybies. My question was answered and I find this discussion quite interesting.
     
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  11. Andrew McMason

    Andrew McMason New Member

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    +1 for ropero. guardarropa seems just ... too harsh :)
     

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