Spanish term
Qué tontería
Context:
Girl A makes a bad joke (silly)
Girl B, smiling, says "Qué tontería"
It's not nonsense. It's not a complaint. It's not nonsensical. What is it?
Apr 26, 2024 05:46: philgoddard changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Apr 26, 2024 20:09: David Ronder changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
PRO (4): Toni Castano, Beatriz Ramírez de Haro, Darius Saczuk, David Ronder
Non-PRO (3): AllegroTrans, Carol Gullidge, philgoddard
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Proposed translations
You're such a goof; That's so goofy; I can't believe you just said that!
agree |
philgoddard
: There's a million ways to translate this - you just put yourself in Girl B's situation, and ask yourself what you'd say.
3 mins
|
There are multiple ways to skin this cat. Thank you, Phil.
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agree |
neilmac
: OK for USA IMHO... (Brits don't tend to use goofy/goof/goofball/goofing off the same way.).
12 hrs
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Good to know. -) Thank you, Neil.
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neutral |
AllegroTrans
: too wordy
1 day 22 hrs
|
How silly
agree |
Toni Castano
: It just refers to the joke, not to Girl A.
19 mins
|
agree |
Yolette Buitrago
22 mins
|
agree |
Marcelo González
41 mins
|
neutral |
philgoddard
: I think we need something more colloquial than this. I wouldn't say 'how silly' if someone told me a bad joke.
46 mins
|
agree |
AllegroTrans
: How daft/stupid/dumb/idiotic/pathetic.....
46 mins
|
agree |
liz askew
2 hrs
|
agree |
Lisa Russell
5 hrs
|
agree |
neilmac
: This may be as good as it gets. Often a simple eye roll will suffice.
12 hrs
|
agree |
MollyRose
21 hrs
|
my foot; all my eye
BrE: All my Eye (and) Betty Martin: All nonsense.
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish-to-english/other/16991-lo-despidieron-por-una-tontería.html
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/spanish/poetry-literature/1211500-qué-ni-qué.html
What the ? / My foot expresses disbelief, and I don't know what "all my eye" expresses; never heard it |
neutral |
neilmac
: A bit too Jeeves and Wooster for the 21st century IMHO. No cigar :-)
7 hrs
|
neutral |
AllegroTrans
: By jove my dear chappie, what whizzing suggestions
19 hrs
|
That's ridiculous
So lame/pathetic
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Note added at 1 hr (2024-04-25 19:54:23 GMT)
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Perhaps 'That's so lame'
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Note added at 18 hrs (2024-04-26 12:49:50 GMT)
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Maybe just 'That's so bad/pathetic' to avoid any possible ableist connotations with 'lame'.
agree |
Beta Cummins
: I'll give it to you, "lame" sounds fantastic. How silly of me not to think of it. ;)
8 mins
|
Many thanks Beta! ;-)
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neutral |
MollyRose
: She wouldn´t call it lame or pathetic and be smiling. Also, the other answers are still used and are not formal.
9 mins
|
Yes, this would work perfectly if given with a smile.
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neutral |
neilmac
: At the very least, it could be seen as ablist and offensive nowadays. Never been a fan of "lame" myself. Having said that, "pathetic" is often used in this kind of situation. But I dislike "lame"…
11 hrs
|
Many thanks Neil! ;-)
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agree |
Muriel Vasconcellos
12 hrs
|
Many thanks Muriel! ;-)
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agree |
David Ronder
17 hrs
|
Many thanks! ;-)
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agree |
ormiston
: 'That's pathetic!' sounds right to me...
1 day 2 hrs
|
Many thanks! ;-)
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Tee hee
neutral |
AllegroTrans
: HO HO
5 hrs
|
Cheers Santa
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agree |
Helena Chavarria
: I think I would say 'Ha. Ha.', saying each word slowly.
13 days
|
Yes, that would work too. Thanks.
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That's dumb
Oh, you silly goose...
GOOSE or GEESE - "A foolish or ignorant person is called a goose because of the alleged stupidity of this bird." Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable revised by Adrian Room (HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 1999, Sixteenth Edition).
https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/16/messages/233.ht...
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/978019...
neutral |
ormiston
: The comment does is not aimed at the girl herself
15 hrs
|
disagree |
AllegroTrans
: No, the comment is about the joke not the girl
21 hrs
|
Discussion
What would we say after hearing the joke? Something like, 'How stupid can you get?'
After 30 years of speaking Spanish, and 20 translating, I realize these are the hardest questions, and the most interesting. Often there is just no satisfying way to translate it, which is frustrating, but also fascinating