www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Every so often, a phrase or sentence pops into my head that somehow eludes my best efforts to logically and idiomatically correctly translate it into Spanish.

So - I would like to enlist the help of some of the board's native Spanish speakers in translating some of these phrases - many of which I hope will prove useful to others on the board in their CR endeavors.

The first one I'm going to throw out there is "How can I make it up to you?" (no comments from the peanut gallery please...)

Ayuda por favor?

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Check out http://weluvlatinas.com/ for the web's best info on the latin american monger lifestyle...

How about....


Lo siento, mi amor. Puedo chupar sus dedos de pies?

If that doesn't work, substitute "dedos de pies" with any of the following:

tracero
culo
pinocha

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

For a little romantic spice, add "Con permiso" before "puedo"

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Lo siento, mi amor. Puedo chupar sus dedos de pies

babel fish translation: I feel it, my love. I can absorb its fingers of feet

huh?

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"My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income".....Errol Flynn

They don't call it "Babel Fish" for nothing...



-PA1984

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-PA*

We're talking toe suckin here

Online language translators sometimes will get you into the the neighborhood, but not usually. This means:

I'm sorry. Can I suck on your toes?

_________________
http://TipsCostaRica.com for pratical advice on living in Costa Rica.
In order to write about life, first you must live it! - E. Hemingway.

Exactly, as in fishing for the correct translation. Those things suck. The best one IMO that comes remotely close is Google language.

I actually finally found a halfway decent on-line translator:

http://translation2.paralink.com/

For my phrase, they gave me the following:

¿Cómo puedo hacerlo hasta usted?

That's about right, isn't it?

_________________
Check out http://weluvlatinas.com/ for the web's best info on the latin american monger lifestyle...

I got your back GR, I dont post much but you know I hit you up with PM's.
Going to be making that first trip in May.
I told ya I bring speaking spanish to the wingman table...


¿Cómo puedo hacerlo mejor para usted?

_________________
"Pain is the fuel that fans the flames of my pyre. A battle plan is only as good as the general carrying it out on the field. This is my war son, and I have the biggest bombs and the smallest conscience"...

When trying to translate something it is best to avoid phrases or expressions or colloquialisms that are common in America speech but make no sense in Spanish. They can often make things even more confusing or even change what your are trying to say.

"make it up to you" would probably be one of these. It gets challenging when you begin to realize how many expressions, often nonsensical ones, that we use in everyday speech.

Here are a couple other sites I use:
http://translation.paralink.com/ I believe it uses the same database as http://translation2.paralink.com/.
It is handy for online chat because you can transfer from English to Spanish and back at the click of one button. Unfortunately it is limited to 1000 words at a time if you're trying to translate an email.

Another is:
http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_s ... lator.html

The one plus to using Babelfish is it's ability to translate entire web pages. Unfortunately it's database is limited.
http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn

It is interesting sometimes to see the differences from one web site to another.

I'll take a stab at this one. This is what I came up with (informal translations) :
"How can I make it up to you?" ¿Cómo puedo hacerlo las paces a ti?

or you can try this...
"What can I do to make things better between us"? ¿Puedo hacer hacer las cosas qué mejorar entre nosotros?

how 'bout this...
"I know I was wrong. Can you forgive me for being a dick-head"? Sé que estaba equivocado. ¿Puedes perdonarme para una picha-cabeza que es?

you might even try this....
"I'M NOT a piece of shit, and I'd still like to see you". NO SOY un pedazo de mierda y me gustaría todavía verte.

I've used this one in the past....
"I promise not to blow my splooge in your hair, especially since this is a nice restaurant". Prometo no volar mi leche en tu pelo, especialmente desde que éste es un restaurante bueno.

this has also worked in a pinch....
"I know you're still sore, so I'll try to stay away from your bung-hole for a few days". Sé que todavía eres penoso, para que intentaré quedarme fuera de tu kulo durante unos días.

but if all else fails, here's the ace-in-the-hole (pun intended)...
"How much money will it take to make you happy again"? ¿Cuánto dinero tomará para hacerte feliz de nuevo?

Good luck GR. These are just some of the phrases that have worked for me in the past. Let me know if any of them work for you!

MG

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

ROTGLMAO!!!!

Had no idea your Spanish was that good MG! Will have to remember that last one especially...

_________________
Check out http://weluvlatinas.com/ for the web's best info on the latin american monger lifestyle...

Anything to help a brother out! Ya never know when one of these might come in handy. But I got a feelin' that some of the other goodfellaz might have some other helpful phrases of their own to help you out.

How 'bout it guys? Any other "helpful" phrases for GR, that he might be able to use? I'm sure that Muffdiver or RN, with their fluent knowledge of Español, might be able to shed some more light here.

MG

_________________
You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

I'll give it a try.......

"Come on baby take a chance, I left my rubber in the other pants." Por favor mi amor toma un riesgo, el condón está en mis otros pantalones.

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Cigar smoking doesn’t reduce us, it elevates us; It makes us more content to be alone, or it helps us to enjoy our companions. It encourages us to dwell on the simple moments and celebrate the sublime.
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Hung like Einstein and smart as a mule.
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You're not drunk if you can lay on the floor without holding on.