"Ni cinco de pelota"

"Ni cinco de pelota"
 

Another question from the comics (link below). (Can you see how simple-minded I am!?) :D

I don't understand the phrase in the last frame: "Ni cinco de pelota." Does it have something to do with ignoring? (I got that from elsewhere on the internet.) What is the sense of the phrase? I am guessing that it really has nothing to do with "five" or with sports balls. Right?

http://www.gocomics.com/features/234...e_items/427342

Hmm. I could only get about two/thirds of the strip, and have no idea what the last frame says.

But, since you obvously visit gocomics like I do, did you read "Overboard" and "Foxtrot" today? Both were halarious (at least, I thought they were).

And yes, I always read them in Spanish first. Today was one of the rare days where I understood both strips before going and reading the English versions (I didn't understand word for word, but enough to both understand them, and find the humor in them).

0 - I'm going to be sincere
1 - I love you because I'm number 1.
2, 3 - And I'll keep saying it every instant.
4 - I'll shout it to the four winds
5 - As always, she won't listen to me

En un dos por tres = quickly, in the blink of an eye

No dar ni cinco de pelota = To ignore / not pay any attention to.

Thanks guys!

David - the comic doesn't have "dar" in it, so I wasn't sure if the phrase is the same. Is this something that could be added to the idiom directory here on Tomisimo.

Fazor - you might be the one who pointed me out to gocomics. I can't remember. But it's a great way to do some Spanish every day. I have not even been looking at the English versions. If I don't understand enough of the Spanish to follow the feel of the humor, I just go on to the next one. I haven't read overboard or foxtrot yet ... there are certain strips that I try to read every day when time is minimal......

gocomics - ¿Dondé lo puede encontrar? ¿En el periodicos? Vivo en Arizona, pues mí periodios quizá no puede comics en españo:( Espero que ellos sean allí:)

Hay comics en español aqui: www.gocomics.com (at the bottom of the page).

There's a mix of Spanish-only comics, and English comics translated into Spanish.

So can anyone give me a feel for why this idiom means to ignore or not pay attention?

Um, because no one knows what the phrase means, so we all just ignore it? :) J/k.

I don't understand this idiom. Maybe it is something related to sports :confused:

Anyway, Tomísimo has given you a possibility (I had never heard before). Sometimes, when you speak fast, you don't say a part of the sentence. For instance, in the sentence:

Me vino como anillo al dedo

When you're talking with someone, you could say:

Iba paseando por la calle y pensando a ver qué le compraba al niño, cuando de repente me encontré con una juguetería y, oye, como anillo al dedo.

!Te agradeczo! ¡¡Yo podría este cada día!!

@Lou Ann: Irmamar believes the expression might be somehow incomplete. If the missing part were said, it would be easier to know where it comes from.

Still "no dar ni cinco de pelota" doesn't seem to have an obvious origin. If there were some Argentine members they might say a bit more... I know that expression is very used there.

Oh! Great - I know some Argentinians. :) Thanks, Malila! (And Irmamar.... :D)

Consider this:

I was walking the streets and thinking what I was going to buy for the kid, then suddenly I found a toy store, listen, like sent by heavens.

Does that make sense to you in English?

Oh, ni cinco de pelota means to not give even the time of day. :)

Aah... no dar ni la hora... Gracias, Hernán. :)

You are very welcome. :)