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Old December 29, 2013, 08:50 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: USA
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Native Language: American English
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wahooka View Post
Rusty: "Que quiere decir" literally translates to "what you like to say"... If I heard that phrase I would never guess it means "What does X mean?" I take your word for it
Literal translations don't always work. "What does it want to say" is a more literal translation, but that doesn't get you any closer to what it really means.
The two words work together in a way that doesn't make sense if you look at the individual words. That makes it a set phrase. It is an idiomatic way of asking what something means. The expression is very commonly used!
I provided the first question because it makes immediate sense to an English-speaker trying to learn Spanish. The more common way to ask what something means is the second question, however.
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