El colmo...

[Jane]

¡Esto es el colmo!
I know that here in Spain colmo means something like the limit or the last straw, but i´d like to know if it´s used differently in other spanish speaking countries. And if yes, how is it used?

[Tomisimo]

It's used pretty much the same in México.

Es el cooooolmo que te hayas equivocado siendo tan inteligente.
Es el colmo que siendo carpintero no te puedes hacer una puerta.

that's the limit ... that's utterly ridiculous are two good translations.

También he escuchado por ejemplo:

Es el colmo de la elegancia.
It's the height of elegance.

[Alfonso]

Hi, Jane,
You have some more information about el colmo here, without going away from Tomísimo.
The examples David has given to us are also very commonly used in Spain.

[poli]

In English we use epitome (pronounced epítomy) and the height where Spanish speakers use colmo. I notice that epitome is also a Spanish word. Is it synonimous to colmo in Spanish?

Examples:
This is the epitome of beauty/ This is the height of beauty
This is the epitome of nonsense/ This is the height of nonsense

[Alfonso]

Epítome is completely different from colmo, as epítome is a really formal / academic way to mean abstract (of an article, essay, etc.).

Epítome es sinónimo de resumen, pero se usa mucho más resumen. La etimología griega de epítome lo convierte en una palabra que casi sólo se usa en el ámbito de la Filología.

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by poli

This is the epitome of beauty
This is the epitome of nonsense

I understand epitome is used in the previous sentences with the nuance of abstract, which is its Greek meaning. Is epitome commonly used in English?

[Elaina]

The word itself, "epitome" is not commonly used.

Elaina

[poli]

Yes,epitome is common. Because it has more than two syllables less educated people are less likely to use it, but just about everyone understands it. It's common. You can use essence too.
This is the essence of stupidity
This is the essence of brilliance

Se puede usar esencia así. Ejemplo: Eso es la esencia de lo absurdo.

[Iris]

Epitome is a thing or person that shows a stated quality to a very great degree: His behaviour was the epitome of bad manners= He had horrible manners.
You can also use the verb to epitomize: The strike epitomizes what is wrong with industrial relations in this country.
The meaning of the Spanish epítome is, I think, totally different: it's a summary of a long work.

[Rusty]

Yes, it is very commonly used.

She is the epitome of beauty. He is the epitome of a hard worker.
But, 'he is at the height of his career' is more common than 'he is at the epitome of his career.'