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Dentro de lo malo, no es tan malo

 

An idiom is an expression whose meaning is not readily apparent based on the individual words in the expression. This forum is dedicated to discussing idioms and other sayings.


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  #1  
Old February 01, 2012, 05:18 PM
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Dentro de lo malo, no es tan malo

How do we say that in English?
It means that though bad, it,s not that bad
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Old February 01, 2012, 06:07 PM
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Is it something like peoresnada, "better than nothing," "at least it's something," "it could be worse" etc?

Last edited by Glen; February 02, 2012 at 04:55 PM.
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Old February 02, 2012, 12:51 AM
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Example.
There is a terrible cold wave in Europe right now. But in Spain is not as cold as Ukraine or Belgium. So, in Spain considering the temperature in Ukraine, in Spain is not that bad.
Do u understand what I mean now?
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Old February 02, 2012, 01:01 AM
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In this case, we say "it could be worse" or "it's not that bad."
If you want something a bit closer to the Spanish phrase:
As bad goes, it's not that bad.
As far as bad goes, it's not that bad. (..., it could be worse.)
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Old February 02, 2012, 05:09 PM
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Thanks guys, for still allowing me today to edit yesterday's post wherein I misspoke, having stupidly mis-read malo in the original post for mano. Sorry about that! By the way, would a Spanish equivalent be Del mal, el menos or is that phrase limited to meaning "the lesser of two evils?"
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Old February 02, 2012, 08:56 PM
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@Glen: You did not misread. The title thread was corrected, as it was not written correctly.

By the way, "peor es nada" is written separately.
("Peoresnada" is one word, when it's used as a joking --very colloquial-- way to talk about someone's romantic partner.)

Most people I know here would use a plural for a situation that could be worse than it is: "de los males, el menos" or "de los males, el menor".
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Old February 03, 2012, 06:14 AM
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Tb se usa in Spain
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