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There are people for everything

 

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 May 05, 2012, 09:36 AM
Don José Don José is offline
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There are people for everything

Hay gente para todo.

En España es famoso el caso de un torero que dijo esa frase en el siguiente contexto:

Quote:
En una ocasión coincidieron Guerrita y el filósofo José Ortega y Gasset. Al torero le presentaron a Don José como "famoso filósofo", y el matador, con su acento cordobés y el desparpajo que da el saberse el centro de atención le preguntó: “¿Filósofo? ¿Y eso qué es?”. Trataron de explicárselo, el trabajo sobre las ideas, la reflexión y el pensamiento. El maestro taurino, reduciendo aquella parrafada a sus propias palabras comentó: “¿Así que se dedica usted a pensar en las cosas? Hay gente pa to”.
http://curistoria.blogspot.com.es/20...nte-pa-to.html

Quizás por esa razón, la frase se usa bastante, y algunas personas de cierta edad incluso añaden "como decía el torero/ Guerrita".

Is the English translation commonly used?
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  #2  
Old May 05, 2012, 10:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don José View Post
Hay gente para todo. Is the English translation commonly used?
There are people for everything. I'm not sure whether this is particularly common, but I've heard it.
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Old May 05, 2012, 03:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Perikles View Post
There are people for everything. I'm not sure whether this is particularly common, but I've heard it.
Somewhat related is to say in English: There is something for everyone
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Old May 05, 2012, 05:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vita32 View Post
Somewhat related is to say in English: There is something for everyone
That is unrelated to the original phrase. "Hay gente para todo" means people have the most diverse trades, likings and interests and be capable of almost anything to get their ways. Often said when the speaker knows about a strange job (maquillar cadáveres para una funeraria), about exotic alien customs (almorzar cucarachas fritas), about two contrasting uses or opinions held by the same person (ser asesino a sueldo e ir a la iglesia todos los domingos), or some story of lack of scrupulous to advance in life (denunció a su mejor amigo y así obtuvo el ascenso).
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Old May 05, 2012, 07:12 PM
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Given the explanation by AleCcowaN, "There are all kinds" is a phrase that comes to mind. "It takes all kinds" is another. Both would be equivalents to "Hay gente para todo," I would think.

"Different strokes for different folks," may also be what you're looking for.
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Old May 06, 2012, 12:28 AM
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I think in the UK the most common expression would be "It takes all sorts".
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Old May 06, 2012, 07:09 AM
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"It takes all sorts" is also used in the States.
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Old May 06, 2012, 11:31 AM
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It's so difficult -and extremely interesting- to translate these idioms with their exact nuances and the points of view that they imply.

"It takes all sorts to make a world" remembers me Mafalda's "¡Hay de todo en este supermercado de Dios!". If we subtract from that the "Different strokes for different folks" part, which is "Sobre gustos no hay nada escrito" (a we use to add "... dijo una vieja mientras se comía sus mocos"), we have pretty much the sought "hay gente pa' todo". I mean, "hay gente pa' todo" is not intended to promote calm acceptance of human variety, but to brand some behaviours as extreme, anomalous or hardly tolerable.
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Old May 06, 2012, 03:18 PM
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"It takes all sorts/kinds" is a good fit. It's said sarcastically, often with rolling eyes.
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Old May 06, 2012, 04:15 PM
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Both "there is people for everything" and "there are people for everything" give thousands of results in Google. However, I don't know if they are native English speakers.
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