#11  
Old May 01, 2008, 12:23 PM
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Agreed.
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  #12  
Old May 01, 2008, 01:52 PM
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I've never heard of "leche" being used in a vulgar way. Live and learn!!

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  #13  
Old May 01, 2008, 05:02 PM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by poli View Post
Is the term es la leche truly vulgar, or is it meerly slang?
It's hard to answer this question. I would say it's softly vulgar, but not slang, as everybody might use it in a specific context.
I don't tell you this for you to use it at first chance (or do I?). But, If you hear in Spain: Ese tío es la leche or esta peli es la leche... don't think it's got something to do with milk...
Anyway, it's quite common and not so vulgar as other expressions meaning the same.
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  #14  
Old May 01, 2008, 05:18 PM
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I agree with Alfonso. I mean, you wouldn't use it if you were having dinner with the Queen, but in everyday situations people say it all the time. Sometimes I say "Eres la leche en polvo" (a more elaborate version...).
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  #15  
Old May 01, 2008, 06:59 PM
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I spoke to a Colombian friend who laughed saying he hadn't heard the expression in years, but in his country they sometimes say "estás de la leche" when somebody does something really good like scoring a goal.

Thanks for being so informative

Last edited by poli; May 01, 2008 at 09:50 PM. Reason: typo
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  #16  
Old May 02, 2008, 04:18 AM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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An inquisitive question:
Quote:
Originally Posted by poli View Post
It's really tempting to think that today's daily leche and Jane's post about el colmo have the same meaning. daily word, leche, to Jane's today post, el colmo, as:
Quote:
Originally Posted by poli View Post
A clarified correction:
I'm tempted to link today daily word, leche to Jane's post about el colmo.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
It's really tempting to link this daily word, leche, to Jane's today post, el colmo, as...
I'm really sorry I'm still thinking about the reasons of your corrections, Poli. I can't see it!
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Last edited by Alfonso; May 02, 2008 at 04:23 AM. Reason: Information added
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  #17  
Old May 02, 2008, 06:44 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
It's really tempting to link this daily word, leche, to Jane's today post, el colmo, as:
  • Es el colmo.
  • Es la leche.
... mean the same, with the latter being vulgar, and the former not. Do you use it the same way in other Hispanic countries?
I understand what you wrote but it's chapurreado. Here's a better way of saying it keeping as many words you originally chose as I could:
I am tempted to link todays daily word leche to Jane's post about
el colmo.
Consider the following two phrases:

Es la leche
Es el colmo

They mean the same, but the former is vulgar and the latter isn't.
Are both terms used in other Spanish-speaking countries?
(You could also say"they both mean the same with the former being
vulgar and the latter no vulgar at all)

Other words for colmo in English:
The final word in elegance. can you use la ultima palabra en elegancia?
The very model of ...
The paradigm of ... (not often used)

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Old May 02, 2008, 03:36 PM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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I'm sorry, but I still can't see why these syntagmas are not correct:
  • It's really tempting to do something.
  • Jane's today post.
  • Hispanic countries.
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  #19  
Old May 02, 2008, 07:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfonso View Post
I'm sorry, but I still can't see why these syntagmas phrases are not correct:
  • It's really tempting to do something.
  • Jane's today post.
  • Hispanic countries.
I'd say that the first and third are fine. For the middle one, you'd have to say Jane's post from today or the post Jane wrote today. Oh, and in English a sintagma is simply a phrase. (phrase does not equal sentence, unlike frase y oración en Spanish)
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  #20  
Old May 03, 2008, 10:41 AM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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Thanks a lot, David. That's really clear. By the way, I found syntagma as an English term in Tomísimo Dictionary, but not in Merrian-Webster.
Modification: It wasn't at Tomísimo Dictionary where I found it, but at dictionary.com, here. And the ie English corrector allows it.
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Last edited by Alfonso; May 03, 2008 at 11:40 AM. Reason: Modification
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