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  #1  
Old April 14, 2008, 06:15 AM
gissell gissell is offline
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Translate this sentence for me.

No, sólo quiero tomar cualquier cosa.

This was the answer in a dialog practice to the question:

¿Tienes muchas hambre?

I always want to translate literally but can't do it with this sentence. I think the answer means "I only want a little something." Now, tell me what it really means.

Thanks.

Gissell
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  #2  
Old April 14, 2008, 07:21 AM
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sosia sosia is offline
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Hi, Gissell
you must wait for an native english speaker for the best translation (rusty, elaina, poli,tomissimo, marsopa, etc...)
For the question:
¿Tienes mucha hambre? (mucha wtih no s)
No, sólo quiero tomar cualquier cosa.
literall -->No, I only want to eat anything
The meaning it's like
I have no big hungry, so whatever you give me will be OK.
No, I will eat anything (you give me.)

A similar sentence can be used when you're VERY hungry
¿Tienes mucha hambre?
Si, tomaré cualquier cosa. (Yes, I will eat anything)
Yes, I will eat anything I reach.

greetings
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  #3  
Old April 14, 2008, 07:29 AM
gissell gissell is offline
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Gracia, Sosia.

Claro perfectament, ahora.

Muchas gracias.
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  #4  
Old April 14, 2008, 07:58 AM
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Rusty Rusty is offline
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¿Tienes mucha hambre? = Are you really hungry?
No, sólo quiero tomar cualquier cosa. = No, I only need something to tide me over.
Sí, tomaré cualquier cosa. = Yes, I'll eat anything within reach.
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  #5  
Old April 14, 2008, 02:11 PM
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sosia sosia is offline
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tide me over? I didn't know the expression.
Thanks Rusty
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  #6  
Old April 14, 2008, 02:21 PM
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Tide me over means to sustain me sostenerme.

Ejemplo: Can you lend me some money to tide me over until my
next paycheck?

Last edited by poli; April 14, 2008 at 09:54 PM.
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  #7  
Old April 14, 2008, 02:29 PM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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Tal y como habéis utilizado la expresión tide me over se puede traducir por apañarse o por ir tirando. Por ejemplo:

I only need something to tide me over: Con cualquier cosa me apaño.
Can you lend some money to tide me over until my next paycheck?: ¿Me prestas algo de dinero para ir tirando?
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Last edited by Alfonso; April 14, 2008 at 03:38 PM. Reason: Correction thanks to Rusty
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  #8  
Old April 14, 2008, 03:01 PM
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Can you lend me some money ...
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  #9  
Old April 14, 2008, 03:16 PM
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By the way, if someone answered the question as Gissell did, it would be understood just fine.
Quote:
I think the answer means "I only want a little something."
I believe 'something to tide me over' is used more often, so I opted to translate it that way.

Thanks, Alfonso, for the additional expressions.
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  #10  
Old April 14, 2008, 03:56 PM
Alfonso Alfonso is offline
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Thanks a lot Rusty for your correction.
A question come to my mind: can you owe me some money? is it a New yorker usage, or a Poli's one, Poli? I guess capitalism rules work differently in the Big Apple, but do you usually ask people to owe you money?
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