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Old February 09, 2017, 08:50 PM
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Surly

Is there a difference in meaning for the words “hosco/a” and “arisco/a” to describe someone who is “surly”?

I want to use the word “surly” in the sense of unfriendly, rude, sharp, gruff.

For Example:

- La camarera sonaba muy hosca? / arisca? cuando me preguntó lo que quería pedir.

- No me gusta trabajar con gente hosca? / arisca?

- ¿Porque estás siendo tan hosco? / arisco?


Or is there a better word in Spanish that means “surly” that I could use?

Gracias de antemano por sus sugerencias.
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Old February 09, 2017, 09:30 PM
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I'm most familiar with Mexican Spanish, and I'd suggest perhaps gruñón for surly.
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Old February 09, 2017, 10:41 PM
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Ya que la mayoría de mis vecinos son mexicanos, debería considerar el uso de una palabra más mexicana. Gracias por la sugerencia.


(No importa lo pequeños que sean, por favor háganme el favor de siempre corregir mis errores.)
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Old February 10, 2017, 05:00 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomisimo View Post
I'm most familiar with Mexican Spanish, and I'd suggest perhaps gruñón for surly.
Very widely used in Spain - in fact I'd opened the topic intending to offer it but Davidísimo had beaten me to it.
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Old February 10, 2017, 10:18 AM
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I'd rather use "antipática", "poco amable" or "seca".

"La camarera me preguntó secamente qué quería pedir"

seco = (about people) unfriendly, unpleasant, unkind
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Old February 10, 2017, 11:29 AM
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Gracias por esas sugerencias geniales. Me voy a conformar con la palabra "antipático" porque tanto JPablo como aleCcowaN sugirieron la misma palabra. Suena muy coloquial y es fácil de recordar.



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Old February 10, 2017, 01:01 PM
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I use desagradable. I hope that's OK.
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Old February 10, 2017, 01:18 AM
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Para mí, "gruñón" tiene una connotación de "grumpy". Pero al menos es el uso que le damos en España. Tengo amigos mexicanos, pero yo soy de Barcelona...

La palabra "hosco" me parece adecuada, aunque el registro sea algo más elevado, menos coloquial.

Insocial..., cortante, antipático o agrio, podrían ser alternativas, dependiendo del contexto.

Aquí te doy algunas opciones adicionales (espero no abrumar...)

La camarera me sonó cortante cuando me preguntó lo que quería pedir.
La camarera me sonó antipática al preguntarme lo que quería.
La camarera me sonó brusca/malhumorada al preguntarme lo que quería.
La camarera me sonó poco amistosa al preguntarme lo que quería.
La camarera no me sonó nada amistosa cuando me preguntó lo que quería.

- No me gusta trabajar con gente insociable/intratable/poco amistosa.

- ¿Porque estás siendo tan desagradable/hostil?

¿Qué mosca te ha picado? = What is eating him?
http://www.tomisimo.org/idioms/es/qu...cado-9922.html


(No importa lo pequeños que sean, por favor háganme el favor de siempre corregir siempre mis errores.)

No creo que sea un "error", pero es más natural tener el adverbio después del verbo.
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Last edited by JPablo; February 10, 2017 at 01:22 AM.
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Old February 10, 2017, 01:28 PM
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Desagradable works, but is a lot more general in scope. desagradable = unpleasant.

To me, grumpy is just when you're having a bad day, and I might use "de mal humor" to translate that.

Surly is more like a character trait of being gruff, short, sharp, unkind, prone to anger, unfriendly, etc. So you could use things like enojón, gruñón, de carácter difícil, tosco, etc., each with a different emphasis.

Las opciones que ofreció JPablo también son muy buenas.
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