To blag your way through.....

[SteveB]

I live in London and we use the colloquial saying 'blag' a lot.

I have searched for this and found

to blag oneself something - agenciarse algo
to blag one's way in - colarse

But these don't answer my question. I want to say
'I blagged my way through the conversation'

Como se dice?

[poli]

The term doesn't cross the Atlantic.

Does blag mean muddle through?

Does it mean to fake your way?

[SteveB]

Fake your way is probably a good way to say it.

You can 'blag your way out of a situation' which means talking your way out of it.

[poli]

I would say: Hacer un buen simulacro.

I'm sure there are other ways of saying it, though. So, wait for natives to respond.

[Nomenclature]

I don't know and would wait for Julvenzor or Angelica to answer, but I looked up English synonyms that use Latin roots. Prevaricate translates to "prevaricar" in Spanish and equivocate translates to "usar equívocos".
And of course, "hacer un burn simulacro" , like Poli suggested is great too.

[aleCcowaN]

In Buenos Aires, I would translate "blag your way out of a situation" as simply "pilotearla". I would expect a lot of regional variations to say the same.

"I didn't understand what he was saying but I managed to blag my way through the conversation and looked like I knew everything"

"No entendía lo que me decía, pero la pilotee* bastante bien y quedé como que sabía todo"

*pilotee is in fact pronounced "pilotié".

"Pilotearla" suggests the notion of a person surfing or kayaking, taking advantage of the wind gusts or avoiding dangerous rocks. "La" is part of the verb and not a real pronoun. It's what is called a "lexicalized pronoun" as in "pasarla bien".

[SteveB]

Muchas gracias.

If I used this to a spaniard from Spain, would they understand me?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

:thinking:

As this is a colloquial expression, there will be differences between countries. Alec's "pilotearla" could be understood in context, but it's not used in Mexico; so I think it would be the same for Spain.

I have been searching for some equivalent expression, but I can't find anything suitable.
What I can think of is "arreglárselas", "darse maña para hacer algo"...

- Me las arreglé para manejar la conversación.
- Me di maña para salir del paso en la conversación.

@Nomenclature: I don't find these options suitable. I'll have to think a bit more on options for translating this. :thinking: