La neta

La neta
 

I recently used this expression in another thread. It is a very colloquial Mexican expression that can mean "the truth", "what is true", or something like "the greatest thing" or "the best thing". It can be replaced in Spanish by "la verdad", "lo cierto", "lo máximo"...
Younger people use it more than previous generations, but the use of the word is rather old. :)


· Ya dime la neta (la verdad): ¿María es tu novia o no?
So tell me the truth now: is María your girlfriend or not?

· La neta (la verdad/lo cierto) es que no quiero ir a la fiesta. Por eso inventé que estoy enfermo.
The truth is I don't want to go to the party. That's why I said I'm sick.

· --Peter Parker: Yo soy el hombre araña. [I'm Spiderman]
--Mary Jane (with a skeptical look): ¿La neta (de veras/de verdad)? [Really?]

· Ellos creen que los poemas de Juan son la neta (lo máximo).
They believe Juan's poems are the best of the best.

I wonder if the term la neta comes from English? What filters through the
net is basically the reality. How much money do you make? How much do you net (is what you make after taxes)

I think two concepts are being muddled here. Net as in catching fish, and net or nett from neat, clean, pure, (->after tax)

It's possible that there is some English influence... many of Mexican sayings come from English expressions. :)

It's somewhat equivalent to our expression: "la posta"
It's very coloquial.

1)
-Este foro es la posta.

2)
-Me compré un auto.
-¿Posta? (¿De verdad?)

3)
-Dejá de traducir y llamá a Matilde que tiene la posta.

4)
a- Parece que la tormenta no cesará nunca
b- Sí... hace días que estamos así, ¿será el fin del mundo?
c- La posta es que en algún momento saldrá el sol.

etc.

Another expresion we use that isn't above is "lo más"

-Esa revista es lo más.

"La posta" is the perfect equivalent, I think. Thank you, Ookami! :D

La neta del planeta.

Other colloquial expression in México.
You can use them of the way possible, and this thread already was answered before.