Vaya Mierda de Vida

[Tyrn]

Hoy, estaba en un chat en internet, empiezo a hablar con una chica, lo pasamos bien y por lo visto estamos los dos interesados. Ella me cuenta que acaba de dejar a su novio porque es un cabrón de primera, 20 minutos más tarde, intercambiamos fotos nuestras. Era mi ex-novia. Vaya Mierda de Vida.

Here I'm asking for a good translation to English. Or, even, to Spanish . The meaning isn't really obscure, I just want to get the hang of it.

Maybe, there's a family of similar sayings in Spanish?..

[poli]

Vaya is used in Spain to mean the English, what a. Example: íVaya par!/ What a pair) Her use, I believe, means, what a living piece of sh..!

[aleCcowaN]

I don't understand why that phrase is written capitalizing every word and without exclamation marks. Is it the title of something? Like the Spanish series of similar name.

If it's literal (I feel like Amy when she met Sheldon*), I would say "what a sh***y life!", or to soften that "Life really sucks, and then you die" (¡Arj! La vida [apesta tanto/es una porquería] ... ¡y luego/después te mueres/morís!)

* TBBT, episode when Sheldon met Amy, dialogue goes about this

Sheldon— I'm sorry Amy Farrah Fowler. You have been misled by unsupported math designed to deceive the gullible and the lonely. In addition, I've been blackmailed with a dirty sock.
Amy— If that's slang, I'm unfamiliar with it. If that's literal, I share your aversion to soiled hosiery.
Sheldon — Can I buy you a beverage?
Amy — Tepid water, please!
Howard — What have we done!?

[Tyrn]

Thanks! I really don't know why the capitals. It's kinda quotation of a quotation. Probably, it doesn't matter.

[Tyrn]

Just to be sure. What a wonderful day in Spanish, using Vaya

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by Tyrn

Just to be sure. What a wonderful day in Spanish, using Vaya

In this context, "vaya" can be used like "qué", to talk about the quality of something.
- ¡Vaya día tan maravilloso! = ¡Qué día tan maravilloso!
Just make sure that you're explicitly stating that it's a positive thing, because if you say "¡Vaya día" or "¡Qué día!", you're actually saying that this was a bad day.

Some more examples:
- ¡Vaya casa en la que vives! = ¡Qué casa en la que vives! (Depending on the context, this is good or bad; for example, you could say more explicitly: "vaya casa más desordenada en la que vives" or "vaya casa más bonita...")
- ¡Vaya sorpresa que me llevé! = ¡Qué sorpresa me llevé! (Also, context is important.)

[Tyrn]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

- ¡Vaya sorpresa que me llevé! = ¡Qué sorpresa me llevé! (Also, context is important.)

What does it mean, exactly? me llevé sounds like a surprise of my own making

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Tyrn

What does it mean, exactly? me llevé sounds like a surprise of my own making

llevarse algo = to experience something

Vaya sorpresa que me llevé =~ I was catched by surprise, big time

Vaya and venga are used as intensifiers in Spain.

[aleCcowaN]

Originally Posted by Tyrn

Just to be sure. What a wonderful day in Spanish, using Vaya

If I heard

Vaya día maravilloso

I would think it is said in the most sarcastic way.

¡Vaya, vaya! = something has deeply surprised us, or baffled, or threw us out of balance.

[Tyrn]

Thanks! Do you mean, the vaya we are talking about is used only in Spain?

[aleCcowaN]

Yes, vaya and venga as intensifiers or "accents" in a sentence are exclusive to Spain. The uso americano is mostly like Angélica explained, from Tijuana to Ushuaia.

In Argentina that use is dissapearing as the surviving Spanish inmigrants are quite old today. For instance "¡Vaya, qué cosa!" has been replace by "¡Pero qué cosa!" to comment about some outragious behaviour. "Vaya,vaya" was used by the generation of my parents and grandparents -all of them gone now-, but my generation rarely uses it.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Originally Posted by Tyrn

What does it mean, exactly? me llevé sounds like a surprise of my own making

Not really. "Llevarse", in this context, means that something took you by surprise.

Adding to what Alec said,you can also say:
- Qué susto me llevé. -> I didn't expect to experience fear.
- Qué disgusto se llevaron. -> The thing that happened upset them.
- Lamento que te hayas llevado una decepción. -> Sorry that you were deceived.
- Nos llevamos una gran alegría. -> We are very happy about that thing.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

Originally Posted by Tyrn

Hoy, estaba en un chat en internet, empiezo a hablar con una chica, lo pasamos bien y por lo visto estamos los dos interesados. Ella me cuenta que acaba de dejar a su novio porque es un cabrón de primera, 20 minutos más tarde, intercambiamos fotos nuestras. Era mi ex-novia. Vaya Mierda de Vida.

Here I'm asking for a good translation to English. Or, even, to Spanish . The meaning isn't really obscure, I just want to get the hang of it.

Maybe, there's a family of similar sayings in Spanish?..

vaya chasco !