No Loitering

[Glen]

A shopkeeper's bilingual sign, posted on the other side of the building from the entrance, has this as

No se detengan a la puerta

which says to me, "Don't stop yourself at the door," in other words "Don't hesitate to come in," or something else the shopkeeper probably didn't mean to convey by such a translation.

I've seen other options for No Loitering but now wonder about one I haven't yet seen, which is No congregarse. How does that sound?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I guess the sign is clear that you don't want people to stay on the way... It doesn't sound to me like an invitation for coming in, but it sounds kind of aggressive.

We (Mexicans, at least) usually don't give this kind of direct orders without a "por favor", or to several persons; we normally write impersonal sentences with an infinitive.
If I were the one to convey the meaning of "do not stand at the door", I might have written something like "No estorbar el paso", "Por favor no obstaculice la puerta" or even "Favor de no obstaculizar la puerta" (which is a formula that we already know Spaniards find incorrect, but it's very commonly used by Mexicans.)

[Glen]

Thanks for the suggestions. I made a note of them for future use. In general, when it's not about blocking an entrance but just hanging around the place for no particular purpose, could it be Favor de no congregarse or something else?

[Julvenzor]

No sé qué quedaría mejor para los hablantes mexicanos; pero sí puedo asegurar que la traducción en español suena bastante rara para mis oídos españoles.

Yo votaría por:

-(Por favor), no estorbar la entrada.
-(Por favor), no entorpecer el paso.

La estructura "favor de" es correcta y está aceptada por la RAE. El único "problema" radica en que este uso coloquial (no vulgar) sólo es propio de México y países aledaños; por lo cual, para los nacidos en otras zonas se percibe como grosero y maleducado. Sí, por chocante que parezca, así sucede.

Un saludo cordial.

[poli]

Originally Posted by Julvenzor

No sé qué quedaría mejor para los hablantes mexicanos; pero sí puedo asegurar que la traducción en español suena bastante rara para mis oídos españoles.

Yo votaría por:

-(Por favor), no estorbar la entrada.
-(Por favor), no entorpecer el paso.

La estructura "favor de" es correcta y está aceptada por la RAE. El único "problema" radica en que este uso coloquial (no vulgar) sólo es propio de México y países aledaños; por lo cual, para los nacidos en otras zonas se percibe como grosero y maleducado. Sí, por chocante que parezca, así sucede.

Un saludo cordial.

El uso de "favor de" no es esclusivamente mexicano y paises aledaños. sino caribeño tambien.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@Glen: I don't know if I'm understanding this right. If it's not about asking people to avoid crowding the entrance of the store, I'm sure that any Mexican who reads a sign asking him not to wander around the store, he might not even come in to buy anything, so such a message is unthinkable to me.

[poli]

Angelica, I'm not sure I know the best word for loitering in Spanish and have not recollection of a sign in Spanish which would translate to "no loitering".
To loiter means to hang around (halgazanear).
Loitering is mostly benign but is sometimes used by people soliciting prohibited things or by gangs. It is not necessarily a group of people obstructing an entranceway although it can be.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I understand now. We don't have that kind of signs here, or I have never seen one.

My grandfather would have liked to post a sign saying "No se admiten vagos" at his grocery shop, but he never did.

The only thing I can think of is something reading "Favor de no reunirse aquí" or "Prohibido reunirse aquí". Although the last one could be felt as a challenge or against individual freedom principles...