Ser pelota/ qué pelota eres

[Jane]

What does ser pelota mean

[Tomisimo]

I moved this question here from this thread.

[Rusty]

It means 'to be a brown-noser (suck-up).'

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by Rusty

It means 'to be a brown-noser (suck up).'

It's definitely an idiom then, because I never would have guessed that.

[Rusty]

There are cruder and more vulgar ways to say this in Spanish and English. I won't go there.

In American English we also say:
to be nice to someone
to butter someone up
to kiss up to someone
to flatter someone

For 'flatter,' I believe you can use adular and halagar in Spanish, but I'm not certain these carry the same meaning as ser pelota.

[Alfonso]

Adular, halagar, ser pelota significan lo mismo, pero ser pelota es coloquial.
Se pueden usar también los adjetivos: halagador/a, adulador/a y pelotero/a.

[Iris]

Pelotero... Is that a real word or are you kidding?

[Alfonso]

I can't believe you, Iris. You never heard of qué pelotero eres? Ask your sons and daughters .

[Iris]

No, never heard. I always say "qué pelota eres". You make it sound as if I had twenty children and it's "just" three: two boys and a girl.

[poli]

I have heard dar jabon used by portorriqueños to mean flatter. Can you use pelotear for to flatter in Spain? Has anyone else heard the term dar jabon?

Poli

[Alfonso]

Yes, dar jabón is also used in Spain, but not so often as it is hacer la pelota or pelotear.

[Tomisimo]

So pelotero/ser pelota/hacer la pelota etc is closest in meaning to to flatter/flattery etc? I only ask, since earlier in the thread the terms sucking up and being a brown noser were brought up, and these two terms have strong negative connotations, wereas flattery is more neutral.

[poli]

I know that dar jabon has a negative connotion. There is something slimey
about this type of flattery

poli

[Rusty]

Algunos dicen que ser pelota es una expresión de desprecio y otros dicen que no la es. Por eso, dí ejemplos de ambos sentidos.

Dar cabo a alguien es otra expresión que significa lo mismo. En México, se usa barbear, o se le llama barbero a alguien que adula/halaga/lisonjea/hace la pelota. En Chile, se dice patero.

Creo que es una cuestión de la localidad y el uso aceptado en ella. El sentido puede cambiar por la entonación y el registro, también, según mi parecer.

[Alfonso]

Estoy absolutamente de acuerdo con Rusty.
Rusty, en otro hilo (sólo/solo) hemos discutido la acentuación de pares de palabras homófonas pero con categorías gramaticales distintas. Di, del verbo dar, puede ser imperativo o pretérito indefinido, pero en ambos casos es un verbo. Por eso, y porque es un monosílabo, no lleva acento.

... otros dicen que no lo es.

[Rusty]

Gracias, Alfonso, por las correcciones.