13

Do Spanish speakers use the word "Tada!" or is there another, better one? I am particularly interested in Mexican Spanish. You use it when something is transformed or revealed. For example, when you reveal an unexpected gift, or when someone enters the kitchen you have unexpectedly cleaned.

fedorqui
  • 34,063
  • 114
  • 271
  • 434
  • 1
    In Colombia and some places in Latin America we say ¡Tarán! and I'm not sure but I think I heard ¡Presto! – Felipe Sierra Jun 29 '16 at 14:16
  • 2
    Don't know how common it is or where exactly it is used but the word voilà from French might be heard as well sometimes. – Nicholas J. Jun 29 '16 at 16:23

5 Answers5

21

For these cases in Spain we normally say... (hover over the block text to see it!)

¡Tachán!

You may hear it with a very long "a", as in "Tacháááááááán".
Since it is an onomatopoeia, it is not included in the RAE, so the source for the answer is my own memories together with this discussion in WordReference.

In Latin America apparently they use other variants:

¡Ta-tán!

or

¡Ta-rán!

The last is the one used in Mexico, as indicated by Flxtr in comments.

See other onomatopoeias in Wikilengua or Fundéu.

Community
  • 1
fedorqui
  • 34,063
  • 114
  • 271
  • 434
8

At least in Mexico it would probably would be ¡Tadá!, ¡Tarán! or ¡Tará!. Since it is not an official word, but a colloquialism, I guess it might change among regions.

http://forum.wordreference.com/threads/tar%C3%A1-tar%C3%A1n.2819479/?hl=es

Antonio López Ruiz
  • 748
  • 1
  • 6
  • 13
  • 1
    In Mexico, would that be written ¡Ta-rán! with the accent over the a, like in the example above? –  Jun 29 '16 at 18:18
  • Thanks for the remark! According to what I know and the info I have recollected, it is ¡Tarán! We don't make a separation with the hyphen and if it had the hyphen it probably wouldn't be accentuated since it's a monosyllable and monosyllables mostly don't follow the accentuation rules but it depends on what it implies (like "tu" and "tú"). – Antonio López Ruiz Jun 29 '16 at 18:25
5

Sorry if my example is very similar, it is what would be used in Chile: ¡Charáaah!.

I think in the written language is a bit confusing. I would prefer a simple ¡Sorpresa!.

Rodrigo
  • 16,651
  • 10
  • 53
  • 95
  • I like ¡Sorpresa! That might be the best way to go. (It's for a novel.) –  Jun 30 '16 at 02:39
3

According to Capitan Calzoncillos ("Captain Underpants"), it's "Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta chaaaaah!"

B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
  • 5,326
  • 8
  • 45
  • 69
-4

In Mexico you say simply "tantán". You will not find it on any dictionary though. It is very smart from you to be interested in Mexican Spanish since it is the BEST Spanish out there. Your best source is Mexican TV shows from the early 90s and earlier. Back then, writers really cared about the language and very few mistakes were made. Nowadays TV shows are plagued with terrible errors. Still, it is much better than in any other Hispanic country, including Spain.

Cain Nuke
  • 93
  • What is your source for such statement? – fedorqui Jun 30 '16 at 06:31
  • I lived in Mexico many many years. – Cain Nuke Jun 30 '16 at 10:10
  • 1
    Still, the hermeneutical comment it is much better than in any other Hispanic country, including Spain seems to be quite personal-based to me : ) – fedorqui Jun 30 '16 at 10:12
  • You can take it personal or however you want but I have very strong arguments to prove it. I have a master degree in philology and Spanish linguistics as well. I have lived in many hispanic countries and know lots of people from all of them so I have material to compare. Besides I am not the only one who says it. In Latin America people prefer series/movies dubbed in Mexico rather than in Spain or anywhere else. Spanish from Spain and Argentina are widely regarded as the worst by most people. – Cain Nuke Jun 30 '16 at 10:18
  • 3
    I am not taking it in any way, I am just asking for sources for your answer. Your last comment seems to be a good one, so you may want to [edit] your answer to incorporate them. Regarding differences throughout countries, I have heard often that Spanish from Colombia is the best spoken (Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Spanish writer). Spanish from Spain may sound quite serious in Latin America, so I do understand people there preferring the Mexican when watching TV. – fedorqui Jun 30 '16 at 10:21
  • Yes, that rumor is very common but it happens it was started by Colombians themselves and its anything but true. Colombians speak pretty much like people from the coast. They skip consonants all the time, specially the letter S. They just dont pronounce it, and that is incorrect. They also have serious grammar problems because they mix up "tu" and "usted" verbal forms. Their accent gets kind of irritating too but that you can say its subjective. I would place Colombian Spanish below Peruvian Spanish. – Cain Nuke Jun 30 '16 at 10:27
  • 6
    The argument "what I say is true because I have a degree in X" is just falacious. See Argument from authority or Argumentum ad verecundiam. It is better if you say that what you affirm is just your point of view, there's nothing wrong with that if you don't have sources for your affirmation. – Charlie Jun 30 '16 at 13:09